It's incredible to be reflecting on 2025 already. This year marks our fifth year in operation! We're grateful to have the continued support of our donors to further this work towards strengthening democracy.
Thanks to your generosity, we remain entirely donor-funded, without any government support—making your contributions vital to the impact we’ve achieved this year.
In case you missed it, we've compiled a comprehensive year-end overview of our work in 2025 championing civil liberties in Canada.
Our mandate requires us to work in the courtroom, media, education, and generally through freedom-fighting events.
Take a look below, and if you think our work was necessary, please donate so we can continue to be strong in 2026!
The Democracy Fund's 2025 Year In Review:
Table of contents:
REACH
In 2025, our social media posts have received over 4,181,423 views, and we currently have over 61,862 followers and more than 17,615 subscribers to our weekly newsletter!
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This year, we have helped hundreds of Canadians, achieving a roughly 96% success rate.
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We have saved our clients almost $241,000 in COVID-related fines, bringing our total to approximately $56,589,000!
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TDF's work has been highlighted in over 50 news stories by various news agencies, including Rebel News, Juno News, Western Standard, The Globe & Mail, CBC, and CTV. Our accomplished legal team has actively engaged in media interviews and podcasts, playing a pivotal role in educating the public about legal proceedings and developments in civil liberties issues within Canada.
LEGAL WORK
- Our legal team has helped thousands of Canadians from all walks of life in the fight to protect civil liberties, saving Canadians over $56.5 million in COVID-related fines!
- Our lawyers were in court early in the year for the sentencing of "The Coutts Three." TDF client Gerhard (George) Janzen was issued a conditional sentence and avoided jail time for his involvement and subsequent mischief charges at the 2022 Coutts Border Protest.
- In partnership with lawyer Sarah Miller, TDF sought leave to appeal Artur Pawlowski's convictions to the Supreme Court of Canada.
- Together with lawyer James Kitchen, we appealed an Alberta Court decision involving school trustee Monique LaGrange. Ms. LaGrange was a trustee of the Red Deer Catholic school board until the board disqualified her as a result of memes she posted and media interviews she gave, of which a majority of the trustees disapproved.
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We continued to represent over 30 members of an Ontario Amish community who were fined nearly $300,000 for allegedly failing to complete the ArriveCan app, among other violations. TDF lawyers have successfully reopened the majority of these tickets, cleared over $231,000 in fines, removed property liens, and corrected credit rating damage in some cases.
- TDF lawyers represented a young man criminally charged under s.319 for allegedly inciting hatred after he posted a QR code linking to gender-critical content at his high school. The young man was acquitted following a two-day trial in the Ontario Court of Justice.
- The Democracy Fund (TDF) appeared in Lethbridge Court to defend Ms. Allred, one of the last remaining individuals facing charges from the 2022 Coutts Freedom Convoy protest, and successfully secured a stay of all charges and the return of Ms. Allred's cellphone, which had been seized by police 37 months prior.
- TDF lawyers are representing a homeowner in a dispute with the City of Sault Ste. Marie. The homeowner had displayed a small plywood sign on his property, painted with the words "F**K Trudeau" and "Freedom," until city officials visited the residence in March and removed it. TDF has argued that the removal of the sign was an infringement of our client’s Charter rights.
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TDF-funded lawyers assisted Dr. Roger Hodkinson in a case brought against him by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. Dr. Hodkinson faced allegations that his remarks critical of public health officials and his alternative perspective on COVID-19, including the efficacy of masking and vaccines, were improper. Following negotiations, Dr. Hodkinson was able to retain his license with no finding by the regulator of the spreading of alleged misinformation.
- We partnered with lawyer Andrew MacKenzie to continue legal representation of Pastor Derek Reimer.
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Additionally, we voiced concern regarding the government's study on misinformation, and its potential to restrict free speech.
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Our lawyers are defending Montreal church Ministerios Restauración from a municipal by-law charge after police and protesters attempted to shut down a Christian service attended by U.S. artist Sean Feucht. The church is facing a $2,500 fine for allegedly breaching the municipal by-law. Lawyers for TDF have filed a court application to have the charge quashed.
- TDF lawyers are representing a woman charged by police after she allegedly peacefully voiced her opposition to extremist displays in Ottawa. Police allege that the TDF client interacted with individuals associated with the extremist displays and thereby committed the criminal offence of causing a disturbance and mischief.
- TDF-funded lawyers Lawrence Greenspon and Eric Granger appeared on behalf of Freedom Convoy protester James Bauder in Ottawa court. Bauder is one of the last truckers criminally charged with 5 offences arising from his peaceful participation in the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa. He has since sought political asylum in the US. TDF lawyers argued that his trial should be postponed pending resolution of his asylum application. A 3-week trial was scheduled for November 11, 2025. However, in November, a judge postponed the trial while the asylum application proceeds.
- TDF lawyers successfully defended a Sikh law graduate against criminal charges arising out of the Freedom Convoy. The student is now a practicing lawyer after criminal charges were withdrawn.
- The Democracy Fund is defending Pastor Jeffrey Sapocinik, who is criminally charged for peacefully preaching on a Toronto street.
EDUCATION
We were thrilled to have put together our fourth annual Student Journalism Conference, where we flew young students to Toronto for a three-day intensive journalism boot camp. Students heard from leading speakers from independent media worldwide, and some of these students have already been hired in newsrooms across the country!
This year's conference theme was The Free Market and The Future of Journalism.
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Fifteen young Canadians interested in pursuing a career in civil liberties-oriented journalism attended.
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Speakers at the Student Journalism Conference included Ezra Levant, Sheila Gunn Reid, Tamara Ugolini and David Menzies of Rebel News, Franco Terrazzano of Canadian Tax Payers Federation, Kate Marland and Renaud Brossard from Montreal Economic Institute, Matthew Lau, Bruce Pardy, and several others.
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TDF exposed The Hogue Report, in which it was recommended that the government consider creating a separate entity to "monitor the domestic open-source online information environment for misinformation and disinformation that might impact Canadian democratic processes."
- TDF opposed Bill C-9 in its entirety and remains opposed to hate speech laws, generally, as impractical, superfluous and incoherent. We were asked to appear as a witness before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights at Parliament: we filed a legal brief in opposition to Bill C-9's censorship provisions.
- TDF raised significant concerns about intrusive surveillance provisions embedded in the federal government’s proposed Strong Border Act (Bill C-2), introduced on June 3, 2025. While presented as a measure to enhance border security, the bill includes “lawful access” powers that could undermine privacy rights and civil liberties.
- The Democracy Fund called on federal parties to clarify positions on free speech, media funding, pandemic response, and digital currency.
EVENTS
In addition to our own journalism conference, we also sponsored other freedom-oriented events such as:
- The Democracy Fund was again a proud sponsor of an International Women’s Day event organized by Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar) titled "Reality Based Women Unite" in Calgary. This event featured prominent speakers such as Amy Hamm, Drea Humphry, and Kara Dansky and focused on women's rights and protections.
- As reported by Rebel News and on behalf of our Amish clients we were able to deliver a donation of canned goods and handmade quilts to the Hanover Salvation Army. A gesture of goodwill and solidarity with the non-Amish community.
As we wrap up the year, we extend a warm and resounding THANK YOU for being there with us.
Donate on this page now to help us reach our goal of raising $50,000 to start 2026 strong!
We look forward to continuing this important work in the coming year and hope you will continue supporting us in our efforts.
Remember, we are 100% donor-funded – we DO NOT receive any government funding! Please stand with us as we continue the fight for our rights into next year, and please consider making a tax-deductible donation on this page to help us get in shape to fight the censorship and freedom of speech battles coming in 2026.