If it weren’t far too on the nose for current affairs, one might say that Canada, even in the midst of various ongoing existential crises, has its collective head buried in the sand. I’m not here to defend the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in its handling of a flock of ostriches in Edgewood, B.C., infected with H5N1 avian flu and ordered to be culled.

I’m only here to say it’s extraordinary how much oxygen these flightless birds have gobbled up during this ridiculous nine-month saga.

The CFIA’s actions are not extraordinary. Authorities in all countries tend to deal with farm outbreaks like these with a sledgehammer, and often that’s very unpopular among farmers. Just in recent weeks, for example, French farmers’ groups have protested culls of cattle affected by lumpy skin disea

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