Calgary chiropractor fined $65K for not wearing a mask, even though public health orders were illegal

Calgary chiropractor Curtis Wall has been fined $65,000 by his regulatory body for defying public health orders even though these orders were nullified by a court decision.In response to demands in 2020 from Alberta’s former Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH), Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the College of Chiropractors of Alberta issued a directive that all chiropractors must wear a mask while treating patients.When the college’s complaints director became aware Wall was not wearing a mask and was permitting his patients to not wear masks, he attempted to punish Wall by immediately stripping him of his licence to practice.Wall has served his patients for nearly 25 years with no other record of discipline. He is represented by Liberty Coalition Canada (LCC). According to LCC, Wall is medically unable to wear a mask and believes it is morally and medically wrong for him to compel his patients to wear them."He is a Christian man of integrity and principle—attributes that make him a target for government overreach in the era of COVID," LCC said in a press release.Following representation by LCC lawyer James Kitchen, the college failed to take Wall’s licence and the complaints director retired in response to Wall’s allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. According to LCC, the college has paid over $600,000 in legal fees. The college is funded through large annual payments that all Alberta chiropractors are legislatively required to pay to the college. On July 31, 2023, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta struck down all of the CMOH Orders in Alberta. The decision reached in Ingram v Alberta is binding law in the province. All government bodies such as the college of chiropractors are required to abide by it. Even so, a hearing tribunal decided — even after the release of Ingram — to ignore the law by ordering Wall to pay the college $65,000 in fines and costs, under threat of immediately losing his licence to practice if he does not pay.After CMOH orders being invalidated by the Court in Ingram, many charges were dropped by Alberta Crown prosecutors, such as the charges against Alberta pastor James Coates, and fines reversed, like the $80,000 in fines to Church in the Vine for not letting a public health inspector into the sanctuary during Sunday worship.The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta also dropped charges of unprofessional conduct it brought against Dr. Michal Princ, of Devon, for issuing COVID-19 vaccine medical exemptions to patients. The college’s new complaints director has decided she will enforce the hearing tribunal’s order that Wall pay $65,000 or lose his license. In the LCC press release, Wall and Kitchen say this decision by the college this is unlawful, a "further waste of Alberta chiropractors’ money, a stain on the reputation of the profession, and a threat to the future of professional self-regulation." Kitchen has submitted an application to the college to prevent what he calls an "injustice." "Dr. Wall should not pay any fines or costs when the public health orders he was charged with not following have been declared void by the courts," Kitchen said. LCC has asked supporters to donate toward Wall’s case, and provided more information here. LCC is assisting Wall with his legal expenses through the Liberty Defence Fund.

Calgary chiropractor fined $65K for not wearing a mask, even though public health orders were illegal

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