Charges against Ontario couple who protested lockdown measures in 2021

Charges were brought against an Ontario couple protesting the province’s COVID-19 lockdown measures at the request of a state attorney, according to the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), according to the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF).

On May 8, 2021, Richard and Valerie Bostock took part in a protest against Ontario’s lockdown measures at Courthouse Square in Goderich, a city northwest of Toronto. The county had announced a third emergency proclamation at the time, while a Order “stay home”. was to prevent citizens from leaving their homes, except for limited purposes, such as going to the supermarket. Protesting was not one of the permitted reasons to leave the house.

According to the JCCF, the Huron County Provincial Police Department warned the protesters to disperse, but the pair asserted their constitutional freedom of peaceful assembly and refused to leave. They each subsequently received an $880 ticket. According to their legal counsel Christopher Fleury, the Bostocks were each charged with “non-compliance” with the Reopening Ontario Act.

The couple immediately filled out the back of the ticket and asked for a trial date. But they didn’t learn about their case until more than a year and a half later, in January 2023, when they received a notice of trial, with a trial date scheduled for March 7, 2023.

The couple’s attorney and the district attorney reached an agreement that the Bostocks would make a “modest charitable donation” after which their charges would be dropped. The court adjourned the case until June 6 to give the couple time to make the donation. On June 6, all charges against the Bostocks were dropped.

“Had the case gone ahead, my clients would have had a problem with the 22-month delay in bringing the case to court,” Fleury, who works with the JCCF, said in a statement. a press release on June 9.

“Delays of this length at the provincial offenses court, which normally hears minor traffic fines, are unacceptable,” he said.

While the limit for delays deemed unreasonable is 18 months for cases heard in provincial courts in Canada, Fleury said the court ruled that the closure related to COVID-19 was under “exceptional circumstances” and thus does not apply to that 18-month limit. He added that the courts have found that the “very significant delays” are still in line with the Charter.

In this context, the Bostocks decided to accept the withdrawal of the terms of their business.

“That really is the best possible outcome in a criminal or quasi-criminal case,” Fleury told The Epoch Times. “So there really couldn’t have been a better outcome in terms of the delay.”