During Covid-19, the province of Quebec implemented mandates for masks, ‘social distancing’, and lockdowns, just as every other province had done. Quebec however, decided to take it one step further.

Under section 123 (8) of their Public Health Act, Quebec implemented a curfew, forcing residents to remain in their homes between 8pm and 5am nightly. This curfew was enforced from January 9th to May 28th of 2021, and again from December 31st, 2021, to January 17th, 2022. Fines for non-compliance ranged from $1000 to $6000.

To put this into perspective, according to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, approximately 22,500 curfew violations were issued in the first enforcement period alone. The total amount of curfew fines to date has been estimated at $30 million, with many pending cases still to be resolved.

Constable Maxime Ouimet, a former veteran police officer from Laval and welcomed member of Police on Guard, took issue with the mandates he was expected to enforce. He was vocal in his disapproval, posting to Facebook about it on several occasions, and stating that he would not be enforcing the curfew. According to Ouimet, it went against his personal values stating, he “wanted to help and support these people, not ‘destroy’ them.”

Every police officer in Canada is bound by a Code of Ethics, part of which is to uphold all laws, regardless of opinion, and to not engage in activities that may bring the police service into disrepute, as long as they are in fact lawful.

Publicly posting your refusal to enforce a law clearly would contravene this code; it is on this basis that Quebec’s Administrative Tribunal of Police Ethics determined Ouimet was guilty and, as a result, suspended his ability to work as a police officer for one year.

Ouimet left the police force prior to the tribunal convening to address his case.

Police officers do not have the right of refusal when it comes to enforcing laws. As a police officer, your individual Charter rights generally yield to your lawful duty to enforce laws (that you may not ethically agree with) when the law itself is considered constitutionally sound, an important distinction.

While the enactment of the curfew was properly implemented under their Public Health Act, it was also in direct opposition to the Charter rights guaranteed all citizens of Canada, specifically our fundamental freedoms under section 2 (b) and (c).

Legal experts agree; there is little debate that the curfew breached the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Quebec Charter of Human Rights, as well as those set out by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

This fact has also been acknowledged in other rulings regarding the curfew, yet so far, these same judges have determined that these infringements were justifiable under section 1.

In truth, this debate is far from over, with numerous cases and appeals still pending.

While Constable Ouimet’s actions might have been wrong in the eyes of his employer, he stood against mandates and laws that he believed were unjust and unlawful.

Our governments took unprecedented actions against the citizens of Canada during Covid, and those at the forefront who were expected to enforce these laws were placed in a difficult position. Some set aside their misgivings and did what they were told, while others, like Ouimet, and other Police on Guard members, took the difficult path of standing up against them.

We applaud him for his integrity and strength in protecting the people of his community, and we thank him for his many years of service.

We also look forward to future rulings, in hopes that our Charter rights will again be respected and held in the highest regard, as they were intended.

To read the Rebel News article written by Alex Dhaliwal, click here