Ontario MPP Randy Hillier smokes a cigarette as he speaks with the media before turning himself in at the Ottawa Police Services headquarters, Monday, March 28, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Ontario’s top court has ruled that provincial restrictions on gatherings that prohibited peaceful protests for several weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic were unconstitutional.
The Court of Appeal for Ontario made the finding today in a case brought by former Ontario legislator Randy Hillier, who faced several charges for organizing or hosting protests against pandemic measures while the rules were in effect in the spring of 2021.
Hillier appealed after the judge who heard his application found that while the limits on gatherings did infringe on his right to peaceful assembly, they were justified and therefore constitutional.
The three-judge appeal panel unanimously found that the application judge incorrectly applied the necessary legal test in coming to that conclusion.
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