A sweeping lawsuit brought against the government by a foundation that raised more than $1 million in public donations to challenge health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic has just been dismissed by the Superior Court, because it is become “purely theoretical”.
The Foundation for the Defense of People’s Rights and Freedoms (FDDLP), headed by ex-accountant Stéphane Blais, sought through this action to have all of the $1,546 fines imposed on recalcitrants during the crisis invalidated, and to force the state to reimburse offenders. This request was deemed “vague and impracticable” and “impossible to enforce” by the Superior Court.
The lawsuit, outright denying the existence of the pandemic, was based on the opinion of several “world-renowned experts”, including Dr.r Christian Peronne, and alleged in particular that wearing a mask can cause “cognitive problems” and even lead to “sudden death”.
The money that was used to finance the action was originally collected in May 2020 during a web-a-thon whose headliners were the conspiracy leader Alexis Cossette-Trudel, the actress Lucie Laurier, the blogger Dan Pilon and André Pitre, a former speaker from the identity group La Meute.
The FDDLP argued that 17,005 people contributed to the financing of the lawsuit, and that denying them their right to be heard “on a question as fundamental as knowing whether there has indeed been a pandemic” would be “all an affront to these people and quite a waste of the resources they have invested”
In a very technical judgment of 44 pages, Judge Michel A. Pinsonnault concludes that due to the end of the health emergency decreed on 1er June 2022, “the issues raised do not warrant, in the public interest, the use of the Court’s judicial resources” to consider “the breadth of evidence contemplated by the plaintiffs. »
“The Tribunal cannot substitute itself for the government or the National Assembly to decree or deny [après les faits] the existence of a state of health emergency. Such a decision by the government falls within the political sphere”, indicates the judge, and it is not the role of the courts to decide the question, “but that of the ballot boxes”, he adds, welcoming the request of the Prosecutor. General of Quebec to dismiss the lawsuit.
The Foundation for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms has indicated that it will study the possibilities of appealing the decision. “We are extremely saddened by this judgment. We have good experts, good lawyers, we could hardly have done better,” said its president, Stéphane Blais.
The FDDLP was initially represented by constitutional lawyer Guy Bertrand, who suddenly withdrew from the case, accusing Stéphane Blais of having “destroyed [sa] own credibility before the Court” by his “often untimely statements” in connection with COVID-19. Another lawyer, Mr.e Dominic Desjarlais, also suddenly withdrew after filing the lawsuit, after The Press revealed, in October 2021, that Mr. Blais and the director of the FDDLP had been in bed for several days, infected with COVID-19, and refused to be tested. The lawsuit was subsequently argued in court by Lily Monier and Stéphane Blais, neither of whom are lawyers.