'I will always honour her': Husband files lawsuit in Ontario animal activist's death
Every Monday, Mark Powell drives to the Burlington, Ont., pork plant where his wife died to give water to pigs on their way to slaughter.
It's what Regan Russell did every week, until one day in June 2020 when a transport truck driver drove over her and killed her.
Police charged the driver with careless driving causing death -- a non-criminal provincial offence -- because investigators said he did not have criminal intent.
Two years later, with the case languishing in court and no trial date yet set, Powell says he has lost faith in the probe and is turning to civil court to try to get answers about his wife's death.
"I want to know what happened to my person," Powell said.
Last week, he filed a $5-million lawsuit over her death. The truck driver, Andrew Blake, the trucking company, Brussels Transport, and Sofina Foods, the company that owns Fearmans Pork processing plant, are among those named in the suit.
The unproven claim alleges negligence on their parts led to the death of Russell.
The claim alleges the driver failed to keep a proper lookout and made an unsafe and improper turn. It also alleges Brussels Transport failed to take steps to ensure the driver was competent and that Sofina failed to provide safety for pedestrians around Fearmans.
"Given that this matter is currently before the courts, we are not able to make a comment at this time other than to say that the allegations contained in the statement of claim against Sofina are unproven and Sofina will vigorously defend this matter," Sofina said in an email.
Neither the truck driver's lawyer, nor Brussels Transport, responded to requests for comment.
Russell, a 65-year-old activist, was demonstrating outside the slaughterhouse west of Toronto, on June 19, 2020, as she had done every week for years. She and some friends, as part of the activist group Toronto Pig Save, protested controversial provincial legislation that had just passed that hiked fines for trespassing on farms and food-processing facilities.
The bill also made it illegal to obstruct trucks carrying farm animals. The bill appeared, in part, to target Toronto Pig Save, whose advocates for years had filmed and given water to pigs inside transport trucks as they neared slaughter. They call it "bearing witness."
Since his wife's death, Powell has lived with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
He wasn't there at the time, but Russell's friends have described how she died under a wheel of the truck. He's seen video of the aftermath.
"I see it every night when my head hits the pillow," he said.
His friends wonder how he copes.
"I've had some practice," he said, his voice trailing off.
In 2014, Powell lost his 29-year-old son, Zachary. He can still see the paramedics pounding on his boy's chest as he was wheeled on a gurney into an ambulance. Zachary's heart had given out.
Powell is using the strength of his family to move forward after the losses.
He credits his other son, Joshua, for holding him up when he was down, and helping him pick up the decades-long animal rights fight his wife undertook.
Last week on Father's Day, he and Joshua donated a bench at an animal sanctuary north of Toronto to honour Russell. It reminds Powell of a bench in Zachary's name in a Hamilton park.
He and Joshua have also launched the Regan Russell Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to keeping her voice alive by funding and supporting the battle against the bill she had been fighting.
The foundation is trying to intervene in a constitutional challenge to the laws by Animal Justice.
"It gives us a vehicle to fight bad legislation," he said.
"I have hope and strength, hope that something like that foundation puts a voice for animals on the floor of government and strength knowing that Regan's voice is being heard."
Every week, activists gather to protest outside Fearmans Pork. But now they stand on the median where the trucks stop at the lights -- away from the spot where Russell died -- to give water to the pigs.
"I will always honour her and I will stand for what she stood for until I die," Powell said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.