Over the course of the past year, the Justice Centre has filed multiple lawsuits against lockdowns, with mixed results.
On the positive side, our lawsuit against the federal government for its refusal to renew passports without a citizen justifying their departure or entrance from the country speedily resulted in that policy being rescinded, and our lawsuit in Manitoba against the government prohibiting drive in church services resulted in the government backing off on ticketing such services.
Our lawsuit against the lockdowns in BC had partial success when the court held that the prohibition against outdoor protests was unconstitutional. The rest of that decision is under appeal.
We launched a lawsuit against the Ontario government for failing to allow essential family caregivers into long-term care facilities, and the filing of litigation resulted in the reversal of that policy.
The Justice Centre also filed a lawsuit against Premier Jason Kenney’s Bill 10 and testified at the resulting special committee to study the legality of the challenged provisions, which transferred broad primary lawmaking power to UCP Cabinet Ministers during a declared public health emergency. The Justice Centre’s legal challenge and public advocacy resulted in the introduction of 2021’s Bill 66 to repeal the challenged provisions.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Justice Centre has done more than any other civil liberties organization in Canada to fight the lockdowns, and has had more success than anyone else. The results of our substantive hearings have largely yet to be seen. Over the course of months our office has painstakingly gathered world-class experts to give testimony against the damaging effects of lockdowns and the broad infringement of Canadians’ civil liberties. We continue to trust the judicial process and the standard of the Constitution to stop the damage to Canadian society.
Many politicians do not like the Justice Centre because the Justice Centre doesn’t play politics, and we take our non-partisanship seriously. We are interested in one thing, and one thing alone: the upholding of civil liberties and constitutional rights and freedoms in Canada.
The Justice Centre is entirely independent and committed to fighting for the freedoms of all Canadians. We are not associated with any other groups or organizations, cannot be influenced, and receive no government funding. Our lawyers and staff are deeply committed to fighting for the freedom of Canadians. With a 10-year history of fighting for the constitutional freedoms of Canadians, and many successes (see Concluded Cases, and Out of Court Victories), our entire team has very carefully targeted legal strategies taking into account how the court system works, to challenge these unconstitutional lockdowns.
Our office is committed to defending the civil liberties of Canadians through every difficulty and roadblock. Thank you for your principled support of the Justice Centre over the course of the last difficult year.
