TORONTO, ON: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that lawyers have filed an application for judicial review in the Ontario Divisional Court on behalf of engineer and former Ontario Tech University (University) student Philip Anisimov. The application asks the Court to review and overturn a decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal) that rejected Mr. Anisimov’s religious objection to the Covid vaccine and refused to find that the University had discriminated against him.
The Tribunal initially ruled that Mr. Anisimov’s Christian objection to receiving the Covid vaccine was not protected as a “creed” under the Ontario Human Rights Code, even while accepting that his beliefs were sincerely held. It then refused to reconsider its own decision, relying on its earlier reasons and adding that any misapprehension of the evidence would not have changed the outcome.
The application argues that the Tribunal applied incorrect legal tests to assess Mr. Anisimov’s religious beliefs and his deregistration, relied on a key factual finding unsupported by evidence, and erred by sending the reconsideration request back to the same Tribunal adjudicator, creating a reasonable apprehension of bias.
Constitutional lawyer Hatim Kheir said, “Mr. Anisimov’s objection to the Covid vaccine was deeply rooted in his religious commitment to live according to biblical precepts. He hopes the Divisional Court will clarify that his religious objection was protected by the Human Rights Code and entitled to protection.”
Mr. Anisimov was studying engineering at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa in 2021 when the University implemented a Covid vaccine mandate that required students to be fully vaccinated in order to attend campus, subject to limited exemptions.
Mr. Anisimov said, “My hope is that this case helps set an important precedent and encourages Canadians to reflect on the direction our society is taking. My trust is that God does all things for the good of those who love Him, who are called by His purposes.”
Mr. Anisimov’s experience parallels that of many students and employees who faced deregistration or discipline for declining the Covid vaccines on religious grounds across Canada.
If the Divisional Court agrees that the Tribunal misapplied human rights law, it could help clarify that people’s human rights protect the freedom to abstain from vaccination for sincere religious reasons.
