TDF lawyers travel to southern Ontario as an Amish couple appeals Quarantine Act convictions after being denied the chance to reopen their cases.
TORONTO: This week, The Democracy Fund (TDF) lawyers travelled to an Amish community in southern Ontario where two clients, a married couple, signed documents to formally appeal the denial of their Quarantine Act ticket reopening applications.
The case hinges on a troubling inconsistency. TDF secured reopenings, withdrawals, and zero-dollar fines for numerous Amish clients with nearly identical circumstances, yet refused to reopen the tickets for this Amish couple. Like TDF's other Amish clients, they were convicted in absentia after allegedly failing to complete the ArriveCAN app or PCR testing at the border; they received no meaningful notice of the charges, trial dates, or convictions. Having been denied reopening or a fair hearing, the couple is now filing an appeal.
The Amish observe a religious prohibition on modern technology: smartphones, computers, and software applications among other things, which makes an app-based border regime and a court system reliant on mailed and digital notices nearly impossible to navigate.
TDF Director of Litigation Adam Blake-Gallipeau, who has represented multiple Amish families throughout these proceedings, stated:
"What troubles us most about this case is the lack of parity. We successfully argued nearly identical reopening applications for other Amish families, yet this couple was turned away. Neither the husband nor wife were ever meaningfully notified of the charges against them: they are now told they cannot even reopen their case. The Amish live simply, according to their Biblical principles, and provide for their families through subsistence farming; they lack the means to pay these crippling fines, which threaten their communities' survival. Canadian courts should weigh their traditional way of life in the context of religious freedoms provided by the Charter. We are hopeful these convictions will not stand."
TDF has challenged Quarantine Act convictions against this community totalling over $300,000, all issued for alleged non-compliance with ArriveCAN and PCR testing requirements during Canada's COVID-19 border measures. A number of families are still facing thousands of dollars in fines. With the support of its donors, TDF intends to appeal every one of them.
About The Democracy Fund:
Founded in 2021, The Democracy Fund (TDF) is a Canadian charity dedicated to defending constitutional rights, promoting free speech and religious freedom, and opposing religious discrimination. TDF advances these principles through litigation, public education, educational initiatives, and access-to-justice programs for Canadians whose civil liberties have been infringed.