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:

SHUTDOWN PROTEST NOTICE

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON U.S. SHUTDOWN PROTESTS

by George J. Dance

There are two types of Americans protesting their state governments' emergency shutdown and stay-at-home orders. In order to understand the protests, it is essential to be able to tell the difference.

The first type of Americans consists of libertarians. They support the goals of the emergency orders (to reduce human interaction by 50-75% through 'social distancing'), but believe that achieving social distancing should be done voluntarily, to prevent violating the Constitution and vandalizing the economy. Accordingly their protests obey social distancing guidelines: they mainly stay inside cars, drive past legislatures (and governors' offices and homes), and honk their horns.

The second type has to be called (with apologies to intelligent supporters of the President) trumptards. They often defy social distancing guidelines to crowd into state legislatures, looking like an armed mob trying to take over. Their position is unclear, though it appears to be that the pandemic is no threat, and the Democratic governors used it as a pretext for causing a depression in order to defeat Donald Trump.

Since trumptards have joined and (media-wise) hijacked libertarian protests, it is easy to confuse the two types. However, in order to understand the shutdown/lockdown protest phenomenon, it is vitally important to understand the differences between them.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Facebook removing some shutdown protest info

Facebook will take down some, but not all, posts promoting anti-stay-at-home protests | CNN - Donie O'Sullivan & Brian Fung:

April 20, 2020 - "Facebook will remove some posts on anti-stay-at-home protests being organized in California, New Jersey and Nebraska after consulting with officials in those states, a company spokesperson told CNN Monday. The protests run afoul of the states' social distancing guidelines, Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said.

"Protests have erupted around the US in recent days as shutdown orders have been extended ... as record numbers of Americans lose their jobs. Facebook has come under fire as groups organizing anti-stay-at-home protests have popped up all over the platform. Stone said Facebook would take down posts created through the Facebook Events feature that promote events in California, New Jersey and Nebraska. Other Facebook posts, including Facebook groups about the protests, might not be removed.

"Alyana Alfaro Post, a spokesperson for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, told CNN that the governor's office and Facebook had been communicating about the issue but said, 'The governor's office did not ask Facebook to remove pages or posts for events promoting lifting the provisions of the governor's stay-at-home order'.... A Facebook group for Pennsylvanians against 'excessive quarantine' that was set up last week already had more than 66,000 members by Monday morning.

"Nebraska's government was not aware of any specific anti-stay-at-home events and did not request that Facebook remove event pages, according to Taylor Gage, a spokesman for Gov. Pete Ricketts. 'Facebook reached out last week to learn more about Nebraska's social distancing restrictions, and the governor's staff provided already publicly available information about Nebraska's 10-person limit and directed health measures,' Gage said in a statement to CNN.

"Stone said Facebook is working to get answers from state governments in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York as to whether anti-stay-at-home protests are also prohibited under their social distancing guidelines.

"'Unless government prohibits the event during this time, we allow it to be organized on Facebook,' Stone said. 'For this same reason, events that defy government's guidance on social distancing aren't allowed on Facebook.'"

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/politics/facebook-covid-shutdown-protests/index.html

Russian LP leader jailed after unpermitted rally

Russian Libertarian Party Leader Sentenced For Unsanctioned Rally - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty:

July 30, 2019 - "A court in Moscow has sentenced Mikhail Svetov, the leader of the Libertarian Party of Russia, to 30 days in jail after finding him guilty of violating laws on holding public events. The court said on July 31 that Svetov broke the law on July 16 when he participated in an unsanctioned rally held by opposition and independent city-council candidates who are challenging the refusal of the Moscow election commission to register them for the September 8 election to the Russian capital's assembly.

"Moscow election officials barred some opposition candidates from the September poll for what they said was insufficient signatures on nominating petitions. The decision has sparked an outcry and several demonstrations this month, including one on July 20 in Moscow that drew an estimated crowd of 20,000 people.

'The latest such rally was held near the Moscow mayor's office on July 27, where security officials launched a violent crackdown on participants, using what human-rights groups and Western government have called 'disproportionate force' to break up the demonstration. Police said 1,074 arrests were made, while the independent OVD-Info organization reported 1,373 detentions....

"Svetov has characterized his sentence as 'retaliation' by Moscow officials for his refusal to accept their conditions regarding the site of a new rally on August 3 against the exclusion of the candidates from the ballot. Svetov, his party, and other activists and politicians want to hold the rally on the Lubyanka Square in front of the headquarters of the Federal Security Service.

"On July 30, Russia opened a criminal investigation into the July 27 protest. The potential charges include organizing or participating in 'mass unrest,' which could carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. After the launching of the investigation, police on July 31 began visiting people who took part in the protest, asking that they sign a document which threatens criminal prosecution if they ever again participate in a demonstration, according to Pavel Chikov of the rights group Agora."

Read more: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-libertarian-party-leader-sentenced-for-unsanctioned-rally/30085341.html

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City pays Libertarians $37K for petition shutdown

Jon Lender: Legal Mess Endures Months After Meriden Mayor Had Cops Oust Libertarians From Park - Hartford Courant:

September 7, 2018 - "Minor political parties’ candidates must jump through hoops to get on the election ballot in Connecticut. State law requires them to submit petitions containing thousands of voters’ signatures.... [G]aining ballot access is hard enough without a public official deciding to send the police to chase away party volunteers who are peacefully collecting such petition signatures in a public park.

"But that’s what happened on the sunny Saturday morning of April 28 to Rod Hanscomb, the Libertarian Party’s candidate for governor, and a few companions who were helping him collect ballot petition signatures from passers-by at the entrance to the annual Daffodil Festival in Meriden’s Hubbard Park. Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati walked past them and, not long afterward, a police lieutenant approached and told the Libertarians that they had to leave....

"The incident continues to fester today in a Superior Court lawsuit filed three months ago by the Libertarian Party’s state chairman, Dan Reale. He’s named Scarpati as the defendant and is claiming violations of his constitutional rights of free speech and assembly.... Reale said that partly because of being thrown out of Hubbard Park, the Libertarians ended up having to spend tens of thousands of dollars — as much as $50,000 — to supplement their volunteer efforts by paying people to collect signatures, and to hire a fundraising consultant.

"He said that now the state Libertarian Party organization has intervened legally to enter the lawsuit as a second plaintiff, and, during so-far-unsuccessful discussions of a possible settlement, has requested $50,000 in compensation."
Read more: http://www.courant.com/politics/government-watch/hc-pol-lender-libertarian-lawsuit-20180905-story.html

Jon Lender: 'Go After The First Amendment, You'll Pay The Price' — $37K To Settle Lawsuit Against Meriden Mayor - Hartford Courant:

September 28, 2018 - "The city of Meriden has paid $37,000 to settle a First Amendment lawsuit against Mayor Kevin Scarpati over his April 28 order that police oust members of the Libertarian Party, including its state chairman and gubernatorial candidate, from Hubbard Park, where they were circulating ballot petitions.

"'The First Amendment actually matters. We have confirmed that this isn’t Soviet Russia,' Dan Reale, the Libertarian Party state chairman, said Thursday after he and the party’s lawyer filed papers to withdraw the Superior Court action that had been filed in June. 'So, you go after the First Amendment, you'll pay the price'....

"Reale said that a Sept. 7 Government Watch column, which gave statewide exposure to the politically embarrassing situation for Meriden, seemed to increase the city’s willingness to settle the case."
Read more: http://www.courant.com/politics/government-watch/hc-pol-lender-libertarian-lawsuit-20180905-story.html
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