During his time in office, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has made criminals out of ordinary men and women who wanted nothing more than to go about their lives in peace. .Now, as he departs office he — or his successor — has the chance to do the right thing. Every Albertan who resisted his governments's arbitrary — and as it turns out — unscientific, lockdowns deserves a full pardon. Every Albertan who suffered financial loss, deserves compensation. And every pastor who went to jail, should receive a full apology. For what we witnessed in Alberta was a gross pattern of injustice perpetrated by the very people elected to ensure justice. .Let's recap. After it became apparent — at least to many us — that lockdowns and mandatory masking did precious little — if anything to materially save lives from COVID-19 — many ordinary people began to openly resist. .In December 2020, Ocean Wiesblatt was hauled away in handcuffs by the Calgary Police Service for the crime of playing hockey on an outdoor rink during one of the many lockdowns. But not before one of the hapless police officers said she would "fucking taze" him first. . Woman yells at police who refused to let her son inside to go to the washroomGracelife Church under police control. .In March 2021, the government arrested and jailed Pator Coates, and even denied him bail for a time. In April, a massive police force raided Gracelife Church and erected large barricades as heavily armed police stood guard to keep worshipers out by force. .Business owners all over Alberta resisted nonsensical lockdowns of their businesses. One such owner was Chris Scott, who owned the small Whistle Stop Cafe in the tiny town of Mirror. His business was raided by police, his property seized, his locks changed, and he himself was jailed. . Chris ScottChris Scott getting arrested .In May of 2021, central Alberta rancher Ty Northcott was facing financial ruin because his performance stock were illegal to use in rodeos, which had been banned by the government. In about the most Albertan thing possible, Northcott decided to put on an illegal "No More Lockdowns Rodeo" in defiance of the government. .Kenney himself called the rodeo disturbing and some in the legacy media labeled it a "super-spreader event." Alberta Health Services was only able to link a single suspected case of COVID-19 to the entire thing. For his defiance, Northcott was charged with violating Alberta's Public Health Act. Uncowed, Northcott is fighting the maximum penalty of a $1.5 million fine in court, hoping to overturn it as unconstitutional. . "No More Lockdowns RodeoA bull after bucking its rider at the ""No More Lockdowns Rodeo" in Bowden, Alberta. .All of this was followed by the broken promise of a vaccine passport that saw many Albertans treated as pariahs for their personal healthcare choices. With the government's blessing, businesses fired employees who did not comply with the government's mandatory vaccination policy. .Workers were fired from their jobs for not complying with mandatory masking, even though they had legitimate medical exemptions. .All of this contributed mightily to Jason Kenney's forced retirement from the premier's office. .READ MORE: Inside the long revolt against Kenney.Alberta's next premier has a chance to — if not make things right — at least make amends. Here's how they can start..Firstly, the next premier should issue an official apology to those who resisted lockdowns, mandatory masking, and forced vaccination. .Secondly, the next premier needs to order his or her attorney-general to issue a full pardon to those who were charged, convicted, fined or jailed. They were treated as criminals for justified civil disobedience, as real criminals often escaped justice. .Open cases against those who resisted must be dropped, although this should be done in consultation with the accused. Many — like Ty Northcott — have been fighting protracted court battles attempting to strike down the laws as unconstitutional. There is potentially some important legal precedent to set. In these cases, Alberta's government should guarantee that if they lose, the province will compensate them for their fines and legal costs, and ensure they never do any more jail time..Which brings us to legal costs. All of those who resisted and faced expensive court battles should have every red cent repaid by Alberta's government. They should never have faced charges to begin with. .Those who paid fines should have the money paid back by the government. Those who did jail time, lost their jobs, lost their businesses or saw them suffer, should all be compensated for the injustices they suffered. .And finally, the next premier needs to repeal those sections of the Public Health Act that allowed the government to fine, jail, attack, and raid innocent Albertans in the first place. .Pretty much everyone — save the most diehard Branch Covidians — wants to put this whole mess behind them. But Alberta cannot move on until injustice is rectified by justice, and a guarantee that it will never happen again.
During his time in office, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has made criminals out of ordinary men and women who wanted nothing more than to go about their lives in peace. .Now, as he departs office he — or his successor — has the chance to do the right thing. Every Albertan who resisted his governments's arbitrary — and as it turns out — unscientific, lockdowns deserves a full pardon. Every Albertan who suffered financial loss, deserves compensation. And every pastor who went to jail, should receive a full apology. For what we witnessed in Alberta was a gross pattern of injustice perpetrated by the very people elected to ensure justice. .Let's recap. After it became apparent — at least to many us — that lockdowns and mandatory masking did precious little — if anything to materially save lives from COVID-19 — many ordinary people began to openly resist. .In December 2020, Ocean Wiesblatt was hauled away in handcuffs by the Calgary Police Service for the crime of playing hockey on an outdoor rink during one of the many lockdowns. But not before one of the hapless police officers said she would "fucking taze" him first. . Woman yells at police who refused to let her son inside to go to the washroomGracelife Church under police control. .In March 2021, the government arrested and jailed Pator Coates, and even denied him bail for a time. In April, a massive police force raided Gracelife Church and erected large barricades as heavily armed police stood guard to keep worshipers out by force. .Business owners all over Alberta resisted nonsensical lockdowns of their businesses. One such owner was Chris Scott, who owned the small Whistle Stop Cafe in the tiny town of Mirror. His business was raided by police, his property seized, his locks changed, and he himself was jailed. . Chris ScottChris Scott getting arrested .In May of 2021, central Alberta rancher Ty Northcott was facing financial ruin because his performance stock were illegal to use in rodeos, which had been banned by the government. In about the most Albertan thing possible, Northcott decided to put on an illegal "No More Lockdowns Rodeo" in defiance of the government. .Kenney himself called the rodeo disturbing and some in the legacy media labeled it a "super-spreader event." Alberta Health Services was only able to link a single suspected case of COVID-19 to the entire thing. For his defiance, Northcott was charged with violating Alberta's Public Health Act. Uncowed, Northcott is fighting the maximum penalty of a $1.5 million fine in court, hoping to overturn it as unconstitutional. . "No More Lockdowns RodeoA bull after bucking its rider at the ""No More Lockdowns Rodeo" in Bowden, Alberta. .All of this was followed by the broken promise of a vaccine passport that saw many Albertans treated as pariahs for their personal healthcare choices. With the government's blessing, businesses fired employees who did not comply with the government's mandatory vaccination policy. .Workers were fired from their jobs for not complying with mandatory masking, even though they had legitimate medical exemptions. .All of this contributed mightily to Jason Kenney's forced retirement from the premier's office. .READ MORE: Inside the long revolt against Kenney.Alberta's next premier has a chance to — if not make things right — at least make amends. Here's how they can start..Firstly, the next premier should issue an official apology to those who resisted lockdowns, mandatory masking, and forced vaccination. .Secondly, the next premier needs to order his or her attorney-general to issue a full pardon to those who were charged, convicted, fined or jailed. They were treated as criminals for justified civil disobedience, as real criminals often escaped justice. .Open cases against those who resisted must be dropped, although this should be done in consultation with the accused. Many — like Ty Northcott — have been fighting protracted court battles attempting to strike down the laws as unconstitutional. There is potentially some important legal precedent to set. In these cases, Alberta's government should guarantee that if they lose, the province will compensate them for their fines and legal costs, and ensure they never do any more jail time..Which brings us to legal costs. All of those who resisted and faced expensive court battles should have every red cent repaid by Alberta's government. They should never have faced charges to begin with. .Those who paid fines should have the money paid back by the government. Those who did jail time, lost their jobs, lost their businesses or saw them suffer, should all be compensated for the injustices they suffered. .And finally, the next premier needs to repeal those sections of the Public Health Act that allowed the government to fine, jail, attack, and raid innocent Albertans in the first place. .Pretty much everyone — save the most diehard Branch Covidians — wants to put this whole mess behind them. But Alberta cannot move on until injustice is rectified by justice, and a guarantee that it will never happen again.
