As has been communicated in the media, I apologized this morning to Chief Justice Joyal in the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench for my decision to include him in passive observation conducted by a private investigator at my request, to hold government officials accountable.
In an error of judgement, Chief Justice Joyal was included with the observation of government officials. No other judges were included.
Over the last 16 months, Canadians have faced unprecedented restrictions on their Charter-guaranteed freedoms to travel, assemble, associate with others, and worship.
The Justice Centre’s mandate is to defend Canadians’ constitutional freedoms through litigation and education.
When public officials breach health orders, as we saw recently with Alberta Premier Kenney’s “Sky Palace” dinner, it is evidence that they do not feel compelled to abide by the same restrictions which they impose on other citizens, often with significant penalties.
It was reported to the Justice Centre that Manitoba’s leadership were similarly breaching public health regulations. I made the decision to hire an investigator 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.
This decision was my own initiative, and was not discussed with Justice Centre clients, staff lawyers or Board members.
