CAMPBELL RIVER – Mainstream Canada is fighting back over attack ads they say defame their company.
Mainstream has begun legal proceedings in B.C. Supreme Court against Don Staniford and his organization The Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture, for defamatory statements that have been made regarding the company's fish farming operations.
"We have a responsibility to our employees," says Fernando Villarroel, Mainstream Canada's Managing Director. "For a number of years certain environmental activists have been attacking our company and the industry with false and misleading statements. Our employees are working hard every day ensuring responsible aquaculture. We adhere to the strict regulations and our company's best management practices. Comparing fish farming with cancer is an offence to all our employees".
The ads, which sport the Norwegian flag and such slogans as "salmons farms are cancer", "salmon farming seriously damages health" and "salmon farming kills around the world", were published on the The Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture website, as well as the organization's Facebook page and Twitter account during January and March of this year.
Mainstream filed their suit against Staniford and his organization last week.
"Not only do we see this as necessary to protect our reputation," says Laurie Jensen, Mainstream Canada's Corporate Sustainability Manager, "but an obligation to ensure that our employees, our suppliers, the communities where we operate, and our First Nations partners will have the future basis for continued sustainable operations without interference from libelous statements by individuals or organizations such as Mr. Staniford‘s."