5,000 signatures reached
To: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms
Albertans Requesting Court Challenge to Bill 10
This is a petition to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. We, the undersigned residents of the Province of Alberta, are requesting that the Justice Centre court challenge the constitutionality of recent Alberta legislation, specifically the Public Health Amendment Act, Bill 10.
The deadline to present this petition to The Justice Centre has been extended to Monday, June 22nd, 2020.
THIS PETITION NEEDS LEGITIMATE NAMES. YOUR SIGNATURE WILL NOT COUNT IF YOU SUBMIT A MADE UP NAME.
Why is this important?
We are living in a world where our government attempts to contain the spread of Covid-19 by suspending Charter freedoms of association, religion and peaceful assembly, and the rights to mobility, liberty and security of the person.
Alberta residents share the following concerns with the Justice Centre and its litigators:
The Justice Centre’s concerns regarding Bill 10:
1. It provides sweeping and extraordinary powers to any...single politician [to] write, create, implement and enforce any new law, simply through ministerial order, without the new law being discussed, scrutinized, debated or approved by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
2. There is no clear limitation as to how long [the] restrictions and new laws can continue.
3. The new law can be made retroactive to the time when the public health emergency was declared.
4. The maximum penalty for contravening the Public Health Act from $2,000 to $100,000 (1st offence) and from $5,000 to $500,000 (2nd offence).
Jay Cameron’s, Litigation Manager for the Justice Centre, concerns with Bill 10:
1. “Albertans have a constitutional right to have their elected representatives involved in the making of new laws, especially the making of laws which dramatically infringe on their own civil liberties.”
2. “This concentration of power in one individual, without meaningful accountability, opens the door for widespread abuse of civilians.”
John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has stated that,
“Under our Constitution, Canada’s federal and provincial governments can take steps to try to control an unmanageable spread of Covid-19. But any restrictions on Charter rights and freedoms must be proportionate, rooted in the proper context... and balanced against the profound destruction to Canada’s economy and social fabric, and all of the suffering that government measures now inflict on Canadians.”
Carpay has also described the repercussions of our government’s decisions as such,
“Inflicting unemployment on millions of Canadians, as governments are now doing, means that less money will be available to run our healthcare systems, leading to more deaths in the long run. Rising unemployment and bankruptcies, with millions of Canadians suffering a massive loss of income, will lead to mental and physical health problems, more suicides and more domestic violence. Social isolation means depriving Canadians of healthy social interactions, likewise resulting in more mental and physical health problems, and resultant deaths.”
Carpay ultimately stated, “that the ‘just trust us’ [approach] will not satisfy a court if a federal, provincial or municipal restriction is challenged for violating Charter rights and freedoms. Rather, the Charter places the onus on the government to demonstrate a justification for its violations of rights and freedoms.”