The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) said it is disappointed the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that vaccine passports are constitutional. .“All Ontarians should be free to enjoy the rights that our democracy has to offer,” said JCCF lawyer Jorge Pineda in a Wednesday press release. .“However, the exemptions to the vaccine passport regime were incredibly limited and unfairly narrow, and none of the Applicants were eligible for an exemption under the vaccine passport regime.” .The release said lawyers representing the eight applicants were in court on November 21 and 22, challenging the constitutionality of Ontario’s vaccine passport system. .The Ontario government enacted vaccine passports in 2021, which prohibited unvaccinated people from accessing public venues such as gyms, pools, and restaurants. Businesses were forced to implement this system or face fines of up to $100,000. .The release said applicant Sarah Lamb experienced serious long-term neurological side effects, including losing sensation from her waist down, after taking her first COVID-19 vaccine. It said she was denied an exemption. .Applicant Evan Kraayenbrink objected to the COVID-19 vaccines because of his religious beliefs. There were no religious exemptions permitted with vaccine passports. .Pineda said the Ontario government “did not base its decision to implement a vaccine passport on scientific evidence, and did not take the trouble of ensuring that the measures would not unnecessarily infringe the rights guaranteed in the Charter.” He added Ontario did not offer “alternatives to those who had valid concerns about the COVID vaccines, such as administering rapid tests at the entrance to public places that were deemed off-limits to the unvaccinated.” .“We are carefully reviewing the decision and discussing appeal options with our clients,” he said. .The JCCF confirmed in July the Ontario Superior Court of Justice postponed its constitutional challenge to the provincial government’s vaccine passport system. .READ MORE: Justice Centre case against Ontario vaccine passports postponed.“This was a sound exercise of the Court’s discretion today,” said Pineda. .The hearing had been rescheduled for November 21 and 22..There were no more vaccine passports in Ontario as of March. .READ MORE: Ontario announces end of vax passports.“Given how well Ontario has done in the Omicron wave, we are able to fast track our reopening plan,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford. .“This is great news and a sign of just how far we’ve come together in our fight against the virus.”
