Police officer challenges harsh discipline in free speech case
The Ontario Civilian Police Commission recently heard the appeal of Constable Michael Brisco on November 21, 2023, who is challenging his conviction and penalty for donating to the Ottawa Freedom Convoy in early 2022. This case raises questions about the Charter’s protection for freedom of expression, the right of police officers to support political causes while off duty, and the privacy rights of all Canadians. Constable Michael Brisco of the Windsor Police Service is a highly trained and respected police officer with no prior disciplinary record. He made a $50 donation to the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest through the GiveSendGo fundraising platform on February 8, 2022 – one day after an Ontario Superior Court Judge held that people could continue to engage in “peaceful, lawful and safe protest” in Ottawa so long as honking ceased. When making his donation, Constable Brisco did not identify himself as a police officer and did not contribute to the protest in his capacity as a police officer. After a six-day hearing in February 2023 before an Ontario Provincial Police Adjudicator, Constable Brisco was found guilty of discreditable conduct. Two months later, on May 18, 2023, the Tribunal ordered that Constable Brisco should forfeit pay for 80 hours of work as a penalty. With the support of the Justice Centre, on June 14, 2023, Constable Brisco filed a Notice of Appeal with Ontario Civilian Police Commission, challenging his conviction and the imposed penalty.
A court in Alberta, Canada, sentenced Pastor Artur Pawlowski on Monday to 60 days in prison for a speech to Freedom Convoy truckers in February 2022 in which he supported their protests against repressive lockdown, vaccine, and other mandates related to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
Pawlowski, who first rose to prominence for expelling Canadian police from his church for trying to shut down an Easter service in 2021, faced multiple charges, including “mischief,” a crime in Canada, and violating the Critical Infrastructure Defense Act (CIDA). The latter charge suggested that Pawlowski’s speaking to protesters on the Alberta-Montana border was an attack on the province’s road infrastructure, as he encouraged them to continue an ongoing blockade demanding the lifting of coronavirus-related mandates. Prosecutors were demanding up to ten months in prison for the pastor on the grounds that he has publicly and repeatedly denied having any remorse for his vocal opposition to lockdowns.
“I’m not ashamed of what I did. If I had a chance to do it again, I would do it again, gladly,” Pawlowski told a crowd of supporters after his conviction on Monday.
Judge Gordon Krinke reserved a conviction on the charges of attacking infrastructure, as Pawlowski’s defense had challenged the CIDA as unconstitutional, and proceedings regarding that law are ongoing. He found Pawlowski guilty of “mischief” and breaching a release order in May. The 60-day sentence handed down on Monday includes time served, so Pawlowski walked out of the court free – but with a criminal conviction on his record.
“A period of incarceration is required in order to achieve the objectives of denunciation and deterrence,” Krinke said at the sentencing, according to the CBC.
Prior to the sentencing, prosecutor Steven Johnston argued that the case, in which Pawlowski faced charges for delivering a sermon, was “not about freedom of religion and it is not about free speech.”
“In this case, the accused comes before the court with no sense of remorse,” Johnston said. “The lack of remorse, the lack of introspection is important in this case because of the fact he is likely a high risk to redo this.”
Pawlowski appeared to agree in remarks to the 200 supporters who convened to celebrate his release on Monday.
“For the past 18 months they’ve done everything in their power to force me to say that I am guilty, that I am sorry. They were forcing me to apologize, but I have nothing to apologize for,” the pastor said.
“I hope that my oppressors are listening because this is not over. This is just the beginning,” Pawlowski added, also stating that he would “gladly” repeat the actions that resulted in his arrest if he deemed it necessary: https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=francesmartel&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-
Hundreds of supporters similarly rallied in support of the pastor following his initial conviction in May.
Canada faced a wave of protests in early 2022 that later came to be known as the “Freedom Convoy” due to the large presence of truckers using their vehicles to occupy space throughout the country in protest. Many convened in Ottawa, the nation’s capital, where they blocked the streets with their trucks, honked loudly for extended periods of time, and built a peaceful tent camp with a festival atmosphere to which many brought their children.Robert Kraychik / Breitbart News Robert Kraychik / Breitbart News
The objective of the Freedom Convoy protests was to pressure radical leftist Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the provincial governments to end vaccine mandates – which disproportionately hurt truckers attempting to regularly travel between provinces – as well as the suspension of freedoms of assembly and religion. Protesters also demanded the full reopening of all schools, an end to mask mandates, and other restrictions.
Pawlowski was charged with criminal actions for his speech to a Freedom Convoy group that convened on the border between Alberta and Montana in early 2022, causing major disruptions in regional commerce by shutting down the road. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney ended the vaccine passport system and mask mandate for schoolchildren in place at the time during the ongoing blockade.
Pawlowski told the protesters during a sermon at the local Smuggler’s Saloon in February 2022 that they were “heroes” and encouraged them not to “go breaking the line.”
“I believe that the eyes of the world are fixed on this place right here. That’s right — this little pitiful piece of land,” Pawlowski said. “The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes. Don’t you dare go breaking the line. … For the first time in two years, you have the power. You pack your stuff, you go to Edmonton and you will be lost.”
Pawlowski posted an extended recording of his speech on Rumble on Monday.
Pawlowski has faced a barrage of other criminal charges for his opposition to restrictions on freedom of assembly and other civil rights violations by the Trudeau government during the pandemic.
Pawlowski first faced police trouble for holding an “illegal” Easter service in April 2021, attracting six police officers who tried to shut it down. Pawlowski forced them out of his church, disparaging them as “Gestapo Nazi communist fascists” and “psychopaths,” and continued his service. Police arrested him a month later for continuing to serve his faithful, contrary to the religious restrictions imposed by Canadian officials:
In addition to fines, travel restrictions, and imprisonment, the Canadian government attempted to force Pawlowski to read a government statement every time he condemned civil rights violations in the name of the pandemic, which stated in part, “The majority of medical experts favour social distancing, mask wearing, and avoiding large crowds to reduce the spread of COVID-19 [sic].”
Pawlowski appealed the many charges against him for performing the responsibilities of a pastor, and in July 2022, an Alberta court of appeals agreed, ruling that his arrest and many fines and other punishments were illegal.
Trudeau, who memorably confessed in 2019 that he had worn blackface so often he did not remember every instance in which he did so, has condemned those who opposed his civil rights violations, calling them “racist, misogynistic … anti-vaxxer mobs,” accusing Freedom Convoy supporters of “hateful rhetoric” and mocking them as “tinfoil hat”-wearers and “a few people shouting and waving swastikas.”
The prosecution of Chris Barber and Tamara Lich for their roles in the trucker convoy protests at times feels unsettling. Is it a microcosm of how our institutions and systems haven’t come to terms with what many people, outside the laptop bubble, are experiencing. Like forcing vaccination with an experimental product on healthy people or enabling a child’s psychic confusion with pharmaceuticals and surgery, the trial is a process but to what purpose? Where does this lead?
As I watched a series of Chris Barber’s TikTok videos unspool on courtroom screens yesterday, I was pulled back to those first days of the convoy when my faith in my fellow Canadians was restored. I had been concerned that the running of the country had been handed to public health bureaucrats, that our elected officials had stepped away and were no longer in charge. That media was not holding to account the people they should. Risk/benefit calculations had not been run and it was becoming clear the cure was worse than the disease. No matter how esteemed the expert witnesses, courts were not finding in favour of people challenging the government’s civil liberties overreach as we faced lockdown after lockdown and a mandated shot.
In the TikToks, we see Barber reacting to what the convoy had achieved and it made me smile for a minute recollecting those weeks of hope. Sitting almost directly in front of me, I watched him for a reaction but saw only a focussed man jotting notes in rapt attention.
The short videos and other social media seem to be making up a large part of the Crown’s case which involves proving mischief and the counselling of same — something Tim Radcliffe will likely argue the videos show. But that’s not what I saw. No one in that courtroom could walk away without noticing how well Barber comes off. He veers between imploring the protestors to be peaceful, to frustration at the government’s intransigence, to astonishment over the convoy’s successful fundraising campaign — a measure of how Canadians perceived the protest. And perhaps its downfall. Don’t forget it was the former mayor of Ottawa who convinced Go Fund Me to shut down the convoy account based on false allegations the truckers were violent. From Blacklock’s:
The proceedings have been plagued by organizational issues and technical glitches but so far it’s been cordial between all parties. Justice Heather Perkins-McVey even addressed the gallery Thursday morning to inquire if we could see and hear the video monitors well enough to follow along. I raised my hand and asked if they could be raised higher and she acknowledge that this a problem but not fixable. As I’ve said, she seems affable and fair. All good things in a criminal court justice.
Back to the videos — from the Ottawa Citizen:
Convoy protest organizer Chris Barber called for people to “flood the city” in a social media video that was shown Thursday in court as part of his criminal trial in Ottawa.
The Crown hopes his rallying call for people to come to Ottawa last year as police ordered protesters to leave may prove just as damaging to his fellow organizer, Tamara Lich as they could potentially be to Barber.
Barber, who operated a trucking business in Swift Current, Sask., and Lich, from Medicine Hat, Alta., are co-accused in the trial. They face charges of mischief, counselling others to commit mischief, intimidation, and obstructing police, all in relation to their roles organizing the protest against COVID-19 health restrictions last year that blockaded downtown Ottawa streets for weeks.
Barber faces an additional charge of counselling others to disobey a court order that banned the big rigs and other vehicles parked in the streets in protest, from honking their horns in the downtown core.
In the end, no matter what the outcome, this trial will be seen as a referendum on a citizen’s right to peacefully protest in the face of what they perceive as a grave and even life-threatening injustice.
There will be a motion to dismiss from the convoy lawyers at some point.
Just about to record this week’s podcast and then back to court.
Hybrid Edition: Sorry for the delay. Yesterday was busy, just getting back from Ottawa. I am including this week’s podcast which is also about the convoy and includes voice messages from people whose lives were harmed by Trudeau’s vaccine mandates (that he says didn’t force anyone).
I’ve been tough on Crown Attorney Tim Radcliffe this week but I don’t think unfairly. It is a mystery to me why he is conducting his case against trucker convoy defendants Chris Barber and Tamara Lich in a manner that is clearly frustrating the judge, annoying the defence and making long days in the courtroom almost unbearably boring.
Friday was a shit show that caused Justice Heather Perkins-McVey to suggest the trial has the potential for going off the rails. She has been a paragon of patience so far but Friday was so bizarre she requested a recess to settle herself. And her mantra was something like I am not happy.
Justice Heather Perkins-McVey
Radcliffe seems either unprepared or somehow unaware of the rules of evidence and disclosure — the gist of which is that the prosecutor must provide the elements of its case to the defence plus all materials in reasonable time to allow counsel to prepare a response. Criminal law 101. From the Criminal Law Notebook.
The Crown must disclose all materials and information that is in its possession or control that is not clearly irrelevant, regardless of if the evidence is to be called at trial or is inculpatory or exculpatory.[1]
The right to disclosures premised upon (1) the right to know the case to meet and (2) the right to make full answer in defence of an offence charged.[2]
Materials in possession of the Crown are not the “property” of the Crown but rather is the “property of the public to be used to ensure that justice is done.”[3]
Purpose
The right to disclosure is founded in the principle of fair play between parties[4] as well as the right to make full answer and defence. [5]
The right to make full answer and defence also suggests in a timely fashion which defence lawyer, Diane Magas asserts did not happen here. Canadian Press picked up by CTV reported in detail what transpired.
Hope that the trial of two “Freedom Convoy” organizers would last only four weeks may be dashed after the defence raised complaints about receiving heaps of new evidence mid trial.
There was a sense of tension in the courtroom Friday as Crown and defence lawyers sparred over the timing of the delivery of binders of text message evidence to the defence.
Justice Heather Perkins-McVey called a short recess to step away from the bench to “settle” herself after telling the lawyers she was “very unhappy” about the late-stage disclosure.
“This should have been done well before the trial,” she chided before leaving the courtroom.
Perkins-McVey is now working with court staff to find more dates as the prospect the trial will run long has grown. Initially 16 days were set aside for the trial, with three extra days added to the court’s calendar as a precaution.
But as the first week of hearings drew to a close Friday, it was clear the timelines were on the brink of being blown.
In fairness to Radcliffe, he might argue that there is precedent for what he is doing. Perhaps I just didn’t understand it or had stepped out to the washroom but there seemed to be general bafflement toward his approach to evidence. What does this mean for the case? It’s not a good look for the Crown but honourable judges, as Justice Perkins-McVey seems to be, can overlook these issues in the end and focus solely on the evidence as she perceives it — so this is not necessarily a freebie for Lich and Barber.
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In American courts, not handing over exculpatory evidence, something called a Brady violation, will get a convicted person out of jail if discovered after trial. It happened in a wrongful conviction case I investigated involving boxer Dewey Bozella, imprisoned for murdering an elderly lady in upstate New York. No one is suggesting Radcliffe is hiding evidence. But rather delivering it in perhaps obstructionist ways.
All week, there have been housekeeping issues and questions of actual provenance around what seems like hundreds of exhibits, from TikTok videos to digital messaging. As someone who works in documentary films, I can tell you that organizing this kind of material, on a scale this size is a humongous job and the Crown should have set aside a special budget and staff to ensure it was organized and accessible to all relevant parties in meaningful ways. I suspect the Crown’s case relies on it – so this could require a huge fix. Lots of people will be working on it this weekend on both side of the aisle.
This week’s show (listen here) is a convoy special with my documentary producing partner Jacqueline Bynon who was in Ottawa with me and our crew and Tom Marazzo, a convoy participant who has a new book out about his experience. On the show you will hear the voice recordings from Canada and the UK of people whose lives were turned upside by the vaccine mandates that didn’t, according tour our prime minister, mandate the vaccine at all. We didn’t suffer the losses and pain we think we did — because Justin Trudeau is now saying it didn’t happen.
Maxime Bernier Hails the Anniversary of the Truckers Freedom Convoy
One year ago today marked the beginning of a historic moment in Canadian history.
The beginning of the largest human rights protest Canada has ever seen.
The beginning of the most inspiring act of civil disobedience I have ever experienced.
The Freedom Convoy.
After 2 years of government tyranny, of lockdowns and travel bans, of curfews and stay at home orders, of governments pitting families and friends against each other, of propaganda and psychological manipulation…
Brave Canadian truckers started a movement that would wake up a nation and inspire the world.
Starting in the Western heartland, they drove east. The line of trucks and cars grew as they passed through each city and province.
Patriotic Canadians gathered on highway overpasses, waving flags and raising homemade signs.
A year ago today they began to arrive in Ottawa.
The corrupt hacks and career politicians that walk the halls of Parliament were reminded that these buildings, this country, belongs to us.
They were reminded that Canadians are not just serfs paying taxes to support their insane globalist projects and inflated MP salaries.
We are a proud people not to be treated like slaves or cogs in some broken machine.
Trudeau smeared the protestors as racists and misogynists. “A small fringe minority with unacceptable views”.
The fake news media painted it as an “occupation.” They claimed the citizens of downtown Ottawa were being “terrorized” and lied about protestors committing arson and other crimes.
But I was there in person. I experienced it first hand.
And I can tell you, it was the most beautiful, peaceful, and patriotic event I have ever seen.
After two years of misery and discrimination, of being separated from friends and family, there was a special sense of love and togetherness in the streets of Ottawa.
People were proud to be Canadian again.
But just as pride and patriotism was resurging in Canada, Justin Trudeau stomped it out, like a campfire at the end of the night.
He gave himself unprecedented powers, meant to protect Canadians at times of war.
He did things that should never be done to peaceful Canadian citizens.
He weaponized the financial system, shutting down fundraisers and freezing people’s bank accounts without due process.
Storm troopers took to the streets, shooting journalists with tear gas and trampling people with horses.
Pride in our country evaporated. We were reminded the tyrants are still in control.
Even though the Freedom Convoy was violently crushed, it was still a brilliant success.
Public opinion had turned. Provincial governments started to quietly drop mandates and restrictions.
We must not forget about what the tyrannical Liberals did to us. What the NDP and Bloc Québécois enabled. What the Conservatives failed to oppose.
We must recapture the fervor and passion of the Freedom Convoy and start fighting now to make change in the next election.
We must replicate what the Freedom Convoy accomplished. After filling the streets of Ottawa with the People, we must fill the House of Commons with People’s Party MPs.
What a difference a year can make! What a difference we all together can make.
To all Canadians far and wide, and especially to those Canadians who know, and with whom we are fighting for what is ours, what always will be ours and for that which we will gift to the ones who are yet to come.
Only 12 months ago, those, who recognized the tidal wave of tyranny that had engulfed us were the small “fringe minority”. Despite the blistering waves of propaganda that continued to batter us 24/7, and the constant threats of retaliation, we started to look up and out and realize we were not alone.
Darkness was all around, it was midnight!
Slowly and surely from the beginning to 2022, we began to emerge and we began to Unite.
Together we started to bring forth the righteous ire of a sleeping population.
For many Canadians, this was the first time they began to realize the extent of the crimes that had been committed against them, and this was the first time they started to see the true violent nature of their “representative” government.
They also started to realize that the institutions that we thought are here to protect us, are really here to repress us.
Many Citizens, for the first time, attempted to engage with their “elected representative”…….and got nothing, or a form letter. Some of you have engaged with or at least started to watch these representatives, and for the first time are realizing how mediocre and unimpressive most of them are.
Do you also know how rich they have become???? Stay tuned……
There have been some exceptions MP Ted Falk comes to mind, but these are almost non existent. There are a total of 338 members of the Canadian Parliament….how many of them answered you? Do you ever hear from them except when they want more of your money, or when there is an election? What about the 105 Senators, and the thousands of Provincial Representatives?
The Truckers will always stand as a symbol of the courageous defiance of a small few against an entrenched and violent dictatorship.
When the dictators realized that too many of the public were starting to see, with their own eyes, what was happening, and the captive and corrupt propagandist media could not stem that tide…..the dictators did what dictators always do, they took up arms and violence against the unarmed and peaceful.
Following the Truckers, came thousands of individuals and small groups. At first, and once again these small groups were alone calling out into the Abyss, but slowly and surely, they too started to come together. With the help of these patriots and with the coming out of truly independent and fair minded Alternative Media Sites, the message of freedom started to come out.
The message of how they lied to us for two years, and how their cure was harming and even killing us started to come out. At first our voices started as a whisper, but soon, with the help of thousands, our voices began a roar, and now even those corrupt institutions that foisted this on the public are starting to trickle out the Truth.
Make no mistake, the criminals are not yet done! They are creating even larger lies.
The terms “Doctors and Scientists Are Baffled..”, or “….Suddenly Died” and “Myocarditis” or “Unknown Cause of Death” are now common place.
Did you ever hear these terms before now?
How many of you out there knew what “myocarditis” was, before now?
They are also amping up their other older lies, and creating new ones.
Climate Emergency, World War, Shortages, Endemic Racism……
These are all new distractions.
Like any other trapped animal, these ones are getting even more desperate.
They know the end is near.
They know you are winning.
They want you to give up, they want you to be distracted.
We can now see the end, we know the tide has turned, and our darkest hour has past, but we have a long long way to go!
This year we must fight even harder, because as the faint rays of freedom’s light is starting to cut through the darkness, we must together ensure that it will not fade, but brilliantly light the days to come.
These criminals will be brought to justice. It is; however, not just a matter of time, it is in fact a matter of each of you working together to defeat these evil doers.
Never before in the history of the World has so much evil been inflicted by so few on so many. And never in the course of the history of the World has freedom stood on the precipice for so many all around the World.
Canada, has historically been a country that, despite our size, has led that way in human rights, peace, prosperity and the rule of law.
We can be this beacon again.
It is up to each of us to do their part.
Don’t believe me? Read our post on the difference we have made in 6 months, with your help.
2023 holds the promise to being the next step toward a new and beautiful future of freedom and peace, but there is also the risk of the other.
What we accomplished in 2022 is nothing short of miraculous. We are fighting a plan and an entrenched enemy that has been silently attacking us for decades, and they have the full power of an armed state. And yet we are turning the tide…..
What can you do?
Stay the course. Speak out in large ways, if you can, or in small ways if that is what you can do.
Educate yourself.
Educate others.
Copy our report, and send it out to friends, family, leaders, professionals everywhere you can! Do not concern yourself that someone else may have already sent it….send it again, and again and again!
Form a small group within your community and engage your elected officials.
Join an existing group.
Comment publicly if you can.
Attend rallies, meetings Town halls.
VOTE
Get Involved.
Ask questions and demand answers from your leaders!
If you see a lie on the Legacy Media, copy it, point it out, send it out to your contacts, to us, and we can bring it to light. Do your homework.
Turn off the TV
Find out about Canadian Bill C-11…Understand it, and make your opinion known, they are trying to stop us from talking to you!
If you still do not believe this is true, ask yourself this question:
“Do I feel safe in expressing my opinions in public, or do I self censor my legitimate and protected opinions for fear of retribution from employers, government, institutions etc”…
If you do not feel safe, then how can you believe you are free?
It is up to you!
Join Us!
Make Sure That When Your Grandchildren Think About These Years, They Will Say a Prayer of Thanks for YOUR Sacrifice.
For all of those who have gone before us, for all of those who stand with us, and for all of those who will join with us soon….We wish you the best and most successful 2023.
We will be with you in the light of freedom and future reconstitution.
For those of you, still on the fence, or unaware, we cannot wait for you, but we will embrace you when you arrive.
May God Bless you all, protect you, and guide you in this epic struggle against Evil that we are all now a part of.
Misinformation re: the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy GoFundMe.”Hear the interruptions by the chair, and the numerous “thank you for the question”.There are some similarities to the Ottawa hearings in how questions were answered, obfuscated, or avoided.
Slow Crawl from Hamilton to Caister Centre to Support Truckers’ Freedom Rally
HAMILTON, Saturday, March 26, 2022.Fantastic Slow Crawl from Eastgate Mall, Hamilton to Caister Centre. About 200 vehicles. Moving barbecue and fellowship. Here’s the crane that hoisted the Canadian flag for a month at the Ottawa rally, with the national anthem and a prayer. The Fake News media never shared that information. That would contradict the Deep State fear propaganda of “violence”, |”neo-Nazis” and “sedition”. These are decent working class Canadians upset at the theft of their jobs and their freedoms.
The following document has been prepared to share important information and actions with the Freedom Rising alliance. Click on the individual action links to be directed to each action.
Representatives of the Freedom Convoy have issued a public statement via video about the state of emergency declared by Ottawa’s mayor. They are very concerned that Ottawa police are acting aggressively. The Convoy’s medical advisors, Dr. Paul Alexander and Dr. Roger Hodkinson declare it’s time for the government to lift all mandates.
Dr. Ponesse’s poignant words in Ottawa quickened the hearts and souls of freedom lovers everywhere. In her riveting 11 minute speech, Dr. Ponesse called out the disastrous government policies that have imposed a ‘pandemic of coercion and compliance’ that have obliterated our most fundamental Constitutional freedoms.
3. TELL YOUR MP TO SUPPORT OUR RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
Write, email, text, tweet, post on social media, and phone your MP. Share with them the two videos above. Tell them that you support the Freedom Convoy because they support your Charter rights and freedoms. To find your MP’s address, email, and phone: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/search#
4. CALL JIM WATSON, MAYOR OF OTTAWA
Jim Watson, the Mayor of Ottawa is violating our Charter rights to assembly, protest, free speech, and other violations. Call Mr. Watson and demand that he honour the Charter. 613-580-2496
5. KEEP THE PEACE
The forces of tyranny want us to react to their aggressive and hateful tactics. Stay centered, peaceful and loving. Love wins over hate. Take inspiration from Gandhi and his success in the liberation of India from the British.
“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.” – RFK
