Ben Spicer was charged with mischief, obstructing justice and possession of weapons while participating in the Ottawa Freedom Convoy in 2022.

According to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), Mr. Spicer was detained by police on February 19th, his bag was searched, and he was held in a police van. Police found a can of bear spray and a folding pocketknife in his bag.

Inside the police van, Ben was subject to audio surveillance without knowledge (or consent). He was also denied access to legal counsel while detained. Audio recordings from the van were submitted as evidence in an attempt to ‘demonstrate criminal activity’.

Defence argued against the audio recording as a breach of Mr. Spicer’s right to privacy while in custody, insisting that it should be excluded from trial. They also argued that the arrest itself was unlawful, as no evidence of criminal activity existed.

Justice Timothy Lipson, of the Ontario Court of Justice, presided over the trial.

Justice Lipson ruled that Mr. Spicer did in fact have a reasonable expectation of privacy while in police custody; the recording was deemed a violation of his privacy rights and excluded.

Justice Lipson also determined that the arrest lacked legal grounds and constituted a breach of section 9 of the Charter, protection against arbitrary detention.

He didn’t stop there.

The search of Mr. Spicer’s belongings was found to be in violation of section 8 of the Charter, which guards against unreasonable search and seizure.

His ruling further highlighted a breach of Mr. Spicer’s right to counsel without delay, protected under section 10(b) of the Charter.

All charges were dismissed.

We are incredibly pleased for Mr. Spicer, to be cleared of these seemingly arbitrary charges.

We applaud the defence team for tenaciously defending our Charter rights in an increasingly biased system, and we thank Justice Lipson for bringing honour back to our judicial system, standing true to his office and acknowledging the rights of Canadians.

In a system rife with political influence and corruption, it brings hope to see our justice system work as it was intended.

To read the article written by The Canadian Independent, click here