Mr. Murdoch, who’s sometimes viewed as something of a maverick member, recently introduced a private member’s resolution calling for a three-party task force to investigate all issues related to the consumption of raw milk.

“I am not an advocate one way or the other (but) a lot of people drink it,” he said in a recent interview. “We can’t bury out heads in the sand. I think we have to (resolve the issues).”

The resolution was defeated when 35 Liberal MPPs were “whipped into” voting against it, he says, despite the traditional free vote on resolutions.

The issue had arisen when armed enforcement officers from the ministry of natural resources raided Michael Schmidt, a dairy farmer in Mr. Murdoch’s nearby constituency.

Mr. Schmidt, by his own admission, had been delivering raw milk to families who were shareholders in his form. Those included Finance Minister Greg Sorbara. According to the statute, it is legal for families of owners of dairy cattle to consume raw milk from the cattle they own.

Source: Orangeville Citizen