Democracy Fund paralegal Jenna Little has secured the withdrawal or stay of 109 COVID-19 tickets involving multiple charges across Ontario. In many situations, the Democracy Fund (TDF) said the charges were withdrawn or stayed due to a lack of reasonable prospect of conviction, delay, non-appearance of a government witness at trial, or a decision by a Crown attorney to not proceed. “It's gratifying to see our hard work pay off, and a relief to our clients who have endured years of legal uncertainty,” said Little in a Thursday press release. “But the government is still doggedly pursuing many clients for charges that should not have been brought in the first place and consume scarce judicial resources.”TDF said clients were charged with failure to provide information to a screening officer, failure to complete ArriveCan and failure to arrange for quarantine, and obstruction of an officer under the Quarantine Act. For each charge, it said the fine was about $5,000, with potential totals for conviction on all charges reaching $681,250.While many of these cases have been resolved, it acknowledged others remain. It said other tickets involve charges such as obstruction of an officer under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, with penalties of up to one year in jail and a $100,000 fine.In rare cases, clients were charged with gathering at or failing to close premises under the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA). Fines under the ROA ranged from $125 to $19,000.Hundreds of clients are facing potential fines and jail time for peacefully protesting or objecting to government overreach during lockdowns. With donor support, TDF said it will provide them with legal representation and possible vindication.This ordeal comes after COVID-19 charges against former Independent MP Derek Sloan (Hastings-Lennox and Addington, ON) and former Ontario Independent MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston) were stayed in 2023. READ MORE: COVID-19 charges dropped against Sloan, Hillier“The Ontario government’s lockdowns, which effectively banned any political protesting whatsoever, were a grave threat to our freedom in Canada,” said Sloan. “Restrictions may be over for now, but there was no indication how long they would last at the time.”
