Justice Center sues Alberta to end lockdowns

The Justice Center filed a court challenge, Friday, to Alberta's COVID-19 shutdown orders, citing them as "unconstitutional" and in "violation of Albertans’ Charter freedoms."

The Justice Center along with Alberta lawyer Jeffrey Rath are representing two churches in Alberta and two individuals in a challenge to order made by the Chief Medical Officer of Health and certain sections of the Public Health Act they have deemed "unconstitutional."

The challenge will argue that shutdown orders have violated several Charter-protected rights including "the right to peacefully assemble, the right to visit friends and family, the right to freely practice religious beliefs, the right to travel and the right to conduct business and earn a living," the Justice Center's press release states.

The Justice Center will also argue that the shutdowns have done more harm than good for the community and have contributed to creating more damage than they are aiming to prevent, according to the press release.

The press release further states that Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has routinely issued mandates that have compromised guarded rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, most recently banning social gatherings larger than 10 people within the province.

Justice Center lawyer James Kitchen made a statement included in the press release rebuking the COVID-19 related shutdowns in Alberta as "arbitrary and authoritarian."

"In a free society, the government respects citizens as they exercise their freedom and responsibility to respond to a perceived crisis as they deem best for themselves and their loved ones. Arbitrary and authoritarian control, based on fearmongering by the government, only ever exasperates the problems facing society, as we have seen for the last nine months. Politicians have not put forward any persuasive evidence that lockdowns have saved lives, but there is no question that lockdowns have caused grave harm to millions of Canadians suffering unemployment, poverty, cancelled surgeries, suicides, isolation and the loss of their liberty," Kitchen stated.

"The people of Alberta have suffered under the oppression of a medical dictatorship for long enough. The soul-destroying lockdowns have wrought havoc. It’s time for Albertans to get their freedom back," he continued.