Independent MPP Randy Hillier & Maxime Bernier Challenge Ford’s Lockdown Tyranny<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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No mask? No problem \u2014 not for 2019 Prime Ministerial\u00a0candidate Maxime Bernier and his friend Randy Hillier, an independent MPP from Kingston who was removed from the PC caucus last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dynamic duo attracted dozens of supporters to Queen’s Park on Wednesday, where they formed a maskless crowd on a lawn outside the legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Members of the group listened intently and cheered as Hillier called \nOntario Premier Doug Ford a “coward” and a “yahoo.” The group had \ngathered explicitly to challenge the Ford government’s COVID-19 social \ngathering restrictions, which Hillier has called “unlawful.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\n\n\n\n
The MPP actually stood up in parliament yesterday to announce his \nplan of going to Queen’s Park and purposefully challenging the law, \nwhich carries with it a fine of $10,000 for people hosting outdoor \ngatherings of more than 25 people and $800 for all attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Tomorrow I will host and gather with more than 25 friends, an offence under these authoritarian laws,” said Hillier on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
True to his word, Hillier spoke alongside Bernier to what looked like far more than 25 people on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Ford addressed the situation during his daily pandemic press conference on Wednesday after announcing a new round of funding for mental health services<\/a> targeting children and youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Well, we live in a democracy \u2014 I’ve told people ‘you want to \nprotest? come down to Queens’s Park. They’re welcome to protest,” said \nthe premier when asked about what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “What I do ask is not to be violent, and I hear there was a little bit of violence out there today, and that’s unacceptable.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n