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COVID-19

Disciplined Police Officer Asks Court To Reverse Violation Of His Privacy And Freedom Of Expression

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News release from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that Constable Michael Brisco has asked the Ontario Divisional Court in Toronto to review a charge of discreditable conduct for donating $50 to the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa in 2022.

Constable Brisco was on unpaid leave due to the Windsor Police Service’s (WPS) vaccine mandate when, on February 8, 2022, he exercised his freedoms of expression and association by donating $50 to the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest via GiveSendGo. He did so privately and without mentioning his capacity as police officer.

Before the donation had reached Freedom Convoy recipients, a court order froze the GiveSendGo account. Shortly after the freeze, GiveSendGo’s website was hacked. Donor information was leaked to the public. On February 16, the Ontario Provincial Police obtained the leaked information and, despite knowing that the information had been illegally hacked, relayed that information to various police services around the province. Nothing in the leaked information identified Constable Brisco as a police officer. However, his name surfaced when the stolen database was cross-referenced with a police members database. He was called in for an interview with a WPS investigator and was required to answer the investigator’s questions about the donation pursuant to the Police Services Act.

The WPS charged Constable Brisco with discreditable conduct and eventually summoned him to a Discipline Hearing. The case against him was motivated by the assumption that he had contributed to an illegal protest. In support of the claim that the protest had been illegal, however, the WPS presented nothing more than the contents of newspaper reports, citing the opinions of the Prime Minister, the Premier of Ontario, and the (then) Ottawa Police Chief.

The prosecution made submissions about the Ambassador Bridge protest, trying to tie it to the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa. Trucks had parked on the bridge between Windsor and Detroit in a separate protest against Covid restrictions. The implication was that Constable Brisco’s donation supported the bridge blockade in Windsor. But there was no financial or even organizational connection between the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa and the Ambassador Bridge protest. Furthermore, Constable Brisco stated his donation was intended for the protest in Ottawa, not for the protest in Windsor. Nevertheless, on March 24, 2023, after a six-day hearing before a Hearing Officer, Brisco was found guilty of discreditable conduct. On May 18, 2023, he was fined the equivalent of two-weeks’ pay.

That decision was appealed on June 14, 2023, but it was upheld by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission in February 2024. In response to this decision, lawyers provided by the Justice Centre have assisted Constable Brisco in applying for a judicial review – a process by which courts make sure that the decisions of administrative bodies (e.g., the Windsor Police Service) are fair, reasonable, and lawful.

With assistance from the Justice Centre, Constable Brisco continues to stand up for his Charter-protected freedom of expression. He made a private political donation and did not identify himself as a police officer. Like other Canadians, police officers enjoy Charter freedoms and can express themselves within reason. Canadians should not be punished for expressing their political views, especially when evidence against them is obtained by unlawful means.

Darren Leung, one of the lawyers for Constable Brisco, stated, “It was unfortunate that private donor information was unlawfully accessed. It is outrageous that the Ontario Provincial Police obtained this information to assist in persecuting police officers who were exercising their right to free expression. The evidence used to convict Constable Brisco amounted to nothing more than opinions from people who did not like the message. We are hopeful that the Divisional Court will see that the entire conviction was unreasonable.”

Constable Brisco, a highly trained and respected police officer of 15 years, is now back on active duty.

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COVID-19

Ontario healthcare workers file $170 million class action over COVID mandates

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

A group of healthcare workers in Ontario who say their rights were infringed after refusing to go along with COVID workplace jab mandates have launched a $170 million class-action lawsuit against the province’s government and chief medical health officer.  

The lawsuit was brought forth by the United Health Care Workers of Ontario (UHCWO) and challenges an order made in 2021 by Ontario’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore that mandated all hospitals in the province implement healthcare worker COVID jab mandates.  

“We were witness to vast numbers of dedicated healthcare workers having their livelihoods and careers abruptly taken away, simply for making a personal medical choice,” said the UHCWO in a media statement.  

Moore’s mandate, known as Directive 6, went into effect on September 7, 2021. The class action looks to help the unionized healthcare workers impacted by the directive who say their freedoms were violated by the rule. 

“Other health-care workers were coerced into a medical treatment with the threat of being terminated, which stripped away the element of informed consent. Others were denied both medical and religious exemptions to this medical treatment,” said the union.  

The court proceedings will be taking place in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which must certify the lawsuit before it can officially proceed. The class-action is open to all unionized Ontario healthcare workers who were impacted by Moore’s directive.  

According to the UHCWO, the broadness of the class-action has the potential to include “thousands or tens of thousands of health care workers across Ontario.” 

“It includes unionized healthcare workers that were fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated, or unvaccinated. It includes unionized workers that remained employed, were placed on leave, terminated, resigned, or took early retirement due to the issuance of Directive 6,” says the group. 

The UHCWO group has retained Sheikh Law to represent the plaintiffs in the suit, as well as any potential class action members. 

Draconian COVID mandates, including those surrounding the experimental mRNA vaccines, were imposed by the provincial Progressive Conservative government of Ontario under Premier Doug Ford and the federal Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

Many recent rulings have gone in favor of those who chose to not to get the shots and were fired as a result, such as an arbitrator ruling that one of the nation’s leading hospitals in Ontario must compensate 82 healthcare workers terminated after refusing to get the jabs. 

The mRNA shots have been linked to a multitude of negative and often severe side effects in children. The jabs also have  connections to cell lines derived from aborted babies. As a result, many Catholics and other Christians refused to take them. 

Lawsuit argues ‘adverse events’ associated with COVID jabs were ‘either recklessly or willfully ignored’ 

In total, the damages being sought by the plaintiffs are broken down into four parts, those being $50 million for pain and suffering, $50 million for misfeasance in public office, $20 million for tortious inducement to breach contract, and another $50 million in punitive damages. The suit also looks to have the plaintiffs compensated for legal costs as well as lost income. 

The main plaintiff in the lawsuit is Ontario nurse Lisa Wolfs and according to the UHCWO, it is looking to get enough funding before officially initiating the certification process. If this part fails, she will be on the hook for all costs. 

Wolfs worked as a clinical nurse educator at London, Ontario health centre, and is contending that the COVID jab mandates made it so that there were unauthorized modifications made to her employment contract. These modifications made it so that she had to reveal her personal medical information.  

According to the lawsuit, she was dismissed after 16 years despite having a stellar work record. Wolfs has argued that her termination was a violation of her contract, which did not mandate she have a jab as a condition of work. 

“Known and unknown potential risk of adverse events associated with the COVID-19 vaccination were either recklessly or willfully ignored,” reads the lawsuit. 

“There was no long-term safety data available to the Chief Medical Officer of Health when enacting and enforcing the Order on mandatory vaccinations and as such the Order created a foreseeable and unreasonable risk of harm to the Plaintiff and Class Members.” 

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COVID-19

Judge allows B.C. government workers’ lawsuit against COVID mandates to proceed

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

‘Our legal campaigns are a critical, precedent-setting fight to ensure the preservation of all workers’ employment and Charter rights in British Columbia and Canada for generations to come,’ celebrated the British Columbia Public Servants Employees for Freedom.

A court has ruled that a class action lawsuit launched against the provincial government of British Columbia on behalf of “all unionized” public servant workers in the province who faced persecution resulting from COVID mandates can proceed.  

The court case will be heard in April of 2025, noted the British Columbia Public Servants Employees for Freedom (BCPSEF), a non-profit organization that assists public service workers in the province.  

“Since October 2021, BCPS Employees for Freedom (BCPSEF) has led a campaign in defense of medical privacy and bodily autonomy on behalf of all public servants and our fellow British Columbians. This has involved raising awareness about the provincial government’s harmful proof of COVID-19 vaccination policy and undertaking a series of legal actions,” said the group in a press release.  

“Our legal campaigns are a critical, precedent-setting fight to ensure the preservation of all workers’ employment and Charter rights in British Columbia and Canada for generations to come.”  

The class action was initially brought forth by Plaintiff Jason Baldwin’s, with the BCPSEF explaining that now the “Baldwin class action has been merged together with a separate class action claim by unionized B.C. healthcare workers that is being supported by @UHCWBC.”  

“Certification of both claims will be argued at 5 days of hearings scheduled in B.C. Supreme Court in Victoria beginning on April 7, 2025,” said the group.  

Both class actions made the arguments that workers who refused the COVID shots and were discriminated against had their rights violated “under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for imposing new terms and conditions of employment on existing and freely negotiated employment agreements absent collective bargaining, consideration, or consent.” 

“The actions also claim breach of employees’ common law and statutory privacy rights, as well as misfeasance in public office by B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry,” said the group.  

The class action was initially filed in October of 2023. According to the BCPS, some 38,000 public servants were directly impacted by the B.C. provincial government’s “coercive and unjustifiable proof of COVID-19 vaccination mandate” which it noted caused “untold suffering and harm.” 

The NDP (New Democratic Party) government of British Columbia, which was just re-elected, had in place a COVID jab mandate for healthcare workers years after most provinces dropped theirs. It was not until July of this year that its chief health officer Bonnie Henry formally announced an end to the COVID jab mandate policy for those working in health care. 

Many healthcare workers were fired or placed on leave for refusing to get the COVID shots.  

Despite removing the mandates, the provincial government announced that it was creating “a vaccine registry,” forcing all healthcare workers to disclose vaccination status to their employer. 

The class action by British Columbian public servants is just the latest in a string of lawsuits against provincial governments for enacting draconian COVID mandates which resulted in thousands of businesses going under as well as many people fired for not getting the shots.  

As reported by LifeSiteNews, a recent class-action lawsuit on behalf of dozens of Canadian business owners in Alberta who faced massive losses or permanent closures due to COVID mandates has been given permission to proceed by a judge. 

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