Dr. Bonnie Henry

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A B.C. group suing Dr. Bonnie Henry has won the right to proceed to the next step in a class-action lawsuit concerning the government's COVID 19 mandates.

On May 4, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Simon Coval granted the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy permission to move forward with its class-action claim against Dr. Henry.

The class-action suit challenges three Public Health Orders largely surrounding the vaccination status of healthcare workers.

The group says it has the "resources and expertise" to prosecute the class-action claim and that "the importance of their case transcends the interests of individual healthcare workers and concerns society’s interest in having healthcare decisions made in accordance with scientific research."

Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy is run by software engineer Kipling Warner, who is also named in the legal case.

The not-for-profit group has raised more than $250,000 from an online crowdfunding campaign.

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 that bankers were responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and not al-Qaeda.

According to the May 4 Supreme Court decision, the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy relies on "voluminous research" from the former Chief Medical Officer of Manitoba, Dr. Joel Kettner, to argue its case.

According to Dr. Kettner, B.C.'s public health orders "failed to comply with generally accepted principles of public health governance and the Charter."

The Doctor's research also points to less restrictive measures in other jurisdictions.

Dr. Henry's lawyer says the group has no history of involvement in public health orders and its connection to healthcare is "vague and weak."

Dr. Henry's lawyer goes on to say the group is a "purpose-built anti-COVID-19 measures entity."

The crux of the recent court decision was whether the proposed class-action suit has what's known as public interest standing.

The Justice decided the case did and could go ahead.

"(The) Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy alleges that its alternative proposals reflect a superior approach, taken in other Provinces and elsewhere around the world, much less intrusive on healthcare workers’ Charter rights. In my view, this raises substantial questions that meet the threshold of 'clearly not frivolous,'" Justice Coval said in the decision.

However, while Justice Coval allowed the group's class-action suit to move forward, he did block Warner from moving forward with a private case.

Warner had argued the Public Health Orders had affected him because he'd been on the waitlist for surgery related to a sports injury for about a year.

The Justice didn't buy it.

"In my view, Mr. Warner offers no evidentiary basis, beyond this unsupported, conclusory statement, to suggest any right at stake or any personal or special impact from the (public health orders)," Justice Coval said in the decision. "There is nothing, for example, to suggest his wait for surgery was unusual or impacted by the (public health orders)."

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