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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

Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich to appeal her recent conviction

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Lawyers will argue that there is no evidence linking Tamara Lich ‘to the misdeeds of others.’

Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich said she will appeal her recent mischief conviction in an Ontario court, with her lawyers saying “there was no evidence linking her to the misdeeds of others.”

In a press release late yesterday, Lich’s legal team, headed by Lawrence Greenspon, Eric Granger, and Hannah Drennan, made the announcement.

“Lawyers for Tamara Lich filed Notice of Appeal in the Ontario Court of Appeal of the conviction for mischief arising out of the Freedom Convoy,” the release stated.

Lich’s legal team noted that there are two reasons for the principal grounds of appeal.

“While there was substantial evidence that Tamara encouraged the protesters to be peaceful, lawful and safe, there was no evidence linking her to the misdeeds of others,” they said.

The second reason for the appeal, according to Lich’s lawyers, is that the “trial judge failed to give effect to the principle that communication that would otherwise be mischief is protected by section 2(b) of the Charter, freedom of expression.”

On October 7, Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey sentenced Lich and Chris Barber to 18 months’ house arrest after being convicted earlier in the year of “mischief.”

Lich was given 18 months less time already spent in custody, amounting to 15 1/2 months.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, the Canadian government was hoping to put Lich in jail for no less than seven years and Barber for eight years for their roles in the 2022 protests against COVID mandates.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, Lich, reflecting on her recent sentencing of over a year’s house arrest for her role in the 2022 Freedom Convoy, laid bare the fact that when all is said in done, seven years of her life will have been spent in a government-imposed “lockdown” in one form or another.

LifeSiteNews recently reported that Lich detailed her restrictive house arrest conditions, revealing she is “not” able to leave her house or even pick up her grandkids from school without permission from the state.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, Lich, reflecting on her recent house arrest verdict, said she has no “remorse” and will not “apologize” for leading a movement that demanded an end to all COVID mandates.

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COVID-19

Canadian veteran challenges conviction for guarding War Memorial during Freedom Convoy

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

When the convoy first came to Ottawa, allegations were floated that the memorial had been desecrated. After learning of this, Evely quickly organized a group of veterans to stand guard around the clock to protect the area.

A Canadian veteran appealed to the Ontario courts after he was convicted for organizing a guard around the National War Memorial during the Freedom Convoy.

In an October press release, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) announced that an appeal has been filed in the Ontario Court of Appeals on behalf of Master Warrant Officer (Ret’d) Jeffrey Evely over his conviction for mischief and obstructing police while on his way to guard the Ottawa War Memorial during the 2022 Freedom Convoy.

“By locking down large sections of downtown Ottawa, the police were effectively preventing all civilians from accessing public areas and greatly exceeded their powers under the common law,” constitutional lawyer Chris Fleury explained.

“This case raises issues that have implications for protests across the province and the country. We are hopeful that the Ontario Court of Appeal will agree and grant leave to appeal,” he added.

The appeal argues that police overstepped their authority in their response to the 2022 protest of COVID mandates. Police actions at the time included locking down the Ottawa core, establishing checkpoints, and arresting protesters.

In September 2024, Everly was convicted of mischief and obstruction after his involvement in the 2022 Freedom Convoy, which protested COVID mandates by gathering Canadians in front of Parliament in Ottawa.

As LifeSiteNews previously reported, when the convoy first came to Ottawa, allegations were floated that the memorial had been desecrated. After learning of this, Evely quickly organized a group of veterans to stand guard around the clock to protect the area.

However, under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act, many parts of downtown Ottawa were blocked to the public, and a vigilant police force roamed the streets.

It was during this time that Evely was arrested for entering a closed off section of downtown Ottawa during the early hours of February 19, 2022. He had been on his way to take the 4:25 a.m. shift protecting the Ottawa War Memorial.

He was forcibly pushed to the ground, landing face first. The veteran was then arrested and charged with mischief and obstructing police.

At the time, the use of the EA was justified by claims that the protest was “violent,” a claim that has still gone unsubstantiated.

In fact, videos of the protest against COVID regulations and shot mandates show Canadians from across the country gathering outside Parliament engaged in dancing, street hockey, and other family-friendly activities.

Indeed, the only acts of violence caught on video were carried out against the protesters after the Trudeau government directed police to end the protest. One such video showed an elderly women being trampled by a police horse.

While the officers’ actions were originally sanctioned under the EA, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley ruled that Trudeau was “not justified” in invoking the EA, forcing Crown prosecutors to adopt a different strategy.

Now, Crown prosecutors allege that the common law granted police the authority to stop and detain Evely, regardless of the EA.

However, Evely and his lawyers have challenged this argument under section 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, insisting that his “arrest and detention were arbitrary.”

Earlier this month, Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber were sentenced to 18-month house arrest after a harrowing 25-month trial process. Many have condemned the sentence, warning it amounts to “political persecution” of those who stand up to the Liberal government.

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