Crown withdraws charges against Democracy Fund client who attended Freedom Convoy protest

The Canadian Press / Nathan Denette

A Freedom Convoy attendee accused of mischief and disobeying a court order during a February 2022 protest in Windsor had their criminal charges withdrawn, according to The Democracy Fund (TDF).

TDF said their undisclosed client faced 45 days in jail upon conviction. However, the Crown agreed to withdraw the charges citing "no reasonable prospect of conviction."

"The client endured 13 months of restrictive bail conditions and suffered the uncertainty of the judicial process but was relieved when he learned of the successful resolution," read a statement released Monday by TDF.

The client's family reportedly experienced political repression in a former Soviet-bloc country before moving to Canada, and this experience sharpened his appreciation for civil liberties.

TDF lawyer Adam Blake-Gallipeau said:

This is another troubling example of a first-generation immigrant arrested and facing significant jail time for peacefully exercising his right to protest. I'm pleased that we were able to help and that my client can finally move on with his life.

"This is another troubling example of a first-generation immigrant who was arrested and faced significant jail time for peacefully exercising his right to protest. I'm pleased that we were able to help and that my client can finally move on with his life."

Read about our recent… pic.twitter.com/MkeEQYjdoG

— The Democracy Fund (@TDF_Can) April 4, 2023

"The use of these powers against Canadians has set a new and dangerous precedent for what constitutes an emergency in a free and democratic society and what actions the government is justified in taking against its people in the future. The protestors were Canadians who were ignored, mocked, and suppressed by a government that refused to engage with them," said TDF in response to final report from POEC.

TDF previously contested the findings of the Rouleau Inquiry into the Freedom Convoy and whether Ottawa's invocation of the Emergencies Act passed the legal threshold. 

On February 27, the legal group acknowledged POEC Commissioner Paul Rouleau did not consider the factual basis for his conclusion to be "overwhelming."

He also stated that "reasonable and informed people could reach a different conclusion than his."

Rouleau admitted that others might reasonably disagree because of the "reasonable grounds" standard. 

"The federal government did not need conclusive proof that there were acts or threats of serious violence for ideological purposes. They only needed to show 'reasonable grounds' to believe that there were," reads a TDF statement.

Freedom Convoy lawyer Eva Chipiuk joins The Ezra Levant Show to discuss the current situation in Ottawa's federal court, which involves 'citizens challenging the Emergencies Act on its own basis.'https://t.co/nBDD7QcVTg

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) April 4, 2023

"This standard of reasonable grounds is elusive. It is more than a mere possibility but less than a balance of probabilities. It is an objective standard that must be based on credible and compelling information, not necessarily information that tips the scales of probability."

According to The Democracy Fund, it is the standard that police use when deciding to arrest a person without a warrant, which they have historically done to the detriment of certain minorities in our country. 

"If our justice system has historically discriminated against certain groups, it was enabled by the reasonable grounds standard. That's not because the standard is inherently bad. Rather, it's because the standard is inherently flexible."

"The future will tell whether the feelings of division and mistrust driving this protest will be exacerbated by the report and whether the commissioner should have used the flexibility of the reasonable grounds standard to send a different message to this government," said the legal group.