Without Papers Pizza proprietor Jesse Johnson is suing Alberta Health Services (AHS) chief medical officer and the City of Calgary for $3.6 million for unlawfully shutting his business down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) Deena Hinshaw’s vaccine passport and other mandates were ruled illegal in July 2023. Without Papers Pizza was a popular hub during the height of the pandemic, as it became known as a place for people to gather without being compelled to comply with pandemic rules. “I owned Without Papers Pizza in Calgary and was shut down by AHS in October 2021 for allegedly not enforcing the vaccine passport,” Johnson told the Western Standard. After the mandates were ruled ‘Ultra Vires’ of the law (outside the law), Johnson’s charges were thrown out by the Court of King’s Bench in November 2023. “I am now suing the City of Calgary, the Province of Alberta and Deena Hinshaw for the unlawful closure of my restaurant,” said Johnson. Attorney Leighton Grey will be representing the former restaurant owner in court. Without Papers Pizza was at the time owned by Alberta corporation Bravo Ltd., of which Johnson and Angelo Contrada were shareholders. The lawsuit specifically states defendants Hinshaw personally “was at all material times responsible for issuing public health orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”.The City of Calgary “issued and implemented Bylaw Number 65M2021, known as the “Vaccine Passport Bylaw” and the Lieutenant Governor in Council for Alberta declared a public health emergency for 90 days “due to the alleged prevalence of COVID-19 in the Province of Alberta.”In total, “since 16 March 2020, the CMOH pronounced approximately 113 Orders.”“Prior to 31 July 2023, the CMOH Orders benefitted from a presumption of validity.They were regulations purportedly made pursuant to the PHA, and legislative instruments are presumptively constitutional.”“The defendants relied upon limited, defective, or specious studies indicating that COVID-19 vaccinations provided protection against infection or spread, and touted vaccination effectiveness as high as 98%,” the lawsuit states. The plaintiffs argued the defendants should be held responsible for damage and loss to personal property, profit, revenues, income, earning capacity, customer base, and employees. “At all material times, Alberta was in a fiduciary position regarding the property and interests of the Plaintiffs. By utilizing the full mechanism of government, including its police powers, Alberta took control of the Plaintiffs’ property for its own purposes. As a result of the failure of Alberta to manage that property in accordance with the standard of care required of a fiduciary, damages resulted,” it says. The plaintiffs seek “all of their common law and statutory entitlements, declaration of violation of rights, hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and court costs.
Without Papers Pizza proprietor Jesse Johnson is suing Alberta Health Services (AHS) chief medical officer and the City of Calgary for $3.6 million for unlawfully shutting his business down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) Deena Hinshaw’s vaccine passport and other mandates were ruled illegal in July 2023. Without Papers Pizza was a popular hub during the height of the pandemic, as it became known as a place for people to gather without being compelled to comply with pandemic rules. “I owned Without Papers Pizza in Calgary and was shut down by AHS in October 2021 for allegedly not enforcing the vaccine passport,” Johnson told the Western Standard. After the mandates were ruled ‘Ultra Vires’ of the law (outside the law), Johnson’s charges were thrown out by the Court of King’s Bench in November 2023. “I am now suing the City of Calgary, the Province of Alberta and Deena Hinshaw for the unlawful closure of my restaurant,” said Johnson. Attorney Leighton Grey will be representing the former restaurant owner in court. Without Papers Pizza was at the time owned by Alberta corporation Bravo Ltd., of which Johnson and Angelo Contrada were shareholders. The lawsuit specifically states defendants Hinshaw personally “was at all material times responsible for issuing public health orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”.The City of Calgary “issued and implemented Bylaw Number 65M2021, known as the “Vaccine Passport Bylaw” and the Lieutenant Governor in Council for Alberta declared a public health emergency for 90 days “due to the alleged prevalence of COVID-19 in the Province of Alberta.”In total, “since 16 March 2020, the CMOH pronounced approximately 113 Orders.”“Prior to 31 July 2023, the CMOH Orders benefitted from a presumption of validity.They were regulations purportedly made pursuant to the PHA, and legislative instruments are presumptively constitutional.”“The defendants relied upon limited, defective, or specious studies indicating that COVID-19 vaccinations provided protection against infection or spread, and touted vaccination effectiveness as high as 98%,” the lawsuit states. The plaintiffs argued the defendants should be held responsible for damage and loss to personal property, profit, revenues, income, earning capacity, customer base, and employees. “At all material times, Alberta was in a fiduciary position regarding the property and interests of the Plaintiffs. By utilizing the full mechanism of government, including its police powers, Alberta took control of the Plaintiffs’ property for its own purposes. As a result of the failure of Alberta to manage that property in accordance with the standard of care required of a fiduciary, damages resulted,” it says. The plaintiffs seek “all of their common law and statutory entitlements, declaration of violation of rights, hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and court costs.
