Michael Jackson, the father who went into hiding with his young daughter to keep her from getting the COVID-19 vaccine, says from jail he is in good spirits but needs help for legal battles..Jackson gave an exclusive phone interview with the Western Standard from the Regina Correctional Centre, his first since being apprehended in Vernon, B.C..“It was rough in the beginning. I was in quarantine for like 20 days, but because they had to quarantine me from BC and then they quarantined me here again. So, it’s been rough that way; but otherwise, I’m in good spirits, leaning on the Lord, so it’s okay,” Jackson said..The case is before Justice Michael Megaw, a Court of Queen’s Bench judge who ruled last September in favour of a father who wanted his 13-year-old child vaccinated for COVID-19 against the wishes of the mother. .Jackson said Crown prosecutors want him imprisoned for one to three years, but he is seeking bail before his trial. The father from Carievale in southeastern Saskatchewan would not give details on who he stayed with over nearly three months in hiding..“They have my phones and they’re on a literal witch hunt right now trying to go and apprehend anybody who gave us any help. I don’t want to hurt anybody, right?” Jackson said..“What I can say is that I was in negotiations with the RCMP the whole way, and that I only stopped negotiations for a period of a few days because they were … threatening my friends that if they paid my tax bill on my house, that they would go to jail. And they actually told one friend that if they have to make me lose my house that they’re going to do it.”.Jackson said his arrest was an abrupt ending to negotiations he had been conducting “in good faith.”.“When I was arrested, I was sitting in a parking lot, making contact with lawyers to take over the negotiations… That’s how they found me. I stopped being super evasive because I thought we were working this out,” he said..Jackson was trying to prevent Sarah’s mom from getting her vaccinated against COVID-19..“I could say that my journey was incredibly peaceful, and I had no issues on it whatsoever. Sarah was absolutely fine. Now they’ve tried to enter her into therapy, which scares the s— out of me because they’re going to try and change her mind or pollute her mind,” he said..“They didn’t even let me say goodbye to her when they arrested me, nothing … I had supervised access. They took that away with Justice Megaw during my hearing last week… The other side is trying to absolutely destroy any credibility I have with my daughter whatsoever. While I was in quarantine with no lawyer, no nothing, they tried to remove my access to my daughter permanently — like forever..“Hopefully we can find a good lawyer who has ethics and believes in God. I know they’re hard to find, but I hope we can, and he’ll pick up the fight for me.”.Lee Harding is a Western Standard contributor living in Regina.
