Crown Drops COVID-Related Charges Against Sloan, Hillier

Then-Ontario Independent MPP Randy Hillier speaks to lockdown protesters at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto on Nov. 26, 2020. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)

COVID-19-related charges laid against former MP Derek Sloan and former Ontario MPP Randy Hillier have been dropped by Crown prosecutors, says the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF).

Mr. Hillier, a former Ontario MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston, and Mr. Sloan, former MP for Hastings-Lennox and Addington, were both alleged to have attended a rally protesting lockdowns in 2021 during provincial health orders that banned outdoor gatherings. The men each faced a maximum fine of $100,000 for attending the protest.

The JCCF announced in a July 12 press release that the Crown prosecutor had agreed on June 29 to drop the charges in exchange for a modest charitable donation or volunteer work from Mr. Hiller and Mr. Sloan.

Mr. Hillier fulfilled his volunteer work obligation at a local food bank in Lanark County and Mr. Sloan made an unspecified charitable donation.

On April 8, 2021, the Ontario government declared a state of emergency due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. The government followed that up by instituting an outdoor gathering ban. Both men attended a protest on April 25, 2021, to oppose the COVID-19 restrictions in place at the time.

“The Ontario government’s lockdowns, which effectively banned any political protesting whatsoever, were a grave threat to our freedom in Canada. Restrictions may be over for now, but there was no indication how long they would last at the time. Two weeks became two months, which became almost two years of failed COVID policies,” Mr. Sloan said in the release.

“I am proud to have stood against this tyranny with many other brave Canadians. The Stratford prosecutor made the right choice, and it is now up to other prosecutors in other districts to drop these meaningless charges,” he said.

Mr. Hillier has launched a charter challenge against the lockdowns that banned all outdoor protests and will contend they were an unjustifiable violation of his rights. The hearing is set for July 27–28, 2023.