Former Conservative MPP suing Ford government over 'right to protest, pray & gather outdoors'

Baber was originally elected as a Progressive Conservative MPP to represent the riding of York Centre in Toronto, but was expelled from the party by Premier Doug Ford after he declared his opposition to lockdowns

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Independent Ontario MPP Roman Baber is suing the Ontario government over the province's coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions, Toronto Star reports.

"I am suing the attorney general of Ontario for our right to protest, pray and gather outdoors," Baber said. "The risk of outdoor transmission is negligible, but the government enacted heavy-handed regulations that deny Ontarians their fundamental freedoms."

Baber was originally elected as a Progressive Conservative MPP to represent the riding of York Centre in Toronto, but was expelled from the party by Premier Doug Ford after he declared his opposition to lockdowns in an open letter released in January.

The lawsuit alleges that some aspects of Doug Ford's Reopening Ontario Act are unconstitutional. According to Baber and the organization Lift the Lockdown, which is collaborating with him on the lawsuit, some measures within the law violate Charter rights to "free association, the free expression of ideas and peaceful assembly, including for protests."

Baber, whose riding is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the country, specifically mentions the prohibition on members of the Toronto Jewish Russian Community Centre from gathering outdoors for prayers. Baber himself is a Russian Jew born in the former USSR.

He also insists that outdoor restrictions "are inconsistent with their purpose or over-intrusive and therefore in violation of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act."

Ford defended his position on lockdowns earlier this week, saying that he will continue to take the advice of health officials.

"I’m going to stick with what I've done right from the beginning, I'm going to stick with health and science and work with them collaboratively," Premier Ford said during a press event in his native Etobicoke.

"I will always, always listen to the chief medical officer [and] his team because they're the professionals when it comes to health care, and I'm not."

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign in to comment

Comments

Powered by StructureCMS™ Comments

Join and support independent free thinkers!

We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.

Support The Post Millennial

Remind me next month

To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 The Post Millennial, Privacy Policy