John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, was arrested over a charge that the centre says alleges obstruction of justice and is apparently in connection with Carpay’s hiring of a private investigator in 2021 to follow a Manitoba judge who was presiding over a case challenging COVID-19 restrictions.
Carpay stepped away from his position in 2021 after it emerged that he had hired a private investigator that June to follow Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench to see if he was violating any public health rules related to COVID-19.
At the time, Joyal was presiding over a case brought by the Justice Centre involving a number of Manitoba churches challenging pandemic public health orders that restricted church operations.
He explained that he made the decision due to reports at the time that public officials including Manitoba’s leadership were themselves breaching health orders and that he wished to ascertain whether this was true.
“In no way was this intended to influence or impact the Justice Centre’s litigation efforts, or any of our court cases,” Carpay said.
Carpay resumed his position as head of the organization in August 2021 following a seven-week leave of absence.
“Oddly, Mr. Carpay’s sole bail condition states that he cannot contact Chief Justice Joyal, an individual that Mr. Carpay has not had any communication with apart from the apologies that he issued in 2021.”
The Epoch Times contacted the Winnipeg Police Service for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.