CSASPP Executive Director Kipling Warner in one of the non-profit's promotional videos.
Image Credit: YOUTUBE/CSASPP
December 01, 2022 - 4:40 PM
A group suing the province and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry over COVID-19 restrictions will have their case broadcast to the world after the B.C. Supreme Court agreed to the rare instance of allowing cameras into the courtroom.
The group, calling itself the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy, are arguing to be certified for a class action lawsuit, challenging and seeking compensation due to the restrictions imposed by the province and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry throughout the pandemic. The group applied to have the certification hearing broadcast in the public interest — something never done before in the Supreme Court of B.C.
READ MORE: Group suing Dr. Bonnie Henry can move forward with class-action case
Last May, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Simon Coval granted the group permission to move forward with its class-action claim against Dr. Henry. The suit challenges three Public Health Orders largely surrounding the vaccination status of healthcare workers.
Supreme Court Judge David Crerar said, in his Nov. 7 decision, released today, the broadcast “will serve an educational purpose for the citizens of British Columbia and advance public review, public understanding, and public scrutiny of the court process.”
“I agree with the plaintiff that our recent years have witnessed a proliferation of conspiratorial and uninformed statements about the functioning of different branches of the government, including the courts. It is hoped that the broadcast of these proceedings will, in its small part, show that courts in Canada will hear and adjudicate applications before them in a principled, independent, and neutral manner, without fear or favour.”
A request has also been made for a larger courtroom for the anticipated increase in spectators, he said, and if not broadcast, many may have to travel long distances at their own costs in order to attend the proceedings.
The province and Dr. Henry opposed having the hearing broadcast, saying the video will cause the court to lose control over the use of the video because it is easy to take online videos and remix them and repost them in a manner that could “demean the dignity of the court.”
However, Crerar said those fears are currently speculative and “the internet is already a cesspit of misinformed and at times deranged statements about almost every topic, including our courts. Such poison exists regardless of whether court proceedings are broadcast. Again, the broadcast will perhaps serve to strive to convince the reasonable viewer of the fair and impartial adjudication of this matter.”
He decided the video will only feature the faces of counsel for the plaintiff and the judge unless permission is granted by other individuals and will not be broadcast on a website that allows public comments.
“To this end, the province may well consider providing the website hosting the broadcast itself in order to address some of these concerns. For example, restrictions could be put in place with respect to direct copying of that video. There may also be an ability to monitor who has visited and watched that video, and thus potentially gather evidence for a potential contempt proceeding if the broadcast is abused or the order breached in any way,” he said.
The hearing is set to take place Dec. 12 to 16.
Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy is run by software engineer Kipling Warner.
According to the Georgia Straight, in 2011 Warner wrote to then Tory public safety minister Vic Toews asking for an investigation into the 9/11 attacks.
Warner had claimed bankers were responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and not al-Qaeda.
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