Activist Canadian Frontline Nurse Kristen Nagle is celebrating the end of her legal and financial penalties.Nagle was sentenced to two years probation and a $7,500 fine for violating Ontario’s Reopening Act by her participation in an anti-lockdown rally in London, ON in January 2022. A victim surcharge brought the total cost to $9,375. Nagle was found guilty at a hearing late in February and was sentenced near the end of March. The prosecutor had been seeking a $50,000 fine and two years probation. In a video posted on social media after the sentence was handed down, Nagle called the outcome a “a half win” and said she was unsure of how the probation order would affect her moving forward. “2026 is when this probation will be lifted,” Nagle said in the video posted on her Facebook page. “That’s six years from when this all started. And it just felt really heavy that this still has to weigh over there for two more years.”The charge was laid following a January 22 2022 rally where Nagle spoke. The crowd of 150 was more than the ten allowed for outdoor events at the time. Public health restrictions were lifted the following spring.Earlier this year, Nagle was found guilty of two charges under Ontario’s Reopening Act, for attending and organizing a rally in November 2020 and fined $20,000.A pandemic-era charge Nagle faced regarding an anti-lockdown protest in Cornwall was withdrawn. In September 2022, Nagle was fined $10,000 for taking part in an Easter Sunday church service at Aylmer’s Church of God in 2021. The fine was reduced to $3,750 on appeal.Nagle, a former neo-natal nurse at London Health Sciences Centre, was placed on leave following a November 2020 anti-lockdown rally in London. She was fired from her job with cause in January 2021 and resigned her registration with the College of Nurses of Ontario in January 2023.A crowdfunding page launched by Nagle to cover her fines and legal fees raised $61,189. According to an email blast Nagle sent April 8, that only prompted the prosecutor to ask for more fines."The crown wanted an egregious amount of 50k! They saw the support received from the give send go and said that monetary fines are not a deterrent to me it needs to be more substantial to stop me from speaking out again," Nagle said in the email."They also put a 2 year probation on me. Meaning I cannot commit a crime, I must keep the peace, good behaviour and not commit the same offence. It just seems crazy that when this probation is over it will be 2026! That to me just seemed absurd to think this is still looming in the background until then.""It was difficult to listen to them talk about the possibility of the next thing, and that we can’t have people going against public health measures in a crisis. It would be naive of them to think that we wont find ourselves in something similar again, so this probation is to stop me from speaking out or going against public health measures should another 'public health emergency' find us again."Nagle spent the winter in Nicaragua and Costa Rica but will return to Canada with gratitude next month."Thank you everyone for your support, encouragement, prayers and financial contributions throughout the years! You have no idea how much it has meant to me and my family and lifted up my spirits when I thought I could not go on!" Nagle wrote in her email."Thank you for everything! It has meant more to me then words I am able to express!"The trials are done, it is time to continue moving forward with solutions and love in our hearts! Stand steadfast and continue to lift each other up and create a new way forward!"
