Ontario pastors and former MP have 2021 lockdown tickets stayed | Western Standard | Lee Harding:
March 8, 2024 - "Some prominent Ontario activists who attended outdoor anti-lockdown rallies in 2021 have had their tickets stayed with help from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
"On May 8, 2021, former Member of Parliament Derek Sloan attended an outdoor anti-lockdown rally, organized by No More Lockdowns Canada. That rally attracted close to 1,000 participants.... On May 30, Pastor Henry Hildebrandt of the Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario participated in a similar outdoor rally in Woodstock, ON, attended by an estimated 350 people.
"Both rallies were peaceful. There were no criminal charges, only tickets for violating the Reopening Ontario Act, which placed a total ban on indoor and outdoor gatherings during the spring of 2021, although there was no evidence to show that outdoor gatherings were significant contributors to the spread of COVID-19.
"Sloan had faced charges for participating in peaceful protests across Ontario, in Stratford, St. Thomas, Chatham and Woodstock. All charges have been either stayed or withdrawn at the request of the respective prosecutors.... Hildebrandt spoke at many peaceful outdoor rallies during the lockdowns and was charged more than six times in the first half of 2021 with violating the Reopening Ontario Act.
"Pastor Nathaniel Wright of the nearby Crossroads Alliance Church was charged with holding a church service on May 2, 2021. All charges against him were stayed in the same jurisdiction, Woodstock, on February 15, 2024. Wright was also involved in the resolution of the Trinity Bible Chapel case, where all charges against him were stayed for protests in Kitchener-Waterloo. The Justice Centre provided lawyers to defend these pastors who received tickets for exercising their Charter freedoms. All cases involving Sloan and Hildebrandt are now resolved....
"Hildebrandt previously pled guilty to defying the Reopening Ontario Act by holding an outdoor church service on June 6, 2021.... As a result of Hildebrandt's guilty plea in August 2023, related charges against him, his family, the Church of God, other church members and former politicians Sloan and Randy Hillier were dropped. Hildebrandt had to pay a $52,000 fine and a $13,000 victim surcharge."
Last charges finally dropped on 2022 protests at Ambassador Bridge | Western Standard | Lee Harding:
March 8, 32025 - "An Ontario Crown attorney has withdrawn all criminal charges against William Laframboise, an alleged leader of the Windsor protests that blocked the Ambassador Bridge in February 2022. While the Crown attorney stated that there were triable issues, he also explained to the court that it was not in the public interest to prosecute Laframboise given the evidentiary challenges of the Crown’s case and other serious matters that were vying for trial time in a backlogged court system.
"The Democracy Fund (TDF) litigation director, Alan Honner, stood beside his client, LaFramboise, as the charges were withdrawn before Justice Campbell. 'Mr. Laframboise has always maintained his innocence,' says Honner. 'He insisted on his right to trial and we believe he would have been acquitted had the charges not been dropped.'
"A six-day blockade at the Ambassador Bridge that links Windsor, ON to Detroit, MI took place in February of 2022....
"Laframboise was arrested approximately six months after the fact. His arrest was the result of an ongoing police investigation which sought to identify an organizer of the protests.... Nycole Dicredico and William Laframboise were charged with mischief in connection with leading the blockades. However, Dicredico's charges were dropped in November shortly before trial at the Ontario Court of Justice."
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