The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that restrictions on peaceful protests during the COVID-19 pandemic were unconstitutional, overturning a ruling by a lower court that dismissed the Charter challenge by former Ontario MPP Randy Hillier.
“It is refreshing to see a court do its job of protecting our Charter freedoms, by holding government to a high standard. There was no science behind Ontario’s total ban on all outdoor protests,” said John Carpay, president of Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which has advocated for Hillier.
Hillier had faced several charges in the spring of 2021 for organizing protests against pandemic measures in cities like Kemptville, Cornwall, Peterborough, and Belleville. The province of Ontario had made it illegal for multiple people to gather outdoors because of the pandemic, while other provinces allowed five or ten or more people to gather together outdoors….