11/28/2024
Many of us have been following the case of Randy Hillier; a former MPP from Ontario who found himself fighting for his rights for more than two years, against charges stemming from his vocal opposition of covid restrictions and mandates.
Mr. Hillier faced several charges: two counts of mischief, three counts of counseling to commit an indictable offence, three counts of obstructing a peace officer, one count of assaulting a peace officer.
Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms outlines parameters for what constitutes Canada’s fair and democratic process. It provides direction as to how an individual is to be fairly treated, when they can lawfully be searched, and expectations for the time frame for prosecution.
Summary convictions, being less serious offences, are given a window of 18 months between charges laid and the individual having the opportunity to defend themselves in court against those charges. Indictable offences, being more complex, are allotted up to 30 months. These parameters follow the precedence set by R. vs Jordan which determined the reasonable limit of time for due process, barring exceptional circumstances.
Mr. Hillier turned himself in to police in March of 2022. His trial by jury had been set for January 27, 2025, where Crown Prosecutors intended to argue for a 3.5-year prison sentence on conviction.
This past August Mr. Hillier, with the support of counsel, filed an application claiming that prolonged delays violated his charter right to receive a trial within a reasonable time.
The Crown attempted to argue that any excessive delays were the direct result of the actions of Mr. Hillier and his legal counsel but were successful in only having 65 days attributed to this. The Crown further argued that R v. Haevischer caused unavoidable delays in Hillier's case, however the court ruled that this accounted for only 40 days of ‘exceptional circumstances’.
After these two deductions, Justice McVey calculated the net delay at 31 months and 13 days, clearly exceeding the 30-month limit.
The resulting judgment was a stay of all charges based on reasonable time limits as set by Section 11(b) of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, bringing an end to what Hillier described as the over two-year process of “malicious abuse of the courts against me.”
Mr. Hillier has expressed that, while he is no longer pursuing a political career, he is in no way finished with speaking out in support of the rights and freedoms of all Canadians. He has also expressed profound gratitude for the support he has received throughout.
We applaud Mr. Hillier’s tenacity during his prolonged battle against charges laid against him for simply expressing his rights of freedom of speech and assembly. We applaud him for standing his ground against politically motivated investigators and crown prosecutors, intent on stripping our Charter rights.
And finally, we applaud Justice Kerry McVey of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for her methodical and just application of our Charter, and for her role in upholding the rights and freedoms of Canadians.
To hear what Mr. Hillier has to say about the process over the last few years and about the recent decision, visit his You Tube page and search for the video "Prisoner or Parliamentarian?"
