Saskatchewan Judge Finds Maxime Bernier Violated COVID-19 Health Orders at Rally

People's Party of Canada Leader and former cabinet minister Maxime Bernier takes part in the trucker protest against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

A Saskatchewan court has found People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier in violation of public health orders for holding a rally during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A court decision dated Dec. 14 found that Mr. Bernier and several others participated in a rally on May 9, 2021, in Saskatoon, while public health orders prevented gatherings of more than 10 people. There were 44 people facing charges in the case, which was heard in September 2022 and June 2023, according to court documents.

In the court decision, Judge Quentin Douglas Agnew found 39 of the defendants guilty of violating the public health orders.

Mr. Bernier’s attorney attempted to draw in the Ingram decision from Alberta, issued in July, where the court ruled that public health orders issued by the chief medical officer of health were not valid because they were made by the cabinet and not the top medical officer.

However, Judge Agnew said the Alberta court decision had no impact in Saskatchewan.

“The decisions of any other court, no matter its level, are of persuasive value only,” he wrote.

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The judge also noted that in Saskatchewan, the public health orders were made by the chief medical health officer with the authority delegated to him by the minister of health.

Judge Agnew also rejected the defendant’s position that the case should be stayed.

“The Bernier brief appears to argue for a stay of proceedings,” Judge Agnew wrote. “However, as the defendants have not brought a Charter motion with respect to abuse of process, I have no power to consider a stay as a remedy for abuse of process.”

Mr. Bernier posted a news story about the decision on X, formerly Twitter, on Dec. 20 saying, “Another judge concludes I am a criminal because I spoke to more than 10 people at a rally during COVID hysteria.”

Others found guilty include Peter Christoph Boettcher, Bartel Boot, Jacob Boot, Jaxson Boot, Jenny Boot, Stella Chipesia, Rachael Cole, Breton Harley Cook,  Wallace Cottingham, Cheryl Drebit, Gerald Ferguson, Mark L. Friesen, Pierre Marc Robert Groulx, Frederick John Harrison, Joyce Harrison, Mikela June Herbel, Deborah Rose Hretsina, Sarah Huizing, Cory Klassen, Dominika Kosowska, Cody Kuntz, Arley Laroque, Halden Lindjberg, Megan Machiskinic, Darrell T. Mills, Alexandre Nascimento, Terrance Nash, Luiz Augusto B. Penteado, Breanna Peskleway, Wayne Steven Peters, Amanda Philipenko, Joyce Ina Pierce, Adrian B. Scarrow, Michael Styan, Luke Tournier, Michele Tournier, Pamela J. Waldner, and Richard Brent Wintringham.

Judge Agnew did not indicate the penalty or fines for the individuals found guilty.

A former lawyer, Mr. Bernier gained a name for himself on the political scene as an MP for Beauce, Quebec, from 2007–2018. At that time, he left the Conservative Party to sit as an Independent.

The Ingram decision in Alberta was expected to see hundreds of fines tossed out for those who were issued tickets for violating public health orders. The Alberta Crown Prosecutions Service (ACPS) told media in August that it expected to see another 14 cases tossed out because of the decision.