Category: Human Rights

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Rickard/Harrison “Travel Mandates Challenge” Really Just A PRIVATE Suit For Damages

When people are being asked to donate to public cases, a.k.a. public interest litigation, they are entitled to be fully informed about the nature of the suit. As a consumer, honesty and transparency in advertising are obviously important. This applies regardless of industry.

Plaintiffs in a high profile lawsuit filed last year are asking for money. However, it appears they are not being forthcoming about what is really going on. This is, of course, the latest “travel mandates challenge” filed in Federal Court.

Upon reading the Statement of Claim, and the Amended Claim, it appears simply to be a suit requesting damages. There’s no relief sought that would benefit Canadians as a whole. Even if the lawsuit were successful, there’s nothing for the public listed.

It doesn’t look like there’s much of an ideological issue with the injection pass anyway. Starting on paragraph 32, they argue that the Feds were neglient and incompetent in how it was set up. They also try to argue “negligence” and “bad faith” at the same time, despite them being contradictory.

There’s no order being challenged, nor any request that would prevent injection mandates from returning in the future. There’s no money or justice being sought for the “unvaccinated” as a group.

Rickard and Harrison were asked about this, but have refused to provide any answer, other than some insults. It will be interesting to see what happens now.

Brief History On The Proceedings In Federal Courts


The story actually has quite the convoluted history. There were originally 4 Applications filed in Federal Court and heard together. See parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The Statement of Claim is the more well known way to start litigation. It typically involves requests for financial compensation, but other orders can be sought as well. By contrast, an Application for Judicial Review has to do with reviewing an existing order, and is meant to be streamlined.

JURISDICTION ACTION JUDICIAL REVIEW STEPS TAKEN
Federal Statement Of Claim Application Motion
Ontario Statement Of Claim Application Motion
British Columbia Notice Of Civil Claim Petition Application
  • December 2021: Rickard/Harrison (T-1991-21)
  • January 2022: Naoum (T-145-22)
  • January 2022: Peckford (T-168-22)
  • February 2022: Bernier (T-247-22)

The Applications were declared “moot” in 2022 by Justice Jocelyne Gagné, but with the caveat that remedies could still be pursued by way of an Action, with a Statement of Claim.

It turned out that none of the Applicants were actually asking for any sort of damages. They were just asking that the injection pass requirement disappear permanently.

[27] Of note, after the IOs/MO were repealed and the Respondent had given notice of its motion for mootness, the Applicants in file T-1991-21 filed a Notice of Motion seeking orders to amend their Notice of Application to assert damages and indicating that their Application would proceed as an Action. On August 3, 2022, Associate Judge Tabib denied the motion, noting “it appears that one of the goals of the proposed amendments is to attempt to insulate the Applicants from the potential consequences of the Respondent’s motion to declare this application moot.” She considered the implications of a dismissal of the motion for mootness and concluded that “I am, accordingly, not satisfied that the dismissal of this application for mootness, if it is ordered, would substantially prejudice the Applicant’s ability to pursue a claim for damages by way of action. More importantly, I am not satisfied that the possibility of a future dismissal, with the resulting costs and inefficiency, justifies, at this time, the extraordinary remedy sought by the Applicants.”

[41] As stated above, these proceedings will have no practical effect on the rights of the Applicants. They have obtained the full relief available to them and a decision of the remaining declaratory relief would provide them no practical utility. If they suffered damages as a result of these IOs/MO being in force, they would have to bring an action against the Crown and have their respective rights assessed in light of all the relevant facts.

[46] Additionally, the rail passenger vaccine mandate is also challenged for breaching sections 2(a), 7, 8 and 15 of the Charter in several actions in damages before this Court (files no. T-554-22 and T-533-22), and the air passenger vaccine mandate in the Alberta Court of King’s Bench (file no. 2203 09246). It is true that none of these proceedings will test the IOs/MO against section 6 of the Charter but, as indicated above, considering that they are no longer in force, the proper vehicle would be an action in damages if the Applicants suffered any damages as a result of these temporary measures. The Court would then have the proper factual background to assess the Applicants’ Charter rights.

The Government lifted the mandates shortly before filing a Motion to declare the cases moot. Yes, this was a cynical ploy, but it was success in obtaining dismissals. The Judge declined to hear the challenges anyway, but gave an alternative path forward.

For reasons that were never made clear, at least not publicly, the Applicants all appealed. They APPEALED a ruling when they could have simply REFILED as an Action. The Federal Court of Appeal threw it out, noting the lawyers didn’t even understand the Standard For Review. (See here)

TYPE OF ERROR STANDARD FOR REVIEW
Error of Fact Overriding, Palpable Error
Error of Pure Law Correctness
Mixed Fact & Law Spectrum, Leaning To Overriding, Palpable Error
Discretionary Orders Overriding, Palpable Error

Justice Gagné’s decision of “mootness” could be challenged by arguing “overriding palpable error”. Granted, this is often harder than “correctness”. But this is very basic, and it’s baffling that senior, experienced lawyers don’t know this.

Then again, why are they appealing at all? Justice Gagné ruled that they could refile as an Action (with a Statement of Claim) if anyone had suffered any damages.

This is “bad beyond argument” level stupid.

[8] Two of the four groups of appellants do not address the standard of review at all in their memoranda of fact and law. The other two argue that the standard of review in these appeals is correctness. However, in oral submissions, the appellants now acknowledge that this Court must follow the appellate standards of review described in the previous paragraph.

Bernier, Peckford and Naoum decided to APPEAL AGAIN, seeking Leave to file with the Supreme Court of Canada. Keep in mind, they still could have refiled their pleadings (as an Action) with the Federal Court. Quite predictably, all Leave Applications were denied.

To their credit, this time, Rickard and Harrison decided to file a Statement of Claim, as had been recommended earlier. However, their suit is so poorly drafted that it’s unlikely to ever go anywhere.

Now we get to the main point of this article.

Rickard/Harrison Claim Is A PRIVATE Lawsuit

1. The Plaintiffs claim the following:

a. Constitutional damages pursuant to Section 24(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”), in the amount of $1,000,000, exclusive of interest and costs, for breach of the Plaintiffs’ Section 6, 7 and 15 rights and freedoms as guaranteed by the Charter as a result of government decision-making and action conduct that was rooted in negligence, bad faith and willfully blind to the lack absence of scientific evidence or disconfirming scientific evidence regarding the role, and, in particular, the unknown efficacy, of Covid-19 vaccination in reducing the risk of Covid-19 transmission and infection within the transportation sector;

b. Costs of this action in accordance with the Federal Court Rules, SOR/98-106; and,

c. Such further and other relief as counsel may advise and this Honorable Court deem just.

Both the Statement of Claim and the Amended Claim are available. This is important because it doesn’t match with what’s being claimed. The content of this is quite clearly a private lawsuit for damages. It seeks monetary awards for themselves.

(a) Damages, interest, costs recovered
(b) Costs of the proceeding

While the original Applications were a direct challenge to injectin travel mandates, this case does no such thing. It’s a private lawsuit for money. Even if they were successful, there would be no impact on society at large, as none is being sought.

And by arguing “negligence”, Rickard and Harrison are opening the door for the Government to propose so-called better safeguards.

If Rickard and Harrison wanted donations to finance a lawsuit for their retirements, they can ask. However, they need to be transparent about the nature of the case.

Requests For Donations For “Travel Mandates Challenge”

In his pinned tweet, Rickard promotes this case as “seeking justice for 6-7 million ‘unvaccinated’ Canadians”. However, this is not the case.

The Claim (both original and amended versions) do not ask for any kind of remedy that would aid the public as a whole. There’s no remedy being sought that would benefit 6 or 7 million people. Rickard and Harrison are asking for money for themselves.

True, the original Applications challenged mandates, but this case doesn’t.

Reading the case as a whole, Rickard and Harrison aren’t really even challenging the idea of a “vaccine passport”. Instead, they go on and on about how the Trudeau Government was “negligent” and “reckless” in how it was implemented.

Potentially, a Judge could issue guidance on how to better administer such a system.

Interestingly, Rickard often provides screenshots of the front page of his suit. However, a link to the full document is rarely (if ever) included. A possible reason is that reading the Claim reveals instantly that the “challenge” being described doesn’t exist.

Donations To Be Funneled Through A “Charity”

Also in the pinned tweet, Rickard asks for money for this “historic and incredibly import lawsuit”, offering “charity receipts” to people donating. Now, this charity does exist, and can be found on the C.R.A. site.

Registration can also be found with Corporations Canada. Karl Harrison is listed as a director of the organization.

However, the concern comes in about what is being fundraised. Rickard and Harrison are pitching this lawsuit as public interest litigation, a challenge to the travel mandates.

In reality, it’s a private suit for money — for themselves.

Rickard whines (again, pinned tweet) that the mainstream press in Canada has effectively buried the story. Presumably, he’s not getting the money or attention because everyone’s in bed with Trudeau. It’s quite amusing to see.

Incidently, Rickard and Harrison were contacted about this. They were asked why they were only seeking money for themselves, if they were fundraising for a “travel mandates challenge”. Both have refused to answer.

If there is a legitimate explanation, it would be nice to know. However, it comes across as soliciting funds for a private case, disguised as public interest litigation.

They’re handing out tax receipts to cover donations to their private case, while telling prospective donors that it’s a challenge to injection travel mandates. Not a good look.

FEDERAL COURT APPLICATIONS STRUCK:
(1) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2022/2022fc1463/2022fc1463.html

FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL RULING:
(1) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fca/doc/2023/2023fca219/2023fca219.html

SUPREME COURT OF CANADA APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE:
(1) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc-l/doc/2024/2024canlii80713/2024canlii80713.html (Bernier)
(2) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc-l/doc/2024/2024canlii80711/2024canlii80711.html (Peckford)
(3) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc-l/doc/2024/2024canlii80702/2024canlii80702.html (Naoum)

RICKARD/HARRISON STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
(1) Rickard T-2536-23 Statement Of Claim
(2) Rickard T-2536-23 Notice Of Intent To Respond
(3) Rickard T-2536-23 Amended Statement Of Claim
(4) Rickard T-2536-23 Notice Of Motion
(5) https://x.com/ShaunRickard67/status/1840070389965128046
(6) https://www.freedomandjustice.ca/donate/
(7) CRA Page Of Institute For Freedom And Justice
(8) Corporations Canada Page

STANDARD OF REVIEW:
(1) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2002/2002scc33/2002scc33.html
(2) Housen (Highlighted)

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Bills C-398/C-399: The “Right” Of Homeless Encampments, And Immigration “Equity”

Just before Parliament took its Summer recess in 2024, NDP Member of Parliament, Jenny Kwan, introduced 2 Private Member’s Bills: C-398 and C-399.

Both are in the introductory stage in the House of Commons. While Private Bills don’t commonly become law, there’s always the possibility they will. There’s also the prospect that the contents will simply be incorporated into a larger, Government Bill.

Starting with Bill C-398, it would create the “right” to set up homeless encampments on Federal land. It would amend the National Housing Strategy Act in several places. Authorities would be prevented from blocking them, or shutting them down. And for reference:

Homeless encampment means an outdoor settlement of one or more temporary structures, such as tents, vehicles or other structures that are not designed or intended for permanent human habitation but that one or more persons experiencing homelessness use as their residence.‍ (campement d’itinérants).

(e) establish measures to prevent the removal of homeless encampments on federal land and to identify alternatives to homeless encampments following meaningful engagement with their residents; and

(f) provide for processes to ensure that Indigenous peoples are actively involved and supported in determining and developing culturally appropriate housing-related programs and that responses to homeless encampments respect their rights.

Bill C-398 does talk about “identifying alternatives to homeless encampments”. Presumably this means providing people with low or no-cost housing. Interestingly, there’s nothing in the legislation that says it will only apply to Canadian citizens, or permanent residents, or landed immigrants.

Logically, anyone who entered the country illegally, who who overstayed their visa, would be entitled to the same protections.

Mandate
10 (1) The mandate of the Ombud is to examine the practices of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to ensure that they are fair, equitable, unbiased, non-racist and non-discriminatory, and to conduct investigations if the Ombud has reasonable grounds to believe that a person or group of persons has been the victim of unfairness, inequity, bias, racism or discrimination — including systemic racism and systemic discrimination — in the Department’s decision-making process.

Duties and functions
(2) The Ombud’s duties and functions include
(a) reviewing the Department of Citizenship and Immigration’s policies, programs, initiatives, training procedures and processing standards to identify fairness or equity problems in the Department’s administration of the Citizenship Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, including those resulting from biases and discrimination — including systemic racism and systemic discrimination;
(b) receiving and, if appropriate, investigating complaints, including complaints about the problems referred to in paragraph (a);
(c) monitoring trends and patterns in complaints in order to identify the problems referred to in paragraph (a); and
(d) making recommendations to the Minister regarding any unfairness, inequity, bias or discrimination — including systemic racism and systemic discrimination — that the Ombud identifies.

Kwan wants to create an ombudsman to ensure that “equitable” policies and practices are being implemented by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. She also wants that ombudsman to make recommendations to the Minister in order to help this along.

Now, while the connection may seem tenuous, consider this:

The New Democrats and experts agree that the problem on orderly crossings is the safe third country agreement. For over a year now, I have been calling on the government to invoke article 10 of the safe third country agreement and to provide written notice to the United States that we are suspending the agreement.

If the safe third country agreement is suspended, asylum seekers can make safe, orderly crossings at designated ports of entry. This will protect the rights of the asylum seekers, provide safety and stability to Canada’s border communities most impacted by this influx, and allow for the government agencies, such as the RCMP, CBSA, IRCC, and the IRB, to strategically deploy personnel and resources necessary to establish border infrastructure instead of this ad hoc approach. This is the rational, reasonable response to this situation.

Back in April 2018, Kwan posted on her website that she had been calling on the Trudeau Government to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement. The reason for doing this is so that people entering from the United States — to claim asylum — could simply stroll into any official port of entry.

In November 2018, Kwan called for the Safe Third Country Agreement to be suspended, claiming that the U.S. (under Donald Trump) wasn’t a “safe country”.

In March 2020, she wrote to Trudeau and Freeland, protesting that illegals trying to cross from the U.S. were being turned back.

Taken together, what does this all mean?

It means that Kwan, who is pro-open borders, supports having illegals come in from the U.S., and presumably elsewhere as well. On one hand, she introduces Bill C-398, which entrenches the “right” of people to set up encampments on Federal land. On the other, she has Bill C-399, which creates and ombudsman to ensure that “equitable” immigration policies are enforced, and to make recommendations to the Minister.

Will taxpayer funded “housing for illegals” become a human right?

(1) https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/c-398
(2) https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/jenny-kwan(89346)
(3) https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-398/first-reading
(4) https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/n-11.2/FullText.html
(5) https://www.parl.ca/LegisInfo/en/bill/44-1/C-399
(6) https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-399/first-reading
(7) https://www.jennykwanndp.ca/on_irregular_border_crossings
(8) https://www.jennykwanndp.ca/emergency_study_on_irregular_border_crossings
(9) https://www.jennykwanndp.ca/open_letter_to_deputy_prime_minister_on_border_restriction

Private Member Bills In Current Session:
(1) Bill C-206: Decriminalizing Self Maiming To Avoid Military Service
(2) Bill C-207: Creating The “Right” To Affordable Housing
(3) Bill C-219: Creating Environmental Bill Of Rights
(4) Bill C-226: Creating A Strategy For Environmental Racism/Justice
(5) Bill C-229: Banning Symbols Of Hate, Without Defining Them
(6) Bill C-235: Building Of A Green Economy In The Prairies
(7) Bill C-245: Entrenching Climate Change Into Canada Infrastructure Bank
(8) Bill C-250: Imposing Prison Time For Holocaust Denial
(9) Bill C-261: Red Flag Laws For “Hate Speech”
(10.1) Bill C-293: Domestic Implementation Of Int’l Pandemic Treaty
(10.2) Bill C-293: Concerns Raised In Hearings Over Food Supplies
(11) Bill C-312: Development Of National Renewable Energy Strategy
(12) Bill C-315: Amending CPPIB Act Over “Human, Labour, Environmental Rights”
(13) Bill C-367: Removing Religious Exemptions Protecting Against Antisemitism
(14) Bill C-373: Removing Religious Exemptions Protecting Against Antisemitism 2.0
(15) Bill C-388: Fast Tracking Weapons, Energy, Gas To Ukraine
(16) Bill C-390: Expanding Euthanasia Into PROVINCIAL Frameworks
(17) Bill S-215: Protecting Financial Stability Of Post-Secondary Institutions
(18) Bill S-243: Climate Related Finance Act, Banking Acts
(19) Bill S-248: Removing Final Consent For Euthanasia
(20) Bill S-257: Protecting Political Belief Or Activity As Human Rights
(21) Bill S-275: Adding “Sustainable And Equitable Prosperity” To Bank Of Canada Act

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Summary Judgement Motion To Be Heard In Injection Mandate For Hundreds Of Healthcare Workers

Next week, on Tuesday August 13th, hundreds of Ontario health care workers will hear a Motion to determine whether or not their lawsuit can proceed.

The Statement of Claim (and the amended version) are both extremely poorly written. They fail to plead the necessary information to support any of the major allegations. And what has been pleaded is largely irrelevant. Here’s the previous review of the case.

For clarity, there are actually 2 separate Motions filed. One is from the Ontario Government, and the other from the various hospitals and health care employers. It seems that the latter have banded together in an effort to mitigate their costs.

1. Vast Majority Of Plaintiffs Are/Were Union Members

Out of the 473 named Plaintiffs, some 387 of them, or more than 80%, belong to unions. These include CUPE, Unifor, OPSEU, and others. Starting at page 58 in the hospitals Factum, the Plaintiffs, Defendants and respective unions are all listed. There are additional Plaintiffs who are simply “John Doe”.

Why does this matter? It’s because unions are typically governed by collective bargaining agreements. These include the processes to grieve matters. Almost universally, grievances that cannot be resolve end up getting sent to arbitration, whereas litigation is prohibited.

There are limited exceptions to this, such as workers suing their unions for failing to represent in good faith. However, none of these exceptions are listed, nor are any facts pleaded that would allow for them.

Unfair as it may be, the Courts are consistently ruling that injection mandates are essentially relating to the terms and conditions of employment. In essence, unionized workers don’t have the right to sue.

In theory, the non-union Plaintiffs could still go ahead. However, the pleading is full of serious defects, which will make that impossible. Read the last review. And the Factums (written arguments) filed outline additional problems.

In Court proceedings, there’s an overarching principle that cases are to be conducted as swiftly and cost effectively (cheaply) as possible. That’s going to be a problem for several reasons.

2. Motion Record Of 13,000 Pages Submitted

There was apparently a 23 volume Motion Record, comprising some 13,000 pages. A Motion Record is a collection of documents (typically the Notice, and Affidavit evidence) that will be used at the hearing.

Why 13,000 pages? This is because the Statement of Claim, and the amended one, don’t plead any facts or particulars about specific Plaintiffs. Nor do they plead facts or particulars about any facts or particulars for any Defendants. Essentially, the Defendants are having to provide basic information to the Court about the parties.

This is something the Plaintiffs are typically expected to do.

While this does seem like an absurd amount of material, consider that there are 473 named Plaintiffs. That works out to an average of about 27 pages per person, including employment agreements and union documentation.

This isn’t a effort to justify injection mandates. However, it is unfair — in terms of due process — to sue on behalf of so many people, yet provide no information about their circumstances.

3. Moron Lawyer Sues 59 Separate Defendants

There are 59 separate Defendants in this case. Yes, the usual Government ones are named, such as Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, the Attorney General and the Province of Ontario. This is to be expected.

However, dozens more are listed, and they are scattered across Ontario. Various hospitals and health centres are named, and have to respond. These organizations have little to no connection with each other.

In the Katanik case, organized by Take Action Canada, counsel made the decision to sue 47 different Defendants, including 20 municipalities, as well as the Ontario Government. This resulted in over 20 lawyers being involved to defend that case.

In this case, the various non-Government Defendants have pooled their money to file a single Motion to cover everyone. This was done to reduce overall expenses. And good for them, because this could have been a lot worse in terms of costs.

4. Hundreds Of Plaintiffs With No Connection

It has been pointed out in the Factums that the vast majority of the Plaintiffs don’t even live or work in Toronto, where this case was filed.

The Defendants argue that it’s improper to lump so many Plaintiffs together.

While some do work together and know each other, the Plaintiffs are scattered across the country. Now, this case could have been commenced as a Proposed Class Action (notwithstanding the union issue), but it wasn’t. It clogs up the Courts to bring so many unrelated cases together.

5. Pleading Is “Bad Beyond Argument” In Terms Of Quality

See the previous review. It outlines the major defects in the pleading, and provides constructive criticism about how it should have been done.

6. CSASPP Gets Honourable Mention Here

Back in late 2023, Justice Chalmers dismissed a $1.1 million defamation lawsuit brought against CSASPP, the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy. He ruled that the now infamous email and FAQ were truthful and accurate.

Now, the hospital Defendants are quoting Justice Chalmers.

4. This Action is untenable with no reasonable chance of success. To borrow Justice Chalmers’ phrasing in Galati v. Toews et al, the pleading is prolix, argumentative, advances pseudo-legal concepts and conspiracy theories, and has no reasonable chance for success. Consequently, the Moving Parties seek an Order striking out the Plaintiffs’ (the “Responding Parties”) Amended Statement of Claim (the “Amended Claim”), without leave to amend, on four grounds:

76. Moreover, this Action does not exist in isolation. Similar pleadings have been filed in Ontario and British Columbia. The British Columbia pleading has since been struck. The Ontario pleading was recently described by Justice Chalmers as follows:

The Ontario pleading is prolix and argumentative. The claim advances pseudo-legal concepts and conspiracy theories that the pandemic was pre-planned and executed by the WHO, Bill Gates, the World Economic Forum and unnamed billionaires and oligarchs. The similarly drafted A4C claim was struck by Justice Ross. In doing so, he described the pleading as “bad beyond argument”.

77. Justice Chalmers further opined that the similar Ontario Action has been improperly pleaded and improperly asserts “bizarre conspiracy theories” which are ineffective and have little or no chance of success. The Moving Parties submit that the same observations equally apply to this case.

Since Vaccine Choice Canada discontinued their case — and presumably kept all the donor money — these comments from Justice Chalmers are closest there will be to a ruling. While the CSASPP case was over (alleged) defamation, the critique has made its way to this lawsuit.

It’s also amusing that the Plaintiffs’ Factum cites that CSASPP was successful in surviving a Motion to Strike back in 2022. This is a bit surreal, to attempt to bankrupt an organization, and then piggyback off of their work.

7. Lawyer Unaware Of Employment Law Precedent

As an aside, it’s baffling that counsel keeps citing the 1995 Supreme Court case of Weber v. Ontario Hydro. It went a long way towards shutting down the ability of unionized employees to go to Court. Time and time again, Judges have thrown lawsuits out for lack of jurisdiction if there’s another outlet.

8. How Much Money Have Plaintiffs Had To Pay?

Without seeing the retainer agreements, it’s impossible to know for sure, but consider that there are 473 named Plaintiffs.

The retainer in the Adelberg case — the Federal one — was $1,000 each.
The retainer in the Katanik case — run by Take Action Canada — was $1,500 each.
There have been rumours going around as well that this retainer was $2,000 per head.

  • 473 Plaintiffs * $1,000/Plaintiff = $473,000
  • 473 Plaintiffs * $1,500/Plaintiff = $709,500
  • 473 Plaintiffs * $2,000/Plaintiff = $946,000

As a rough estimate, it’s fair to say that the Plaintiffs have collectively paid between half a million dollars and a million. And all they’re getting is a cut-and-paste Statement of Claim, with no prospects of getting to Trial.

It’s the same garbage pleading over and over again.

9. Some Final Thoughts

Anyhow, the hearing is next week, assuming it doesn’t get postponed. Of course, it’s also possible that the case just gets dropped altogether. It has happened before.

What will the outcome be? It’s possible that the unionized Plaintiffs will be barred from suing completely. However, the non-unionized Plaintiffs would still have to redraft a proper Claim. This is pretty much what happened with the Adelberg (Federal) case — Government employees were barred, but the private sector workers could proceed. Such a decision could happen again.

Assuming that any of the Plaintiffs are allowed to refile, they need to retain a competent lawyer. Their current one clearly isn’t up to the task.

Pardon earlier errors that listed the hearing date as August 18th, 2024, and the number of Plaintiffs as around 300. It is actually August 13th, with 473 (named) Plaintiffs.

(1) Grifters Main Page
(2) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/regu/rro-1990-reg-194/latest
(3) https://www.ontario.ca/page/search-court-cases-online
(4) Dorceus Statement Of Claim
(5) Dorceus Amended Statement Of Claim
(6) Dorceus Defendant Moving Party Factum SJM Government
(7) Dorceus Defendant Moving Party Factum SJM Hospitals
(8) Dorceus Plaintiff Responding Factum SJM

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18 Reasons Massive Healthcare Workers Claim Is Defective

Here we go again.

On August 13th, 2024, a Motion for Summary Judgement will be heard in the Civil Branch of the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto. This was over injection mandates dating back to 2021. Approximately 300 healthcare workers — working in many different settings — will see if their case is thrown out.

The original Claim was filed in 2022, and an amended one in 2023.

The main reason for this Motion is that the vast majority of Plaintiffs are likely ineligible to sue. Being part of a union typically means that there’s no right to go to Court. Collective agreements usually have a grievance process that ends with arbitration, but doesn’t allow for litigation.

Beyond that, the Statement of Claim is so poorly and incoherently written that it’s likely to be struck anyway. It doesn’t plead any of the necessary information required, and most of what it does include is irrelevant. It appears to have been written by someone with no understanding at all of Civil Procedure.

All that’s missing is a tirade about Bill Gates and microchipping.

This isn’t Vaccine Choice Canada or Action4Canada or Take Action Canada. Nor is it the mess, Adelberg. This is yet another “bad beyond argument” pleading. The main defects are:

  1. Failure To establish Jurisdiction of the Court
  2. Failure to seek Relief within Jurisdiction of the Court
  3. Failure to plead concise set of material facts
  4. Failure to keep evidence out of Claim
  5. Failure to remove argument from Claim
  6. Failure to plead facts which would support conclusions of law
  7. Failure to give Claim particulars
  8. Failure to specify who should pay damages
  9. Failure to properly plead s.2 (fundamental freedoms) Charter breaches
  10. Failure to properly plead s.6 (mobility rights) Charter breaches
  11. Failure to properly plead s.7 (security of the person) Charter breaches
  12. Failure to properly plead s.15 (equality) Charter breaches
  13. Failure to properly plead tort of intimidation
  14. Failure to properly plead tort of conspiracy
  15. Failure to properly plead tort of malfeasance
  16. Failure to state a Cause of Action
  17. Failure to appreciate Statute of Limitations
  18. Claim just a duplicate of other cases

This is just a brief critique, but let’s get into it.

1. Failure To Establish Jurisdiction Of The Court

RULE 21 DETERMINATION OF AN ISSUE BEFORE TRIAL
Where Available
To Any Party on a Question of Law
21.01
To Defendant
(3) A defendant may move before a judge to have an action stayed or dismissed on the ground that,
.
Jurisdiction
(a) the court has no jurisdiction over the subject matter of the action;

Rule 21.01(3)(a) of Civil Procedure states that a Defendant may move to to have a case stayed or dismissed if there’s no jurisdiction. Why does that matter here? Because the bulk of the Plaintiffs here are from unionized workplaces. Union workers are typically governed by a collective bargaining agreement, and it usually mandates arbitration as a means of settling disputes.

Plenty of cases have already been thrown out for this.

To even (theoretically) overcome this burden, Plaintiffs would have to plead details about what steps they took to resolve this internally. They would have to demonstrate that the process was corrupt or unworkable.

2. Failure To Seek Relief Within Jurisdiction Of The Court

The Relief sought section is downright goofy, and it’s startling to see that an experienced lawyer is including content such as this. It would be bad enough to see an articling student draft such garbage. And it’s not the first time.

  • Allegations of criminal conduct
  • Allegations of crimes against humanity
  • Allegations of eugenics (which would be criminal)
  • Allegations of violations of Nuremberg Code
  • Allegations of violations of the Helsinki Declaration

Both the Action4Canada and Adelberg (Federal) cases were struck — in part — because they demanded remedies that a Civil Court had no jurisdiction over. Despite being criticized by multiple Courts over this, the same allegations appear here. Mostly likely, this is because this lawyer uses a template and simply cut and pastes from one case to the next.

3. Failure To Plead Concise Set Of Material Facts

Rules of Pleading — Applicable to all Pleadings
Material Facts
.
25.06 (1) Every pleading shall contain a concise statement of the material facts on which the party relies for the claim or defence, but not the evidence by which those facts are to be proved.

In every jurisdiction, Plaintiffs are required to plead the facts. This refers to the: who, what, where, when, and how that things occurred. It is describing a series of events in enough detail that the opposing side — and the Judge — can understand what’s going on.

But that hasn’t happened here. Not a single Plaintiff is described with any detail. Only 8 are even identified in the Claim.

They objected to the injections? What was each one’s specific one?
Who was fired, and who was simply suspended?
Who was required to take the shots, and who was allowed to take the testing?
All Plaintiffs were ineligible for EI? Who applied for it?

None of this is described, nor is the conduct of any Defendant. There are no facts pleaded at all which could possibly be responded to.

4. Failure To Keep Evidence Out Of Claim

The other part of Rule 25.06(1) is that evidence shouldn’t be in a Statement of Claim. The facts are. The facts are simply the sequence of events that each Plaintiff can attest to.

All of the “facts” about the validity of testing and expert views should really be considered expert evidence. That has a place later, but not in the initial pleading.

5. Failure To Remove Argument From Claim

Not only should evidence not be in a Claim, but argument shouldn’t either. The pleading is ripe full of argument, complete with various case citations. However, this is not a Factum, nor a final submission. The original pleading is just supposed to lay out the (alleged) series of events.

How does an experienced lawyer not know this?

6. Failure To Plead Facts To Support Conclusions Of Law

Rules of Pleading — Applicable to all Pleadings
Pleading Law
.
25.06(2) A party may raise any point of law in a pleading, but conclusions of law may be pleaded only if the material facts supporting them are pleaded.

Rule 25.06(2) of Civil Procedure requires that the necessary facts be pleaded in order to support any conclusions of draw that are raised. This makes sense, as there has to be enough meat on the bones to theoretically have the Judge rule favourably. However, there are no facts pleaded about individual Plaintiffs or Defendants, just sweeping declarations without background information.

7. Failure To Give Claim Particulars

Rules of Pleading — Applicable to all Pleadings
Nature of Act or Condition of Mind
.
25.06(8) Where fraud, misrepresentation, breach of trust, malice or intent is alleged, the pleading shall contain full particulars, but knowledge may be alleged as a fact without pleading the circumstances from which it is to be inferred.

Rule 25.06(8) of Civil Procedure states that all pleadings shall have “full particulars”, which is also known as “particularizing a claim”. This is when fraud, misrepresentation, breach of trust, malice or intent is alleged. What this means is that such accusations are made, Plaintiffs have the extra burden to spell out what has happened. All major details must be added.

Quite reasonably, Defendants cannot be left guessing what they have to respond to.

8. Failure To Specify Who Should Pay Damages

Starting on page 33, the money sought is outlined.

  • $50,000 for each Plaintiff for “intimidation”
  • $100,000 for each Plaintiff for “conspiracy”
  • $100,000 for each Plaintiff, by the Government Defendants, for Charter violations
  • $200,000 for each Plaintiff for infliction of mental distress and anguish
  • $100,000 for each Plaintiff for “punitive damages”

This amounts to $550,000 per Plaintiff, but who exactly is supposed to pay it? It’s specified that the Province is to pay for the Charter violations, but that’s it. If money is to be sought, what is the proposed division? Never mind that none of the torts are properly pleaded, or pleaded at all.

9. Failure To Properly Plead S.2 (Fund. Freedoms) Charter Breaches

However, the Claim doesn’t plead any facts (Rule 25.06(1)) or particulars (Rule 25.06(8)) that would support this. The Claim doesn’t describe how any Plaintiff’s rights to freedom of conscience or belief were violated, nor does it specify which grounds apply to which person.

10. Failure To Properly Plead S.6 (Mobility Rights) Charter Breaches

There are a few mentions — although not properly pleaded — that Plaintiffs had their mobility rights infringed. But there isn’t a single instance of this described. Nor would this be relevant since the travel mandates were Federal, and this case is exclusively Provincial. Most likely, it was cut and pasted from the Adelberg case, which is Federal.

11. Failure To Properly Plead S.7 (Security Of Person) Charter Breaches

Similar to the Section 2 breaches, here, there are no facts (Rule 25.06(1)) or particulars (Rule 25.06(8)) pleaded which would support such allegations. Not a single Plaintiff describes their circumstances. Yes, we assume it to be true initially, but there’s nothing to work with.

12. Failure To Properly Plead S.15 (Equality) Charter Breaches

Section 15 of the Charter isn’t the savior that many think it is. Specifically, “equality” is limited to a fairly small number of groups. None of which apply here, as disappointing as that is.

Enumerated grounds, which are explicitly stated in the Charter, include: race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age or sex.

Analogous grounds, which are additional ones the Courts have endorsed, include: sexual orientation, marital status, off-reserve Aboriginal status and income.

Even if remaining injection-free were an enumerated or analogous ground, there are no facts pleaded which would support the Charter violations anyway. Again, not a single Plaintiff’s circumstances are described in any detail.

13. Failure To Properly Plead Tort Of Intimidation

Because this tort would cover “nature of act or condition of mind”, Rule 25.06(8) requires that full particulars be given, in addition to pleading facts that would support it.

Instead, the Statement of Claim simply states the test, then attempts to argue caselaw in support of it. There are no facts or particulars given — even assuming them to be true — that would support this. Argument is not permitted in this document, anyway.

14. Failure To Properly Plead Tort Of Conspiracy

As with the “intimidation” tort, there are no facts (Rule 26.06(1)) or particulars (Rule 25.06(8)) provided that would support the claim. The document simply states the test and tries to argue.

15. Failure To Properly Plead Tort Of Malfeasance Of Public Office

There are broad, sweeping declarations that the Government Defendants have acted in ways which are contrary to holding public office. But without any facts or particulars, this tort will go nowhere.

The tort of “infliction of mental anguish” isn’t pleaded properly either.

16. Failure To State A Cause Of Action

RULE 21 DETERMINATION OF AN ISSUE BEFORE TRIAL
Where Available
To Any Party on a Question of Law
21.01 (1) A party may move before a judge,
.
(a) for the determination, before trial, of a question of law raised by a pleading in an action where the determination of the question may dispose of all or part of the action, substantially shorten the trial or result in a substantial saving of costs; or
.
(b) to strike out a pleading on the ground that it discloses no reasonable cause of action or defence,

Rule 21.01(1)(b) of Civil Procedure allows Judges to strike a Claim if it discloses no reasonable cause of action. What this means, if there isn’t anything that can realistically be sought, the Court has the power to throw the case out completely, or to allow a rewrite (called granting Leave to Amend).

Here, there are no facts or particulars pleaded to support any of the allegations. The body of the text is argumentative and tries to plead evidence. None of the torts are properly pleaded. A Judge could reasonably conclude that there’s no case to try.

Of course, they tend to allow rewrites, no matter how poorly drafted a case is. Action4Canada was struck with Leave to Amend, which was quite surprising.

17. Failure To Appreciate Statute of Limitations

As many people know, there’s a time limit to file cases. This is commonly referred to as the Statute of Limitations. In Ontario, it’s 2 years for most things, although a number of exceptions exist. See the Ontario Limitations Act.

Even if these Plaintiffs were to hire a competent lawyer (and not withstanding the arbitration requirement), they’d likely be time barred. Since more than 2 years has passed, they wouldn’t be able to include additional claims beyond what’s already there.

18. Claim Just A Duplicate Of Other Cases

A major indicator that clients and donors are being ripped off is that they aren’t getting original work. Instead, it appears that counsel is using a “template” and simply duplicating cases.

Now, if these cases were successful, then it would be a good way to save time and money. But that isn’t at all the situation here.

They all kind of look the same, don’t they?
None of them properly pleaded, and none have ever gone anywhere.

How Many Victims Have Been Ripped Off?

A question that comes up often is how many victims there are of these scam lawsuits. For a partial answer, consider the following:

  • 600 – Adelberg (Federal)
  • 600 – Federal workers vaccine injury (apparently never filed)
  • 300 – Dorceus (this case)
  • 100 – Katanik (Take Action Canada’s “First Responders” suit)

These 4 cases alone amount to over 1,600 litigants who have gotten shoddy and mediocre representation. And all from the same lawyer. If one includes all of the donors, it’s no exaggeration to say that there have been several thousand victims who were taken advantage of.

Keep in mind, many, MANY cases have been filed since 2020.

What’s been disappointing is just how little the “independent” media has been speaking up about this. It’s not enough to simply be against lockdowns. Genuine reporters and journalists should be speaking up on behalf of victims who have been taken advantage of with these shoddy lawsuits. There are thousands of clients and donors whose goodwill and desperation have been exploited. They needed a voice.

Then of course, some asshole tried in June 2022 to bankrupt a former donor who simply wanted her money back. If this isn’t cause for concern, then what is?

True, it’s a little better now, but more should have been expected. While it’s great to support public interest litigation (overall), we shouldn’t lose track of the people who are really impacted by it.

As for Liberty Talk, perhaps the 25% commission in 2020 clouded her judgement.

(1) Grifters Main Page
(2) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/regu/rro-1990-reg-194/latest
(3) https://www.ontario.ca/page/search-court-cases-online
(4) Dorceus Statement Of Claim
(5) Dorceus Amended Statement Of Claim

Posted on

CSSEM Cases Thrown Out: $530,000 For Petitions That Don’t Actually Challenge Anything

The British Columbia Supreme Court dismissed 3 Petitions challenging a requirement that health care workers (HCW) still have to take the clot-shots to keep their jobs.

There was one small victory though. The Public Health Office is to review the requirement that remote workers have to get the shots. This would also apply to others who don’t come into any contact with patients, residents or clients. The reasons for that start on paragraph 210 of the ruling.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that remote workers or workers who don’t come into contact with others will be exempt from the injection orders. It simply means that it must be reconsidered.

[315] The petitions are dismissed, with the exception that, under JRPA s. 5(1), I remit to the PHO for reconsideration, in light of this decision, whether to consider requests under s. 43 of the PHA, for reconsideration of the vaccination requirement from healthcare workers able to perform their roles remotely, or in-person but without contact with patients, residents, clients or the frontline workers who care for them.

What percentage would this apply to?

These cases were financed by a group called CSSEM, the Canadian Society for Science & Ethics in Medicine. On their website, they take credit for raising $530,000 to date. There’s overlap with the people running this group, and those who had campaigned for Action4Canada.

Whether coincidental or by design, the name is strikingly similar to CSASPP, the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy. Both groups have the same goals. Was this done to piggyback off of their fundraising?

Hsiang et al v. Provincial Health Officer of British Columbia SCBC Vancouver Registry No. S224731

Hoogerbrug v. Provincial Health Officer of British Columbia SCBC Vancouver Registry No. S224652

CSASPP et al v. Dr. Bonnie Henry in her capacity as Provincial Health Officer for the Province of British Columbia SCBC Vancouver Registry No. S2110229

Tatlock et al v. Attorney General for the Province of British Columbia et al.SCBC Vancouver Registry No. S22242

Previously, there were 4 Petitions to be heard together, but CSASPP discontinued, after advising that it would be the case.

From the looks of their website, CSSEM is still funding the other 3 cases. While they weren’t anywhere near the dumpster fire that the Action4Canada one is, there are several problems which led to them being dismissed anyway:

  1. Petitions don’t challenge the “emergency” declarations in any meaningful way
  2. Petitions don’t challenge the junk “science”
  3. Petitions don’t challenge the Public Health Act
  4. Petitions should probably have been done as Civil Claims

Instead, the Petitions largely focus on narrow exemptions under the Canadian Charter. It’s a “cookie-cutter” challenge that’s been seen many times — including from the JCCF — and never goes anywhere. Seriously, it cost over half a million dollars for this?

26. The Petitioners seek the following orders under sections 2(2) and 7 of the Judicial Review
Procedure Act, RSBC 1996, c 241:
.
a. An order in the nature of certiorari quashing and setting aside the order of the Provincial Health Officer, dated November 18, 2021, entitled “Hospital and Community (Health Care and Other Services) Covid-19 Vaccination Status Information and Preventive Measures – November 18, 2021” (“Order”), to the extent that it requires individuals to have received the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in order to work in hospital and designated community settings;
b. A declaration that the decision to continue in effect, or the failure or refusal to rescind, the November 18 Order, at any time after November 18, 2021, in response to the Petitioner’s requests or otherwise, is unreasonable and ultra vires, as there is not presently a reasonable basis for the exercise of emergency powers under the Public Health Act, SBC 2008, c 28, and the vaccination mandate is not a reasonable or effective way to address the spread of SARS-CoV-2;
c. In addition or in the alternative, a declaration that there is no reasonable basis to refuse or decline or neglect to issue notice under section 59 of the Public Health Act “that the emergency has passed”, and to follow the specified steps required under section 60 of the Public Health Act, including rescission of the November 18 Order;
d. Such other relief as the Court deems warranted and just; and
e. Costs of the Petition.

This is the Relief sought in the Hsiang Petition. As is obvious, there’s no challenge to the Public Health Act, the legislative structure that allowed this in the first place. Nor does it ask for a declaration that there was never any emergency at all — just that there currently isn’t one.

The test on a Judicial Review typically is “reasonableness”. Since all major facts are conceded, there isn’t much to argue over. In the ruling, Justice Coval simply “defers” to the expertise of Bonnie Henry and the Public Health Office.

1. Petitions Don’t Challenge Emergency Declarations

Looking at the Hsiang, Morgan and Vandergugten Petition, there are already serious problems. The Petition argues that there currently isn’t an emergency, and that there is no longer a need for restrictions on people’s liberties and livelihoods.

Instead of that taking that there never was a need, and hence the measures were overblown, the document claims that it doesn’t apply now. It tacitly admits that such regulations may have been entirely reasonable and necessary at earlier dates.

This was certainly noticed by Justice Coval.

When the starting position is that there used to be a significant risk of spreading this (alleged) virus, you’ve already lost.

2. Petitions Don’t Challenge Junk Science

Apparently, the people challenging the injection mandate also “trust the science”. By this, there’s no effort to challenge any of the extensive lies and distortion that has come out the last few years. Admittedly, Petitions aren’t designed to be deep dives. However, these ones take almost everything the B.C. Government takes at face value.

Here’s an easy one: what’s the definition of a “Covid death“?

3. Petitions Don’t Challenge Public Health Act

This is yet another area that’s mind boggling. The Petitioners didn’t challenge any (or all) of the B.C. Public Health Act. This is the legislation that made all of this possible.

Instead, the lawyers are reduced to essentially arguing for exemptions within the framework of the PHA itself. This would have been a perfect time for a full attack on the PHA, but that didn’t happen.

(A) World Health Organization Constitution legally binding on member
(B) International Health Regulations are legally binding on WHO members
(C) Canada’s Bill C-12 (2005 Quarantine Act) was written by WHO
(D) Provincial Health Acts are extension of WHO-IHR
(E) Public Health Agency of Canada a de-facto branch of World Health Organization

There’s a wealth of information available on this. Instead of pursuing exemptions within the Charter, shouldn’t lawyers be asking by the World Health Organization is drafting our laws?

4. Petitions Should Have Been Filed As Civil Claims?

Although the names vary by jurisdiction, there are different ways a person can start a Court process. This matters as it appears the CSSEM chose the wrong one.

The most well known method is by “Action”. It’s starting by filing a Statement of Claim, or a Notice of Civil Claim, as it’s called in B.C. It also has a few other names. These can be extremely simple, or they can be very complex, depending on the circumstances.

A lesser known method is by “Judicial Review”. This is when someone goes to Court to challenge an Order from some branch of Government, or Government Official, or Crown Corporation. These are meant to be a more streamlined process than Actions.

Petitions aren’t meant to be a deep dive into the science. They’re designed as reviews of whether or not decisions are reasonable. Considering what isn’t being challenged above, the outcome was inevitable.

JURISDICTION ACTION JUDICIAL REVIEW STEPS TAKEN
Federal Statement Of Claim Application Motion
Ontario Statement Of Claim Application Motion
British Columbia Notice Of Civil Claim Petition Application

On the surface, a Petition appears to be the correct method. After all, these were challenges to specific orders from Bonnie Henry. However, things like discovery aren’t permitted here. They’re meant for Actions. The Hsiang and Hoogerbrug Petitioners attempted to augment (add to) their evidence the following:

  • Any and all documents relating to the incidence of COVID infections, transmission and serious illness, as well as hospitalization and death attributable to COVID, broken down by vaccination status and number of doses and age, since the emergence of the Omicron variants.
  • Any and all documents that support the comments made by the PHO in a media conference on January 21, 2022, during which the PHO stated that the provincial government’s approach to the COVID virus has shifted to be “much like how we manage other respiratory illnesses – influenza, or RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), or enteroviruses that cause the common cold”, including documents from January 2022 to September 12, 2022 that support this statement.
  • Any and all documents relating to the measures put in place to prevent infection and transmission of influenza and other respiratory illnesses, other than COVID, at hospitals and community health care facilities from 2009-2019.
  • Any and all documents relating to the relative effectiveness of the primary course of vaccination: In preventing people from contracting and transmitting COVID, since emergence of the Omicron variants; and compared to infection acquired immunity without vaccination with respect to preventing infection, transmission and serious illness, BC and other jurisdictions about vaccine mandates.
  • Any and all documents relating to the prevalence or estimated prevalence of infection and/or infection-acquired immunity in the provincial population.
  • All documents related to the consideration given to the two publicly available letters to UBC President & Vice-President Chancellor, Dr. Santa Ono, from the Vancouver Coastal Health Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Patricia Daly et al, dated February 16, 2022, and the and the UBC Faculty professors Dr. David Patrick, Dr. Sarah (Sally) Otto, and Dr. Daniel Coombs, dated February 20, 2022
  • All documents relating to the decision to permit unvaccinated individuals with a medical exemption to continue working at hospitals and community health care facilities, but not extending the same opportunity to unvaccinated persons with valid religious reasons for not being vaccinated
  • All documents relating to the measures put in place for those working at hospitals and community health care facilities with a medical exemption
  • Any and all documents relating to the effectiveness of measures other than vaccination in preventing the transmission of COVID at hospitals and community health care facilities, including, but not limited to, measures such as the use of personal protective equipment, hygiene policies, and daily or less frequent testing
  • All documents relating to the transmission of COVID by registered health professionals at hospitals and community health care facilities to patients and vice versa, including by vaccination status
  • All documents relating to the transmission of COVID at hospitals and community health care facilities by persons who are not subject to the vaccination mandate

It would have taken weeks or months to get all of this information together.

In fairness, CSASPP also tried to add evidence to their existing record. However, it was nowhere near what’s been listed above. Petitions are designed to be simple and straightforward, not the fact finding mission that’s being requested here.

CSASPP discontinued their Petition in 2023. In their status updates here and here, they blame lawyer Peter Gall (Hsiang and Hoogerbrug Petitions) for endless delays. If done in bad faith — and who knows — it would amount to hijacking the other challenges. The protracted nature of these cases merits a piece all on its own.

The Attorney General’s Office wasn’t happy about attempts to greatly expand the scope of the Petitions.

This isn’t quite as absurd as Action4Canada appealing a decision to strike their Claim, as opposed to simply rewriting it. But it’s still pretty bad.

But in the end, what was really challenged?

The (remaining) Petitioners don’t seem to have an issue with: (a) an emergency being declared at all; (b) the completely fraudulent science going unchecked; and (c) the B.C. Public Health Act. All that’s left is whether or not health care workers still have to get the shots under the current order.

If these suits were supposed to involve many procedural steps, such as discovery, then they should have been Civil Claims, not Petitions.

An interesting Twitter thread covering this case came from Peyman Askari. He breaks down other parts of the ruling quite well.

Administrative staff who work remotely, or who have no contact with patients, may get a reprieve in all of this. That said, this is nowhere near all of the health care workers in the Province.

Now, there will very likely be an Appeal. But what exactly would they argue?

(1) https://www.cssem.org/
(2) https://www.cssem.org/donate
(3) CSSEM Petition To The Court
(4) CSSEM Notice Of Assignment Justice Coval Assigned
(5) CSSEM Memorandum Justice Coval Will Hear All Petitions Together
(6) CSSEM Affidavit #3 Of Sophie Harney
(7) CSSEM Affidavit #4 of Sophie Harney
(8) CSSEM Gall’s Requisition To Set JMC For 19 Oct 2022
(9) CSSEM Peter Gall Disputes Record With Crown
(10) CSSEM Peter Gall’s Cover Letter For His Application
(11) CSSEM Gall Writes AG Regarding Further Amended Petitions
(12) CSSEM AG Writes Peter Gall To Advise His Proposed Amendments Are Convoluted
(13) CSSEM CSASPP Petitioner Advises Of Discontinuance
(14) CSSEM CSASPP Notice Of Discontinuance
(15) CSSEM Peter Gall’s Written Submissions For CPC Regarding Another Adjournment
(16) CSSEM Corrected Reasons Dismissing Peter Gall’s Application To Augment Record
(17) CSSEM CanLII Version Reasons For Decision (Augmenting Record)
(18) CSSEM Reasons For Decision (Dismissal)

COURT SERVICES ONLINE UPDATES:
(1) CSSEM Procedural Updates 01
(2) CSSEM Procedural Updates 02
(3) CSSEM Procedural Updates 03
(4) CSSEM Procedural Updates 04

CSSEM DOCUMENTS:
(1) CSSEM Applicants For Incorporation
(2) CSSEM Certificate Of Incorporation
(3) CSSEM Constitution
(4) CSSEM Incorporation Application
(5) CSSEM Model Bylaws
(6) CSSEM Statement Of Directors And Registered Office

CSASPP STATUS UPDATES:
(1) https://www.covidconstitutionalchallengebc.ca/status-updates#20221116
(2) https://www.covidconstitutionalchallengebc.ca/status-updates#20230301
(3) https://www.covidconstitutionalchallengebc.ca/status-updates#20230608

Posted on

Never Again: NDP MP Leah Gazan’s Rationale Behind Banning Residential School “Denialism”

A year ago, NDP Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre, Leah Gazan, made the news with calls to formally make illegal so-called residential school “denialism”.

October 2022, she got a Motion passed unanimously to formally recognize that genocide had taken place at residential schools in Canada.

In any event, recent tweets, here and here, shine light on her rationale for doing this. She draws a parallel between Holocaust denial, and this. And her solution is exactly the same: to make it illegal to publicly deny that it happened.

This Canadian Jewish Heritage Month, I commemorate my grandfather, David Gazan, who served in the Dutch Army during WWII, my grandmother, Gina Gazan, a concentration camp survivor, and my father, Albert Gazan, a Holocaust survivor and lifelong peace activist. (1/2)

We must stand together against rising antisemitic rhetoric and hate groups. We must remember the lessons of the Holocaust and the legacy of hate and discrimination that allowed it to happen. Never again means never again for anyone. (2/2)

However, Gazan posts this on her website, which really throws things for a loop.

Urgent Action Needed on the Humanitarian Crisis in Palestine

Israel’s devastating bombardment of Gaza following the horrific Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians has led to a humanitarian crisis that requires immediate action. At the time of writing, more than 22,000 people are confirmed killed in Gaza, more than 58,000 injured, and another 7,000 are missing under the rubble. Nearly half of those killed in Gaza were children, and 79 journalists and media workers have been killed. 1.9 million have been displaced by the destruction of critical infrastructure.

The Israeli blockade on fuel, food, water, and medicine is causing dehydration, starvation, and the unmitigated spread of disease among civilian populations. Women are being forced to give birth without electricity or medication, and surgeries are being performed without anesthesia.

For decades, Palestinians have been subjected to occupation, eviction from their homes, the annexation of their land, and the expansion of illegal settlements.

Even though Gazan supports criminalizing the act of “Residential School denialism”, and presumably “Holocaust denial” as well, she openly calls out what’s been going on for decades by Israel.

It’s also interesting that Gazan repeatedly denounces antisemitism. Such comments about Israel and the Middle East lead to similar accusations about her. She’s often labelled a Hamas sympathizer.

April 30th, Gazan retweeted António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations. Concerning the Middle East, he stated: “Independent investigators must be allowed immediate access. The families of the dead have a right to know what happened”. That certainly sounds reasonable, but by Gazan’s own standards, such comments would be hate speech if said in Canada.

She calls out genocide, but wants to make it illegal to question?!

Gazan also promotes her own Bill C-223, which would establish a framework for U.B.I., or universal basic income. Seems a bit odd that she wants a country that she alleges committed genocide to provide everyone with free money.

Last year, Gazan publicly called for the Federal Government to “protect and uphold the right to travel for refugees and former refugees”. Bearing in mind that they’re already free to move within Canada, this presumably means the freedom to visit other countries. Or to return to where they’re being persecuted. She also references 2020/2021, when Canadians weren’t free to travel.

Gazan is an enthusiastic supporter of abortion and women’s rights. While supporting social programs for children, it’s also a human right to terminate pregnancies at will.

Gazan is definitely a hard one to figure out.

Will “conservatives” take a principled stand on free speech? Doubtful. In 2022, Kevin Waugh introduced Bill C-250 to JAIL Holocaust deniers. It was also proudly displayed on the CPC website, but later removed. See the archive. But because of Division 21 in Bill C-19, Waugh’s version soon became redundant. As for these specific efforts:

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s spokesman Sebastian Skamski has not yet responded to a request about whether the Tories would support a push to criminalize residential school denialism.

When asked specifically about criminalizing “residential school denialism”, Poilievre hasn’t given a straight answer. There was no indignation at such an attack on free speech. But if he were logically consistent, he’d support such legislation.

We’ll have to see if it ever actually emerges. For now, it’s just talk. However, that can change quite quickly, and can always be buried in an omnibus bill.

(1) https://twitter.com/LeahGazan/status/1585726302044229632
(2) https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/should-residential-school-denialism-declared-hate-speech-1.6744100
(3) https://twitter.com/LeahGazan/status/1786107789196288306
(4) https://twitter.com/LeahGazan/status/1786107791511601274
(5) https://www.leahgazan.ca/palestine_feedback
(6) https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/status/1785394742391402660
(7) https://www.leahgazan.ca/support223
(8) https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/c-223
(9) https://www.leahgazan.ca/right_to_travel
(10) https://www.leahgazan.ca/statement-fredericton-abortion-clinic-closure
(11) https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/c-250
(12) https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-19/royal-assent
(13) https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/special-interlocutor-waiting-for-mp-bill-criminalizing-residential-school-denialism-1.6661615