The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) have stood with many Canadians in cases resulting from government-imposed covid mandates.

Ontario has been a focal point, with some of the most severe restrictions in place at the time, such as a stay-at-home order that offered only 29 government–approved ‘legitimate’ reasons for a person to be away from their home.

During this time, peaceful protests against heavy-handed mandates were frequent. One such protest in April of 2021, in Niagara Falls ON, formed adjacent to a speaking event where an audience had gathered to listen to several speakers, including Maxime Bernier, former cabinet minister and current leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC). The two events merged and Mr. Bernier’s attendance was acknowledged by attending officers who saw fit to charge him with failing to comply with the Stay-at-Home Order and with failing to comply with an order under the Reopening Ontario Act.

JCCF lawyer Chris Fleury represented Mr. Bernier in the Ontario Court of Justice at the request of the prosecutor after Mr. Bernier donated to a Niagara Region charity. The outcome, as with many similar cases, saw all charges against Mr. Bernier withdrawn in May.

Mr. Fleury stated, with respect to the JCCF’s efforts to hold the Ontario government to task, “With the exception of Randy Hillier’s challenge of the Stay-at-Home-Order and our ArriveCAN challenge, this was the last ticket case that we were defending in Ontario. We are slowly putting this shameful period behind us.”

He closed by saying, “While we would have preferred that no one who attended this protest was charged in the first place, this Is an excellent outcome for Mr. Bernier. Ontario’s Stay-at-Home Order was unnecessary, unscientific, and ultimately harmful. It is encouraging that prosecutions of this nature are finally coming to a close.”

We applaud their success, while also wondering what the government might have learned that they will use to better support their efforts, the next time they wish to strip Canadians of their inalienable rights.

While we are collectively winning, case by case, this is far from over.

Click here to read the article written by the JCCF