The Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench has ruled that the province’s public health orders (PHOs) limiting the number of people allowed at outdoor protests were “justifiable” while acknowledging the order had violated sections of the charter protecting freedom of expression.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), a constitutional rights advocacy group, said it is “disappointed” in the court ruling.
“We are reviewing the decision of the Court and will be seeking instructions from our clients regarding an appeal to the higher Court,” JCCF lawyer Marty Moore said in a Sept. 20 statement after the ruling.
Moore is co-representing two protesters in the case, Jasmin Grandel and Darrell Mills, who were ticketed for attending a peaceful outdoor demonstration on Dec. 19, 2020, opposing the government’s lockdown measures. The protest, held at the Vimy Memorial in Kiwanis Park in Saskatoon, exceeded Saskatchewan’s 10-person outdoor social gathering limit imposed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic….