Randy Hillier's motion for a change of venue was dismissed today by Justice Kevin Phillips of the Superior Court of Justice. Justice Phillips dismissed the motion "summarily" which means he didn't permit the parties to even have a hearing. Respectfully, he got it wrong. 🪡🧵 Firstly, I'll say that I am not going to lay out all of my criticism for this decision. Judges cannot respond to criticism and so public criticism is not the best way to address a judicial decision. I will, however, make some comments about the worst aspects of his decision.

Last year, former MPP Randy Hillier was charged with criminal offences in relation to his support for the #FreedomConvoy. His trial is currently set to be held in Ottawa. Tomorrow we argue a change of venue motion so that he can be tried in a jurisdiction other than #Ottawa. In Ottawa, the #ArrestRandyHillier hashtag was prominent during the time. Further, the city and other local politicians have demonized the Freedom Convoy. One such example is the creation of @ottpeoplescomm funded largely by the taxpayers of Ottawa.

✍️ PLEASE ADD TO THIS THREAD

Many have contacted me lately asking what to do about dealing with the small fringe minority of businesses that continue to require masks in their establishments.

This thread is to list CANADIAN 🇨🇦businesses that do/don’t have such a requirement. Of particular interest are businesses in the health or quasi-health field i.e. dentist offices, physiotherapists etc. who no longer require masks. Other than that, any business where you believe sharing the information might be of general interest to the community is welcome.

🧵I wanted to elaborate a thread on this point for those who were interested.

https://twitter.com/DavidAnber/status/1530570552561254402

I wrote “The problem with our present situation — particularly in 🇨🇦 & very particularly in Ontario — is we have some laws which apply to everyone but which are very broad & thus rarely enforced (because to do so would capture tons of conduct) but they can be used selectively.”

During the pandemic, between 99.7% & 99.97% of Ont’s pop @ any given time was COV-neg. Of the COV+, many/most of them knew they were sick & isolated. Of the rest you’d need maskless PROLONGED face/face contact & even if transmitted, over 95% of the time it was no worse than flu. I am tweeting this out because people like @twpiggott, @drmwarner, @maddyeisenberg and others continue to spread the disinformation that just because masks show some slight effectiveness in labs or contrived studies that this translates to any real impact in the real world.

💉AM I VACCINATED❓

For as long as the vaccines have been available, I’ve wrestled with whether or not to publicly reveal my vax status. In this🧵, I decide to publicly indicate if I have been vaccinated or not & the reasons behind my decision & also my decision to reveal it. First, I’ll say that I have long believed that personal medical decisions are private and people should not be in the habit of talking about them any more than they would any other medical procedure/decision. It should be even more-so taboo for people to ask. I still believe this

As #WearAMask trends, we mustn’t forget how mask mandates arose. Recall in March/April/May of the first wave (2020) masks were not mandatory. Some people who were very scared wore masks. Public health experts like Fauci or @CPHO_Canada reminded us the science didn’t support that. But the mask wearers became resentful that everybody did not share their paralyzing fear. And this is when suddenly the propaganda arose that masking apparently healthy people was about ‘protecting others’. The purpose of this line of fallacy was to defeat any argument of choice.

BAIL DECISION TODAY

#TamaraLich

I’ll be live tweeting and also including my estimate on the odds as the decision is released. Currently my estimate is:

https://twitter.com/davidanber/status/1499150581012774920

Publication ban is reiterated. Counsel for the defence raised how it had been breached previously. Judge says he doesn’t refer to the “proposed surety” by name. Not a good sign that he said that.

Tamara Lich has a “Bail Review” today beginning at 10:30AM in Ottawa.

I hope to provide periodic updates on it via Twitter, please follow if you’d like to receive them. Justice John Johnston of the Superior Court will preside. He’s a Harper appointment & former defence lawyer but that doesn’t guarantee anything. He’s smart & unbiased, but this case will be vigorously argued on both sides with the burden on the defence to overturn the bail ruling

🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦
The last two years have been very much about what kind of country we want to live in, and about what the role of government should be.

Are we supposed to live in a country where government attempts to be the solution to problems?

🧵 ⬇️ Or do we want to live in a country where government secures rights for its citizens and fosters the environment to allow people to pursue their own destiny?

I have been receiving numerous emails and DMs relating to the hacking of #GiveSendGo and your personal info being doxed/leaked.

Unless you have run into an actual specific problem (account being closed) police contacting you, etc., I cannot assist. Even if I do share your anger. You may wish to consult a civil litigation lawyer if you’d like to consider a cause of action. This is not my area of expertise despite the fact that I am outraged like you are.

I am not a civil litigation lawyer.

💰 DONATED MONEY?

I’m getting a deluge of calls about people who are worried about having donated to @GiveSendGo

Once again, this thread is not legal advice but it can be useful information. First, don’t panic. For reasons elaborated on out below, I am not convinced that past donations are illegal. I am also not saying they aren’t either; but for starters, assume you’re okay until and unless you hear otherwise; no point in stressing yourself out.

I keep seeing this chart circulating — I encourage everyone to read it’s methodology. It is one of the most dishonest surveys I’ve ever seen in my life and I break it down in this thread. 🧵

https://twitter.com/ProbitInc/status/1491533204985192449

The proposition they advance is “the more uninformed you are, the less you support vaccine passports”.

So in order to measure how “uninformed” someone is, they asked 7 questions and the more affirmatively people answered, the more uninformed this study claims they are.

🚨 EMERGENCIES ACT?

The same legal “experts” on Twitter who explained us concepts like how they believe an injunction works last week, are now publishing a flurry of “legal opinions” on how Canada should invoke the Emergencies Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 22.

A 🧵 on why they’re wrong. Starting in the preamble, a “national emergency” is needed that requires the Act to “ensure safety & security” during the emergency. Looking at what’s going on in Ottawa right now, it’s hard to say this is a “national emergency” let alone one that puts safety/security in issue.

⛽️ WHAT TO DO ABOUT SEIZED JERRY CANS & ARRESTS

I’ve been getting a lot of DMs about this.

Please do the following:

1. When an officer tells you to give your property to him, say “no I refuse to give you my property” or “give me back my property”. Do not yell or be aggressive. 2. If he refuses ask him to tell you the reason why. Try to document it in personal notes or on audio or video.

3. Ask for his name and badge number. Also try and capture video of him or her.

It is probable that these seizures are not lawful but it’s never clear cut in court.

🧐DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?

“it’s a deadly disease!”

“But the survival rate is like 99.96% if you’re below average life expectancy”

“Well it’s all about hospitalizations and our hospital system being overrun”

“Ok but after locking down, it turns out to not have been that bad” “It’s cases; it’s all about cases”

“In most places in Canada, at the worst points, about half of a percent of people had it at any one time. It’s mainly been even less than that”

“Did you hear about that guy in his 40s in hospital for a month? Even young people are at risk”

It does not appear that @MaximeBernier was informed of his full rights to counsel “immediately” as required by the Supreme Court in R. v. Suberu. In addition to challenging every other horrifying aspect of this case, @JCCFCanada should raise this as well. [Thread continues]

https://twitter.com/ezralevant/status/1403465842306732034

Full, technical compliance with the law would have seen the arresting officer read the rights where the cuffing first took place. But even once back at the cruiser, there’s a conversation and no officer pulls out a card to read the full rights; Bernier then enters the cruiser.