City councillor handed TWO tickets at anti-lockdown protest in St. Catherines

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David Jim Handley is a city councillor for Thorold, Ontario, who was attending a peaceful anti-lockdown protest in St. Catharines when he was served with two tickets.

Handley was at the event with his 85-year-old father, and his father’s girlfriend. You may find it interesting to note that while David received two tickets, his father, who was standing next to him, received none. Is it because the police officer didn’t want the bad optics associated with ticketing an elderly man?

So how much discretion do the police have in enforcing lockdown regulations, and why aren’t they using it more effectively?

Another interesting thing to note about this story is that Handley wasn’t the only city councillor in attendance that day. He claims that a colleague of his was also there. Apparently when the police questioned her, she told them she wasn’t in attendance, but rather, was investigating the event. This was enough for the officer to use their discretion and NOT give her a ticket. But, as I learned from our paralegal Jenna Little, it doesn’t quite work like that.

Jenna told me that intent, or mens rea, isn’t relevant in this case, as it’s a “regulatory offence,” not a criminal one. These types of offences don’t have much wiggle room. You either broke the Reopening Act, or you didn’t. The virus doesn’t understand intent, so why did the police allegedly let this city councillor off?

If you think it’s wrong to target people based on political beliefs, you’re not alone. Rebel News, in partnership with the registered Canadian charity, The Democracy Fund, is taking on the project of hooking up Canadians who are receiving unlawful lockdown tickets, with top-notch criminal lawyers.

Please visit FightTheFines.com today to help us continue this important work. Your generous donation will go directly to The Democracy Fund, where it will be used to pay the legal costs of representing Canadians receiving unlawful tickets.