Hillier ruling strengthens Charter right of assembly

In this year's case of Hillier v. Ontario, for the first time ever, a Canadian court has invoked the Charter right of peaceful assembly to overturn a law as unconstitutional.   

Hillier at 2021 anti-lockdown protest, Niagara Falls, Ont, Photo: Beth Baisch, Dreamstime

Ontario court ruling in Hillier case a positive sign for Charter freedoms | Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms | John Carpay:

April 10, 2025 - "Since lockdowns were imposed in March 2020, governments across Canada have admitted in numerous court challenges that provincial and federal health orders did violate one or more of the Charter freedoms of conscience, religion, expression, peaceful assembly, association, and mobility. In like manner, governments have admitted that vaccine mandates violated the Charter right to bodily autonomy. Canadian courts have consistently upheld these Charter violations as being reasonable and justified in a free and democratic society — until the Ontario Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in Hillier v. Ontario on April 7.

"Randy Hillier, a former Member of Ontario’s Provincial Parliament, challenged Ontario’s total and absolute ban on all outdoor protests, which the government imposed on citizens in April and May of 2021. While up to 10 people could gather for a wedding or funeral, or for a religious service or ceremony, it was illegal for two people to meet outdoors for a peaceful protest!

"Mr. Hillier faced charges and fines up to $100,000 for organizing peaceful political protests in Kemptville and Cornwall, and for attending protests in Smiths Falls, Belleville, Peterborough, Stratford, Kitchener, and Chatham throughout April and May 2021. His defence to these charges was that Ontario unjustifiably restricted his Charter freedom of peaceful assembly. In court, Ontario presented no evidence that its total ban on outdoor protests, including those in which Mr. Hillier participated, would reduce the spread of Covid.

"Overturning the November 2023 lower court ruling, Court of Appeal Justices Lauwers, Zarnett, and Pomerance ruled unanimously that Ontario’s absolute ban on peaceful assembly in 2021, particularly outdoor political protests, was an unjustified violation of the freedom of peaceful assembly as protected by Section 2(c) of the Charter.... The court declared that it could not countenance 'an outcome in which the state eliminates the free exercise of a fundamental freedom, without giving that elimination any actual thought'.... While stating that 'the pandemic posed significant challenges for Ontario,' the court declared that 'the Constitution does not fade from view in times of crisis.' 

"For the first time in Canadian judicial history, an appellate court has outlined the nature, purpose, and benefits of the Charter section 2(c) freedom of peaceful assembly, declaring it 'elemental' and 'integral to a functioning democracy.' Previously, peaceful assembly has been ignored and subsumed into the other Charter section 2 freedoms.... Peaceful assembly differs from the other fundamental freedoms because 'a demonstration is an act of solidarity, a coming together of similarly minded individuals,' who can 'make visible the extent and depth of support for a position,' the ruling said.

"The freedom of peaceful assembly protects the ability of citizens to get the community to pay attention to their message of protest or dissent, and entice others to become involved in redressing grievances. The court noted that 'outdoor protests are especially effective at amplifying minority voices and expressing political dissent.' Ontario’s total ban on peaceful protests denied citizens of their 'opportunity to influence public policy by this time-honoured method.' Significantly, the court ruled that social media and virtual gatherings ... cannot replace the 'traditional means of participating in public assemblies'..... 

"Governments across Canada have been put on notice that they cannot ban peaceful political gatherings. Freedom-loving Canadians can be encouraged that the Ontario Court of Appeal has elevated a previously 'forgotten freedom' to overturn a Covid-era ban on the exercise of that same Charter freedom. Could protection of Charter freedoms in Canada be making a comeback?"

Read more: https://www.jccf.ca/ontario-court-ruling-in-hillier-case-a-positive-sign-for-charter-freedoms/

The bridge to Freedom is never too far. Hillier Wins-Government loses! |  Randy Hillier | April 7, 2025:

Chris Barber petitions court for stay of proceedings

Chris Barber, who has been convicted and could be imprisoned for his part in organizing the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, is petitioning the court to stay proceedings before sentencing. 

Barber testifies to have Freedom Convoy charges dropped | Western Standard | Jen Hodgson:

May 21, 2025 - "Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber [was] in court [May 21] for hearings related to a Stay of Proceedings application in an attempt to have his charges dropped.... Ontario Justice Heather Perkins-McVey found Barber and co-organizer Tamara Lich guilty of mischief for their involvement in the peaceful protest in Ottawa in January and February of 2022. The decision [was] released on April 3.... Diane Magas, Barber’s lawyer, filed the stay application on April 16, arguing Barber had sought legal advice during the time of the protest and acted in good faith with local authorities.

"Barber in his application argued 'the legal advice given to him … during the Freedom Convoy was erroneous and that, as a result, the Crown is not entitled to convict him,' said the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF).... The application was filed one day after Barber learned the sentence the Crown was pursuing: two years in prison and the confiscation of Big Red [his truck].... If the judge approves the stay application, Barber will not go to prison, nor will his truck be seized."
Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/barber-testifies-to-have-freedom-convoy-charges-dropped/64917

Will Chris Barber be jailed for peacefully protesting? Court to decide soon | Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms (news release): 

Big Red, courtesy Chris Barber/JCCF.

May 20, 2025 ""Mr. Barber’s legal team ... argue that he followed the advice of officials and the police in good faith during the protest and that the charges should be stayed despite his conviction for mischief and for counselling others to breach a court order on April 3, 2025. 

"In court documents submitted to the judge, the Crown claims that there is no merit to Mr. Barber’s Application and that it should be thrown out. The Crown argues that he knowingly broke the law during the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest. The Crown is also demanding that Mr. Barber’s primary source of income, his 2004 Kenworth long haul truck, called 'Big Red,' be seized and forfeited to His Majesty the King.

"If Justice Heather Perkins-McVey of the Ontario Court of Justice grants the Application, sentencing would not proceed, and the charges would be stayed.... Diane Magas, Mr. Barber’s lawyer, explained that an 'officially induced error defence' is rarely used but that it is an appropriate defence in the particular circumstances of this case....

"'To imprison a man who sought and followed legal advice would bring the administration of justice into disrepute,' stated John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre. 'Mr. Barber consistently followed the legal advice that he received from police officers, lawyers, and a Superior Court judge.'"
Read more: https://www.jccf.ca/will-chris-barber-be-jailed-for-peacefully-protesting-court-to-decide-soon/

Freedom Convoy organizers convicted of mischief

After a trial lasting more than a year, Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber have been convicted of mischief (but acquitted of most charges) for their role in the 2022 Ottawa protest.

Chris Barber, Tamara Lich not guilty on most charges for roles in 2022 convoy protests | CBC News | David Fraser: 

April 3, 2025 - "Chris Barber and Tamara Lich have been found not guilty of most charges against them for their roles in the 2022 truck convoy protest in Ottawa. Barber and Lich each faced six charges including mischief, intimidation, obstructing police and counselling others to do the same. 

"On Thursday at the Ottawa courthouse, Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey found the pair not guilty of four charges apiece relating to intimidation and obstructing police. They were both found guilty of committing mischief. Perkins-McVey also found them both guilty of counselling to commit mischief themselves, but that finding was stayed at the request of Crown lawyers. Barber alone was found guilty of counselling others to disobey a court order. Lich was not charged with this. All told, Barber was found guilty of two charges, not guilty of four and had a seventh stayed. Lich was found guilty of one, not guilty of four and had a sixth stayed."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/tamara-lich-chris-barber-freedom-convoy-trial-decision-1.7500015

'Freedom Convoy' organizers Lich, Barber found guilty of mischief | CBC News: The National | April 3, 2025:

Court finds Chris Barber guilty of mischief | Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (news release):

April 3, 2025 - "The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is disappointed that the Ontario Court of Justice has found Chris Barber, a trucker and trucking company owner from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, guilty of mischief for his involvement in the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest.... Justice Heather Perkins-McVey delivered the decision this morning in the Ontario Court of Justice at the Ottawa Courthouse.

"In January and February 2022, thousands of Canadians travelled to the nation’s capital to protest mandatory Covid vaccination policies. Vaccine mandates [had] turned the millions of Canadians who chose not to receive a Covid vaccine into second-class citizens, denied them the right to travel, participate in sports, watch their children play sports, and visit ailing parents and grandparents in nursing homes. Mr. Barber, who himself had received the mandatory injection, travelled to Ottawa to protest the mandates he believed were harming not only the trucking industry but also all Canadians.

"The federal government illegally invoked the Emergencies Act on February 14, 2022, to use violence to suppress the Freedom Convoy protests. On February 17, police arrested Mr. Barber on charges of mischief, intimidation, obstructing a highway, and counselling others to commit the same offences. Mr. Barber pleaded “not guilty” to all charges on April 23, 2023, having done nothing other than peacefully exercise his freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly – protected by section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"The criminal trial of Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, originally scheduled for 16 days, consumed massive resources of Crown prosecutors, taking place over a period of 45 days from September 5, 2023, to September 14, 2024....

"Justice Centre President John Carpay, referencing the fact that 86 sexual assault cases have been tossed out in Ontario since 2016 due to court delays and insufficient court resources, stated, 'Crown prosecutors in Ontario claim that they do not have enough resources to prosecute people accused of sexual assault and other serious crimes. People accused of serious crimes are walking away without facing trial because of extreme delays, supposedly caused by the Crown lacking adequate resources. Yet the Crown has devoted massive amounts of its limited time and energy to prosecuting peaceful protesters who exercised their fundamental Charter freedoms.'

"'There seems to be a glaring double standard in prosecutions in Canada,' continued Mr. Carpay, 'and it appears that the charges against Chris Barber and Tamara Lich were laid for political reasons. In July 2021, Winnipeg police stood by and watched as vandals tore down and damaged a statue of Queen Victoria on the legislature grounds, in broad daylight, which was criminal behaviour. But no charges were laid against individuals who wilfully destroyed property because they were protesting against residential schools.... The Manitoba Crown, while possessing abundant video evidence of this blatantly criminal conduct, announced that nobody would be charged or prosecuted. Yet when Tamara Lich and Chris Barber played an active role in the entirely peaceful 2022 Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, the Crown devoted its resources to an extensive, full-scale prosecution that dragged on for 31 months.'

"In Regina, the Chief of Police attended and spoke at a rally for Black Lives Matter on June 5, 2020, in violation of Saskatchewan’s Covid restrictions. Yet police issued tickets to citizens who protested against lockdowns, and prosecutors were relentless in seeking convictions of those charged. 'If Tamara Lich and Chris Barber had played a leadership role in organizing protests against racism, transphobia or climate change, they would not have faced 45 days of trial over a period of 31 months,' concluded Mr. Carpay.

"Counsel will carefully review the decision and confer with the client to determine any next steps."

Read more: https://www.jccf.ca/court-finds-chris-barber-guilty-of-mischief/

Canadian courts defer to gov'ts in Covid cases

COVID Cases: For Some Judges, Government Can Neither Deceive Nor Be Deceived | Epoch Times | John Carpay:

Decembr 27, 2024 - "The years 2022 and 2023 have seen numerous court rulings in which some Canadian judges upheld government violations of our charter freedoms of association, expression, religion, conscience, mobility, peaceful assembly, and bodily autonomy. These outcomes are disturbing, but worse yet was the failure of some judges to require governments to show 'demonstrably' (with persuasive evidence) that their violations of charter rights or freedoms were doing more good than harm. 

"The 1986 Supreme Court of Canada ruling in R. v. Oakes requires judges to place the onus on government to show that its freedom-violating law, policy, regulation, or decision is rational, violates the charter right or freedom as little as possible, and actually brings benefits that exceed the costs and harms. When governments claim that their freedom-violating health orders and mandatory vaccination policies are based on science, both the Oakes test and the charter itself require judges to take a hard look at the government’s 'science' claim, to determine its veracity....

"Judges have signed-up for a job that requires listening to competing experts, analyzing their reports, weighing the evidence, [and] arriving at a conclusion.... Judges have no qualms about assessing the scientific strength of clashing claims and competing expert reports when dealing with criminal law, family law, and all kinds of civil claims. Oddly, some judges suddenly lose their willingness to apply the same thinking, reasoning, and analytical faculties when confronted by a government chanting 'science' as a mantra or slogan.... Judges then simply rule in favour of the government, without seriously analyzing the actual evidence that was put before them by both sides.

"For example, in the case of Ontario v. Trinity Bible Chapel, paragraph six of the judge’s ruling says:

 Various affidavits were filed on this hearing, including evidence from medical experts. These experts disagree on several points, including the extent to which Covid-19 posed an unprecedented threat to public health, the extent to which the virus can be transmitted outdoors, and the extent to which religious gatherings pose a greater risk of transmission than retail settings. My role is not that of an armchair epidemiologist. I am neither equipped nor inclined to resolve scientific debates and controversy surrounding Covid-19. The question before me is not whether certain experts are right or wrong. The question is whether it was open to Ontario to act as it did, and whether there was scientific support for the precautionary measures that were taken.

"One can see the contradictions in this statement. While declaring that she is 'neither equipped nor inclined to resolve scientific debates and controversy surrounding Covid-19,' the judge nonetheless ... effectively resolves the scientific debates and controversy in favour of the government.... If the judge is not equipped to resolve scientific debates and controversy, how can she possibly assess whether the government has any 'scientific support' (let alone enough “scientific support') to justify violating the fundamental charter freedoms of citizens? While upholding the government’s violations of Ontarians’ freedoms, the judge makes no effort to explain why or how the government’s evidence is better or more persuasive than the evidence presented to her by citizens who depend on her to defend their charter rights....

"In other words, what the judge really says is: The government need only show me a little bit of scientific 'support' (not proof and not compelling evidence) and I will then readily approve and endorse the government’s violations of Charter rights and freedoms. I will not hold the government accountable to the full weight of the charter; I will not require the government to justify demonstrably with persuasive evidence that its freedom-violating laws are rational and are actually doing more good than harm. I refuse to weigh the evidence that is put before me by competing experts, even though I do this all the time in other legal disputes....

"Sadly, this is not the only case where the charter’s standard that governments must 'demonstrably justify' any violation of a charter right or freedom was overlooked. The new standard adopted by judges seems to be that the federal and provincial governments can violate our human rights and constitutional freedoms with impunity, provided the government claims that some emergency exists and that there is some unknown quantity of 'scientific support' for charter-violating laws and policies. These same judges are likely to approve new laws to confine us to the '15-minute city' where we live, and uphold the government’s violation of our charter-protected mobility rights. The government would simply need to claim that a 'climate emergency' exists and trot out a vague amount of 'scientific support'....

"As the judge in the Ontario v. Trinity Bible Chapel case said, “I am neither equipped nor inclined to resolve scientific debates and controversy” … although she does consider herself to be sufficiently equipped to rule in favour of the government violating our charter rights and freedoms.

Read more: https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/covid-cases-for-some-judges-government-can-neither-deceive-nor-be-deceived-555259

Alberta woman dies after being denied transplant

Albertan Sheila Annette Lewis has died after being removed from a transplant wait list for being Covid-unvaccinated. 

Alberta woman who tried to take COVID transplant fight to Supreme Court dies | CBC News:

August 25, 2023 - "An Alberta woman who tried to take her fight over COVID-19 vaccine requirements for organ transplants all the way to the Supreme Court has died. The former lawyer for Sheila Annette Lewis confirmed her death Friday....

"Lewis was diagnosed with a terminal disease in 2018 and was told she would not survive unless she received an organ transplant. She was placed on a transplant wait list in 2020, but was informed a year later she would need to get the COVID-19 vaccine first. Lewis said taking the vaccine would offend her conscience and argued the requirement violated her Charter rights. The case was dismissed by an Alberta court, which said the Charter has no application to clinical treatment decisions. The Supreme Court ... turned down her application for a hearing.... There is a publication ban on the doctors' identities, the organ involved and the location of the transplant program."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-woman-who-tried-to-take-covid-transplant-fight-to-supreme-court-dies-1.6948293

Sheila Annette Lewis calls on Danielle Smith for help while seeking life-saving procedure | Rebel News | June 26, 2023:

Sheila Annette Lewis was a victim of putting ideology ahead of science | Western Standard | John Carpay:

August 28, 2023 - "The tragic death of Sheila Annette Lewis on Aug. 24, 2023, testifies to the cruelty and evil of putting ideology ahead of science. Ms. Lewis had a terminal condition, and needed an organ transplant to stay alive. Alberta Health Services (AHS) doctors refused to reinstate Ms. Lewis on the high-priority organ transplant waiting list, thereby failing to care for her and doing nothing to prevent her demise....

"When she was still alive, Sheila Annette Lewis stated the following in a court-filed affidavit:

I am a wife, mother, and grandmother, and I want to live as long as I can to be there for my family and be a part of their lives while they grow and mature. I want my grandchildren to know their grandmother, and I have a lot of life and love left to give.”
“I am shocked and appalled that my ability to get life-saving surgery depends upon me taking a new drug with Health Canada warning labels that is still in the experimental stage. Taking these vaccines goes against my conscience; the vaccines are still in clinical trials and will be until at least 2023."
"There is no long-term safety data available, and I am afraid of how this vaccine may affect me in the long-term. Given my fragile state of health, I cannot risk participation in an experimental drug trial.”

"In support of her Charter-protected right to bodily autonomy, freedom of conscience, and the freedom to choose without coercion, Ms. Lewis commenced a court action in 2021 and filed expert reports from immunologist Dr. Bonnie Mallard and from Dr. Byram Bridle, who is a vaccinologist and virologist. Their expert reports and oral testimony illustrated the COVID vaccines were still in clinical trials, and the peer reviewed research and raw scientific data led them to seriously question the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines, as compared to traditional vaccines that have been around for decades. Another expert report was filed from a surgeon with a Masters in Health Care Ethics, Dr. Benjamin Turner, who testified the benefit of vaccination for Ms. Lewis was so small it was unethical to require her to get the COVID vaccine prior to her transplant.

"Ms. Lewis was unsuccessful at both the Alberta Court of King’s Bench and the Alberta Court of Appeal in 2022. Both levels of court ruled the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Alberta Bill of Rights do not apply to the mandatory COVID vaccine policies developed by AHS.... We’ve known since at least December of 2021 (and arguably many months earlier) the COVID vaccine did not prevent COVID from spreading, did not provide herd immunity, did not stop people from getting sick with COVID, and did not save people from dying with COVID. But the ideological claim repeated by governments, that this vaccine was 'effective,' won out in court, despite facts and evidence....

"On March 29, 2023, Ms. Lewis provided her doctors in the Alberta Transplant Program with a privately funded medical report ('Kinexus Report') establishing that she had strong natural immunity to COVID and had successfully overcome previous COVID infections. Ms. Lewis had asked her physicians nearly one year earlier to test her blood for COVID antibodies and they refused to do so. The Kinexus report found Ms. Lewis’ blood sample '(1) clearly supports the presence of SARS-CoV-2 immunoreactivity, (2) shows that she was likely infected with SARS-CoV-2 around mid-September 2021, and (3) shows that she was infected with SARS-CoV-2 again more recently and has extremely high levels of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.'

"Faced with this compelling medical evidence, AHS doctors still maintained their position that Ms. Lewis could not receive life-saving medical treatment unless she received the injection. This position was completely indefensible, abhorrent and unethical, without any foundation in science or medicine.... 

"Some would argue that Ms. Lewis had a choice in this matter and could have simply allowed herself to get injected with a substance she did not need, and for which no long-term safety data exists.... This 'choice' argument, while technically true, is a thin veneer of clever sophistry that serves to hide the cruelty and injustice of forcing a person to do what she does not wish to do. The fact that one does indeed have a choice to submit (or not) to medical coercion avoids the moral imperative of the Nuremberg Code, which prohibits coercing, pressuring or manipulating people into receiving any medical treatment. The Nuremberg Code makes no exceptions for medical treatments that have been approved by a government; this cannot be the excuse or pretext for violating fully informed and voluntary consent....

"Are these AHS doctors guilty of murder? The short answer is 'no,' because it is not known with certainty whether Ms. Lewis would have received her life-saving treatment if AHS had not barred her from the organ transplant waiting list; she might have died anyways due to the shortage of donated organs. However, what can be stated fairly and with certainty is that AHS doctors were, at a bare minimum, guilty of negligence, which removed any chance she had of staying alive."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/opinion/carpay-sheila-annette-lewis-was-a-victim-of-putting-ideology-ahead-of-science/article_3c2a94e4-45cc-11ee-a908-efcc01119859.html

Alberta court invalidates Covid public health orders

Alberta court strikes down public health orders that violated Charter freedoms | Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms:

August 1, 2023 -The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is pleased with the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta’s decision to invalidate the public health orders of Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH), in Ingram v. Alberta. The court struck down these lockdown measures because they were effectively issued by Cabinet rather than by the CMOH. Dr. Hinshaw testified at trial that politicians were the final decision-making authority, and that she merely provided advice and recommendations.

"With these health orders having been invalidated, it is expected that Crown prosecutors will need to withdraw charges against Ty Northcott/ Northcott Rodeo Inc., Pastor James Coates of Grace Life Church of Edmonton, Pastor Tim Stephens’ church, Fairview Baptist Church, and others.

"The court’s ruling also confirms that lockdowns did violate Albertans’ fundamental freedoms of conscience, religion, association, and peaceful assembly protected in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In this court action, the Alberta government produced no comprehensive studies, reports or data analyzing lockdown harms. Without any comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, Justice Barbara Romaine nevertheless concluded that lockdowns were justified violations of Charter freedoms because they produced more good than harm.

"Using the slogan 'two weeks to flatten the curve,' the Alberta Government first declared a public health emergency in March of 2020, after which various Charter rights and freedoms were violated during the next two years. When Rebecca Ingram and other applicants filed their court action in December of 2020, the Alberta government had already been restricting Albertans’ rights to associate freely, assemble peacefully, and practice their religious beliefs for almost nine months. This was the first court challenge to lockdown measures in Alberta. In spite of Charter freedoms having already been violated for almost nine months, the court granted the Alberta government’s request to delay presenting its evidence until July of 2022.

"In April 2022, Dr. Deena Hinshaw was cross-examined about what expert information she had at the time that these public health decisions were being determined. Dr. Hinshaw was specifically asked whether she was aware of any evidence of harms to elementary school children from being compelled to wear masks. Under oath, Dr. Hinshaw said no. Yet the court’s ruling in another case, C.M. v. Alberta, has revealed that Dr. Hinshaw did receive information about how children could be harmed by mandatory mask-wearing. A February 7, 2022 memo sent to Premier Jason Kenney, on which Dr. Hinshaw was copied, stated that masks can disrupt learning and interfere with children’s social, emotional, and speech development by impairing verbal and non-verbal communication, emotional signaling and facial recognition. Nevertheless, the Court dismissed an interlocutory application to compel Dr. Deena Hinshaw to re-attend court for further cross-examination.

“Significant injustice has taken place in the past three years under these draconian public health measures. We are hopeful this ruling will mean the withdrawal of charges against Pastor James Coates, Fairview Baptist Church, Ty Northcott, and other courageous citizens who refused to comply with unjust and utterly unscientific measures,” states John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre."

Read more: https://www.jccf.ca/alberta-court-strikes-down-public-health-orders-that-violated-charter-freedoms/

Justice Centre Weekly: On Ingram v. Alberta with President John Carpay | S01E16 | Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms | July 29, 2023: 

Trudeau gov't bigger threat than Freedom Convoy

The Freedom Convoy's Ottawa protest was no threat to Canada's free and democratic system of government, argues Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms president John Carpay. However, the Trudeau  government's response is such a threat.

Trudeau Liberals' claim that truckers want to 'overthrow' government is false and dangerous | Post Millennial - John Carpay:

April 5, 2022 - "Jody Thomas, the Prime Minister's Security and Intelligence Advisor, declared on March 10 that 'there's no doubt' that the people who organized the peaceful protest in Ottawa in February 'came to overthrow the government.' Oddly, Ms. Thomas then goes on to express grave doubt about whether the protesters had the ability to do this, or even knew how to do it. Indeed, the truckers brought neither guns nor tanks, did not storm the Parliament buildings, and made no effort to occupy even one government building. Some individuals called on the prime minister to resign, but nobody used force to try to make that happen.

"Ms. Thomas credits the Emergencies Act with empowering the federal government to freeze bank accounts without a court order or oversight, and to have police horses trample unarmed protesters, 'in a way that we would have not otherwise been able to do.' It appears that, for Ms. Thomas, no measures can be too harsh when suppressing what she describes as 'domestic ideologically motivated violent extremism.'

"Ms. Thomas refers to the February protest as the 'occupation' of downtown Ottawa, although Members of Parliament (and many others) have stated publicly that they had no trouble walking through the city centre each day to get to their place of work. Article 42 of the Hague Convention of 1907 states: 'Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised'.... A large gathering of people in one area does not constitute an 'occupation.' Ms. Thomas also referred to the peaceful protest as a 'blockade,' when in fact the downtown was not in any way sealed off to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving. It was the police, not the protesters, who eventually erected a fence around the downtown core, after the Prime Minister had declared a national emergency. Certainly, some Ottawa residents were inconvenienced by the protests, but this does not turn the protest into a 'blockade.'

"If the protesters had been violent or had committed crimes, the Ottawa Police would have arrested those people, and publicized the arrests. To support the government's narrative.... Yet during the first three weeks of the Ottawa protest, prior to the February 14 declaration of a national emergency, police did not charge any trucker with any crime.... Moreover, if any protester had vandalized, stolen, or burned down property, or had assaulted anyone, or had uttered criminal threats, the CBC and other government-funded media would have gleefully reported on it repeatedly, around the clock, for weeks on end. Why were government-funded media not able to show Canadians footage of protesters committing crimes?...

"The accusations of Ms. Thomas about an 'occupation' and 'blockade' with intent to 'overthrow' Canada's government are as irresponsible and unfounded as the Prime Minister's narrative about unvaccinated Canadians being 'anti-science, racist, misogynist, extremists.'

"There is a dark and very sinister side to accusing peaceful protestors who disagree with certain government policies of wanting to overthrow the government.... A Cambodian court recently convicted 19 political opposition leaders of trying to overthrow the government, a verdict described by Human Rights Watch as bogus.... When Nicaraguan security forces violently put down anti-government protests in 2018, President Daniel Ortega claimed the protests were actually an attempted coup with foreign backing, and that foreign-funded organizations were part of a broader conspiracy to remove him from office.... Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, whose regime murdered an estimated 300,000 Ugandans during his eight-year reign of terror, was very offended when Archbishop Janani Luwum publicly criticized the government's violence. Well, you guessed it: Idi Amin accused this archbishop of seeking to overthrow the government. Archbishop Luwum was arrested in February 1977 and died shortly after....

"Thus far, opponents of Prime Minister Trudeau have not been murdered and have not been jailed for long periods of time. But demonizing the unvaccinated minority, accusing opponents of wanting to overthrow the government, freezing bank accounts without a court order, and commencing criminal prosecutions against peaceful protesters are clear and direct threats to the survival of Canada as a free and democratic society."

John Carpay is president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (jccf.ca), whose clients include truckers who peacefully protested in Ottawa in February.

Read more: https://thepostmillennial.com/trudeau-govt-claim-that-truckers-want-to-overthrow-government-is-false-and-dangerous

Alberta government barricades GraceLife Church

RCMP raid GraceLife Church; JCCF ‘outraged’ by ‘unjustified violation’ of Charter | Western Standard - Alexander Dhaliwal: 

April 7, 2021 - "With the police’s help, Alberta Health Services (AHS) barricaded GraceLife Church (GLC) at dawn Wednesday, preventing access to the building until the church complies with Alberta’s public health measures. The church, just outside Edmonton, under Pastor James Coates, has been breaking COVID-19 lockdown regulations every Sunday by holding packed services.

"Coates recently spent 35 days in solitary confinement at the Edmonton Remand Centre after turning himself in willingly for breaking COVID-19 public health measures. He was released without conditions in advance of his trial on May 3.... NDP leader Rachel Notley rejoiced over Alberta Health Services taking further steps to enforce public health orders at GLC....

"According to an AHS press release, they have attempted to work collaboratively with GraceLife for several months to address the site’s ongoing public health concerns.... From July 10, 2020, to April 6, 2021, AHS has received 105 complaints from the public about GLC. AHS inspectors, who were denied entry by Church elders last Sunday, have conducted 18 inspections at the site since July 10, 2020, and violations were observed at each visit. There have been no outbreaks reported to health officials or confirmed during the course of the pandemic at GraceLife....

"Representing Pastor Coates and Grace Life Church, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms expressed outrage at the Alberta Government’s decision to enter and put up a double barrier wall around private church property today.... 'The Alberta government has known for many months that it will be called to publicly account before the judiciary for its lockdown destruction of the Alberta economy and trampling of Albertan’s civil liberties,' states lawyer John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre. 'The government has so far refused to justify the limits on worship and gathering. Health orders are inconsistent, differing from province to province, and arbitrarily created by one public health official who is under no obligation legally to advise the legislatures of the science and rationale which supposedly are the basis of the orders,' continues Carpay.

"The Justice Centre is in the process of filing a subpoena to require Alberta Chief Medical Officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw to testify at the trial of Pastor Coates on May 3, 2021. The Alberta Government Crown Prosecutor is requesting the Court adjourn the May 3 trial, claiming the government needs until summer to assemble its evidence."

Read more: https://westernstandardonline.com/2021/04/https-westernstandardonline-com-2021-04-breaking-alberta-police-raid-gracelife-church/

Alberta pastor remains in jail

GraceLife pastor to spend at least another weekend in jail | Edmonton Journal - Jonny Wakefield:

March 18, 2021 - "Alberta’s provincial court issued a news release Thursday contradicting a claim from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which is representing the GraceLife Church pastor. The JCCF on Wednesday said it expected Coates to be released from jail this week after reaching an agreement with the Crown to withdraw one of the charges Coates faced for violating COVID-19 restrictions.

"The organization said it expected the case would be dealt with Friday, which would have allowed Coates to preach at GraceLife this Sunday. But on Thursday, Alberta’s provincial court said: ... 'there will be no court proceedings involving James Coates on March 19, 2021.'

"Hundreds of churchgoers defied Alberta government pandemic health restrictions and flocked to GraceLife Church, west of Edmonton, on Sunday March 14, 2021.

"The court confirmed the case is next in court Monday. JCCF president John Carpay said he did not expect the scheduling changes anything legally, but added it is 'unfortunate' Coates will remain locked up over the weekend.

"Coates faced two charges under the Public Health Act for holding in-person worship services that violated restrictions on occupancy and social distancing. He was also charged criminally for allegedly failing to comply with his bail conditions. Coates has been in the Edmonton Remand Centre since mid-February. At least one of the Public Health Act charges is expected to proceed to trial in Stony Plain this May."

Read more: https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/gracelife-pastor-to-spend-at-least-another-weekend-in-jail