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.
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.
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.
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.