Ezra Levant of Fight the Fines exposes COVID-19 overreach through cases like Pastor Archer Pavlovsky (Calgary), whose $1,000 fine for feeding the homeless was overturned via crowdfunding, and Andre Rose (Cornwall), ticketed $880 for hosting five adults during Passover. Bridget Carlson faced $880 fines and emotional trauma for using a park swing, while Walter Matheson’s $292 ticket escalated to $1,255 after recording Constable John Thompson’s aggressive threats. Tamara Ugolini was jailed 90 minutes in Cobourg for walking on an empty beach, despite zero local cases. Rebel News’ crowdfunded legal defense counters unconstitutional enforcement, revealing how pandemic rules enabled hypocrisy and power grabs—challenging the narrative of justified restrictions. [Automatically generated summary]
Today, oh my gosh, one of the favorite things we've done in 2020 is create a kind of public interest law firm called FightTheFines.com.
It's exactly what it sounds like.
If someone's civil liberties are being violated by some overzealous pandemic police, well, we'll be there.
It's great stories, and I hope you enjoyed today's Best of the Rebel.
I really wish you could see it, though, because these people, their faces, the sorrow and feeling of alienation they have when they're accused of breaking the law just for living their lives and then the relief they feel when we help them.
It truly is touching.
I found it some of the most meaningful work we've done this year.
You can get the video version of this podcast by going to RebelNews.com and simply becoming a subscriber.
It's only $8 a month or $80 for the whole year, and you get the video version of this plus Sheila Gun Reed Show and David Menzie's show.
Okay, here's today's episode.
Tonight, another very special episode, the best of the rebel and our coverage of civil liberties cases in the age of the pandemic.
It's July 23rd, and this is the Ezra Levant Show.
Why should others go to jail when you're the biggest carbon consumer I know?
There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.
The only thing I have to say is government about why I publish them is because it's my bloody right to do so.
Well, the pandemic is almost over.
The death toll, 9,000, each one a tragedy, but much less than the 50,000 to 350,000 predicted by Teresa Tamman, Canada's public health officers.
In fact, it may turn out that the economic damage is the greatest damage to Canadian health.
And I put it to you that the violation of our civil liberties was a form of a pandemic too, or at least an epidemic.
Well, Rebel News did more than just talk about it.
We fought back, creating our own civil liberties, public interest law firm.
Nobody else did, with the possible exception of our friend John Carpe of the JCCF.
So today, in a very special episode, I'd like to show you the best of some of the cases we've been fighting with FightTheFines.com.
In fact, we had our first victory last week.
Archer Pavlovsky, the Calgary pastor, who was given a $1,000 fine for feeding the homeless, well, the Crown dropped the charges against him completely, thanks to you, our rebel viewers, and the lawyer you crowdfunded.
So without further ado, here is the best of fightethefines.com.
Canadians are rapidly losing their civil liberties.
Over the course of this crisis, Justin Trudeau and leaders across the country are showing their true stripes, as most government leaders tend to do.
Whether or not you elected them in good faith, whether or not you voted for them and were happy with them when they were elected.
Everything changes when a crisis appears.
It gives leaders an opportunity to gain power that they never would have had the opportunity to get through democratic means.
Now, leaders are directing police officers, and sometimes police officers are even acting without direction from political leadership to arrest or fine people who they deem are breaking the rather haphazardly made laws.
Sometimes it's not even laws.
Sometimes it is just mentions in a press conference, as Justin Trudeau does every morning.
He might say something and police act on it when maybe they shouldn't.
Now, across the country, from Vancouver to Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, and Toronto, we are seeing cases pop up where people are getting fined for going about their day-to-day lives in very normal ways.
They're not risking anyone's health or safety.
They're simply doing what they need to do, from walking their dogs to getting regular exercise.
In the case today, it was a man in Calgary who was actually feeding the homeless when he was given a ticket.
You cannot make this up.
Archer Polarsky received a ticket of over $1,000 for feeding the homeless.
Again, you cannot make this up.
This is not events.
This is not your picnic in the neighborhood for the fun of it.
You're providing necessities of life to those that you and your bosses refuse to provide.
You've got all kinds of events happening right now.
And yet, Calgary's finest are not bothering them.
This is the hypocrisy of this city.
This is the hypocrisy of our wonderful, fearless leaders.
What is Nahat Ninshi?
The mayor of this city.
Can you guys hear that respect and social distancing?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Or why stand up and threaten you?
Guys, do not tell him not to shut away.
Six feet away for everybody.
That's for everybody.
The police surrounded Archer while he was in downtown Calgary giving food to people in need.
They gave him this ticket, and we are going to help him fight it.
We put out a call at fightthefines.com.
We're saying we'll give legal help to anyone who needs it who was acting in good faith, going outside and doing what they need to do to continue on with their lives.
They weren't being overly aggressive or hurting anyone or risking anyone's health or safety.
They were just doing what needed to be done.
And in the case of feeding the homeless outside, as Archer was, you can see in this video here, he was simply feeding the homeless outside.
There's no safer way to do it.
In fact, he was speaking with me earlier when he mentioned that it is much healthier to feed them outside because the alternative is taking them to a shelter where it's packed, they're indoors, and it's much easier to spread COVID-19.
Well, since we launched our website, fight the fines.com, in which we were looking for others who have been dealt very harshly, many, many tips have come in, including that of a preacher, Andre Rose, who lives and preaches out of his townhouse here in Cornwall, Ontario.
What happened to him, folks, was on the first eve of Passover earlier this month, a neighbor, presumably, had phoned the police and said, get over to this address because there were more than five people there.
In any event, the police came.
They walked up this pathway.
The window was open.
They looked in.
And the next thing Mr. Rose knew is that he was being handed an $880 ticket.
So you guys know the Canadian Charter, right?
We have the right to peaceful assembly, and municipalities, they can't.
Yes, but this is a state of emergency that we're under.
Now, a lot of people would be saying, well, don't you know the new rules during this period of the Wuhan virus?
Lot of People Stand Up00:02:16
You're not supposed to have a congregation here more than five.
Well, frankly, this is my home.
And we're celebrating Passover weekend.
And so I think it's malicious what they're doing right now.
And I strongly feel like, you know, this is a hit for not just people that are that do have the coronavirus, but for those that don't, you know, it's causing a lot of problems in society.
And again, we were just having a setter night.
And so we were five adults in total.
The police came and told us that we had to disassemble.
And I said, no, I'm not disassembling.
And they gave us a ticket.
And Justin Trudeau traveled interprovincially.
And even he was five, you know, and his family.
And I don't think they were practicing the social distancing either.
So even the police, when they're in the cruiser, they're sitting two in the cruiser.
They're not six feet away.
And when the cops came to the door, they were both on my doorstep.
So that's not six feet, you know.
It's hard.
It's hard.
It's hard to comply sometimes because it's just a little bit absurd.
It really is.
Is $880 no big deal for you, or is it a bit of a big deal, especially during these hard times?
Well, $880 feeds me, my wife, and my son for almost two months.
So, you know, to fork up an extra $880, that's a lot of money, man.
It really is a lot of money, you know, especially for I hear that the Dow is going down.
You know, the economy doesn't look good right now either with everything that's happening.
It looks like there's inflation coming.
So I believe it's going to be hard for us.
You know, they're telling us to work at home.
There's been reports of it.
Close to a million people have been laid off, I think.
So, you know, it's hard.
I know that we're going to see a lot more people being tagged for $880.
There's a lot of people that are going to stand up and say no.
And so I strongly feel like there's more to come.
You know, Andre, we feel that you've been hard done by, first of all, the fine is outrageously high for the so-called crime that was committed.
And the way in which the fine originated, it was basically via a snitch line.
And we don't think it's right.
So what we've done, we're crowdfunding.
We have a fantastic top Toronto criminal lawyer, a veteran, a bencher at the Law Society of Upper Canada, Sam Goldstein.
Blindsided by the Fine00:04:52
Sam is going to take your case.
You and your family won't have to worry about a single nickel of legal fees.
We're going to fight this.
We're going to, when things return to normal and the courts are back to normal, we're going to see if we can, you know, get a little justice done here.
I really appreciate you guys.
And thank you, David, for coming over.
And it was a pleasure having you in my home.
Well, folks, as promised, we're taking your crowdfunding fees and we are going to go to bat for Mr. Rose in Cornwall.
And right now, I am joined by Toronto veteran criminal lawyer, Sam Goldstein.
Sam, thank you so much for joining me.
And thank you again for taking up the cause of Andre Rose.
And I guess the first question is, Sam, what was it that attracted you to this case in the first place?
Well, as a criminal lawyer, David, always my first concern is making sure that people's rights are defended.
And secondly, and specifically with respect to this case, was that my concern is during this pandemic that the authorities are overreaching the powers that have been given to them underneath the Emergency Act.
And you know, I think that's a very important point that you make, Sam, that even in a state of an emergency, even when a government is operating under an Emergency Services Act, a War Measures Act, it is still beholden to the Constitution.
It still has to act in a reasonable way, does it not?
Absolutely.
The Charter is still supreme law in this country.
And as I said in an interview with Ezra the other day, all the different legislations for the different jurisdictions all have to conform with the charter in one way or the other.
Earlier this month, a police officer paid a visit to your milk store.
And what happened?
What happened?
Well, there were some measures put in place, I guess, on the 3rd with the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, some guidelines.
And the officer popped into our business.
It would have been the 5th of April when he popped in late in the afternoon to inform us that we weren't in compliance with the new rules that were laid out by EOHU, Eastern Ontario Health Unit.
And immediately we began reading over the document that he left us.
He had told us that he's not going to be issuing a fine at this time.
He would allow us a little while to read over things and put these measures into place, which would be the plexiglass and the arrows on the floor for social distancing.
So he wasn't going to fine us until he spoke it over with Dr. Paul Romugliotis at the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, and they would determine whether a fine would be put in place.
However, the officer came back within the hour and he fined us $880.
And I mean, Travis, this is astounding.
It's not as though you put up a ruckus, you said, no, I don't believe in these measures.
You started to immediately implement what you were told to implement, and within an hour, they're back to fine you $880?
Yes, and that kind of blew us away by surprise when he came back to fine us because I don't believe he really took the time to talk this through with the Eastern Ontario Health Unit to begin with.
So, you know, to come in and blindside us with a fine like that is really unfair considering I was putting the safety measures in place immediately after seeing this form.
We take things very extremely seriously as we hold licensing with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission for our lottery terminal and things like that.
And I mean, we take that very seriously.
Even with the sale of tobacco products in our business, the Eastern Ontario Health Unit is here and provide binders and information on, you know, training tools on how to handle the sales properly.
So I mean, the health unit, had they come forward on the morning of the 4th with some kind of guidelines in place and gave a time period to implement these, you know, but to be targeted like this and fined out of the blue for something you're completely dumbfounded and unaware of is just totally unfair.
COVID-19 is brand new to all of us, really.
And, you know, nobody seems to really have a grasp on exactly what the rules should be.
I mean, Dr. Paul Romugliotis does speak in our local paper how he is working with small business and helping small business, but we have not had a visit.
We have not had an email from them.
We haven't had a phone call.
I mean, Canada Post is still operating.
They could have sent a registered letter.
In fact, they could have sent this form via registered letter.
Bridget's Unexpected Reunion00:15:20
Two weeks prior to this, we just had a break and enter in the evening, which were out basically $4,800 as well.
And I mean, we do have insurance, but insurance is quite hard to get in our business.
We're considered as high risk.
So, you know, do we make an insurance claim and risk, you know, no renewal at renewal time or having to shop around and, you know, maybe the premiums go way up, you know.
So, you know, we're kind of at a catch where we just have to suck it up and suck up the $800 as well.
I mean, we're debating on whether we should fight this ticket.
Again, that ties us up a whole day in court again as well, which is, you know, more loss to us having to pay an employee when we should be in our business running our business.
This might just be the most egregious and baffling story that we have brought to you so far about a citizen getting an $880 ticket for, well, I don't know what for.
Let's talk to Mr. McHenry and find out what happened earlier this month when law enforcement here in Sarnia gave him that big ticket.
I brought her out to do her business and I was out here maybe five minutes, six minutes.
I came back to the back door.
I don't use the elevator because I don't want to run into any people to the third floor and I got to the third door.
There were two policemen standing in front of my apartment with Max's son like yourself and they had the ticket already made out.
They whipped it out like Matt Dillon and handed it to me.
$880.
I was just outraged.
I didn't go downtown Walmart.
I didn't go downtown Sarnia.
I didn't go anywhere just out here to this parking lot to let my dog do her business.
As a matter of fact, if you and I were to go into the back door right now and we walk up to the third floor, I can guarantee you we won't run into anybody because they want to use the elevator and I don't use the elevator just for the specific purpose of not running into anybody.
So in other words, you're by yourself.
With the little dog.
You don't run into anybody here in the parking lot nor in the stairwells.
Nobody.
So Pat, the question arises, what was the crime?
I just think that it's the heavy hand of especially our mayor here, our left-wing mayor here in Sarnia, who's a complete lunatic as far as I'm concerned, pushing this hysteria all over the place, all over our country.
You can go to Walmart here in Sarnia right now.
I've been there three times.
You go in there, there's lots of people in there.
They're trying to practice social distancing, but if they can do it there, they should be able to do it in every business in Canada.
I mean, what is that crap?
They got the whole damn place shut down.
And Pat, it should be noted that you returned from a vacation in Mexico in March.
You went into quarantine.
When did the quarantine period end exactly?
I got back on the 25th of March, two days before the quarantine was up.
I got the ticket.
But even as I understand it, even under the rules of quarantining, you're allowed to go, you know, into your backyard.
This is essentially your backyard because you live in a high-rise apartment building.
Right there.
Yes.
Yes.
I consider this my backyard.
It's just for the tenants only.
And I'm not the only person here that has a little dog.
There are other people with dogs, but they usually use the front.
I haven't seen anybody at the back.
Oh, a couple times I've run into people out here at the back, but usually they don't come to the back.
They go to the front out there.
David Menzies for Rebel News here in Sarnia, Ontario.
Well, I'm back here to update the story of Pat McHenry.
He is the retired carpenter that was given one of those $880 tickets for allegedly not following the coronavirus safety protocols.
Well, folks, riddle me this.
When is good news actually bad news?
Well, it's when good news is delivered by the people that occupy this building.
This is Sarnia Police Headquarters.
The day after I interviewed Mr. McHenry, they returned to his apartment.
And folks, you are not going to believe this story.
All right.
So, Pat, you and I met for the first time on Wednesday.
We had the interview of you getting that $880 ticket.
And our viewers can go to my original report and get all the details there.
But the nub of the matter was you walked your little dog, Molly, out to the parking lot, the deserted parking lot of your apartment building.
even took the stairwells to avoid any contact whatsoever with people because they typically take the elevator at your apartment building and when you return to your unit two Sarnia constables were there and they slapped you with an $880 fine.
Then the day after we talked the police returned to your apartment this would be Thursday morning and do tell what happened.
I had a knock on my door.
It was a very loud knock and I knew intuitively that it was the police because nobody knocks on your door that loud.
So anyway, I opened the door and there are two policemen there.
And first I got, I says, hold it.
I don't want to talk to you guys.
I want to talk to my lawyer.
He says, no, no, no.
He says, I've got good news for you.
He says, the original ticket that you got for, we're going to drop it.
So I'm thinking to myself, well, then that is good news.
Maybe they've come to their senses.
Then he hands me another ticket for the total sum of $1,255, more money than the original ticket, just because you showed up in Sarnia to interview me.
It's the most vindictiveness I have ever seen and very dishonest for the police to say, talk about good news.
There's no good news here.
Where's the good news?
And you know, Pat, those are the words he said.
We have good news for you.
And obviously it was facetious.
It was sarcastic because he was actually there to give you a ticket that was almost 50% more than the original ticket.
Exactly, exactly.
I mean, this is just crazy.
I don't understand it.
I just don't.
And my friends don't understand it.
Nobody does.
Today I'm excited to introduce you to Bridget Carlson, not because of the terrible things she says happened to her, but because, well, she needs our help to fight back.
She's a young mom from North Bay, Ontario.
And she's got a genuinely harrowing tale that will outrage and anger you.
I know it angers me a lot.
I spoke to Bridget last week over Skype and I was livid, mom to mom, to hear what happened to her.
It was so upsetting that we just had to find a way to help her out.
So we sent one of our really great Toronto-based videographers up to North Bay to talk to Bridget, to get her side of the story on camera so that we could show all of you.
Just watch.
We were on this swing for about 15 or 20, we were here for about 15 or 20 minutes.
She was just on the swing.
We weren't hurting anyone.
We were here by ourselves.
The police showed up.
Two officers approached us and told us that we were breaking and they put handcuffs on my mom.
I told them that we weren't harming anyone, that we needed to get outside and get some normality and just get some fresh air.
We were talking for a little while, just like on a human to human level, explaining like where I was coming from and all of this mental health, the lockdown, two months being inside with my daughter with no support.
They proceeded to call backup.
The sergeant showed up here.
Same thing.
I tried to discuss it with him.
He didn't want to hear it.
He grabbed my arm, took my backpack off, proceeded to put me in handcuffs, separated me from my daughter.
I was taken up to the police vehicle where the cop did a body search on me and it was very thorough and invasive.
From there, they put me into the back of the cop car and I didn't even know where my daughter was at that time.
They went through all my things against my will.
We were separated for about 20 minutes.
He called me an idiot and yelled in my face.
They finally came back and released me from the coffer, took my handcuffs off.
They gave me an $880 ticket from their office.
They didn't say anything.
They just gave me the ticket and told me if I didn't pay it, that they would take my license away from me.
And so we left the car hand in hand me and my daughter.
That's how it happens.
It's me, terrible.
My heart, my heartbeat has been like racing since this happened.
I'm not, I'm up, I'm up till midnight till one o'clock in the morning.
I'm having night sweats.
I can't, I've lost weight.
I can't believe that we're living a country that's capable of doing this to the citizens.
I'm a student at Nipson University.
I'll be going into fourth year.
I'm a single mom.
The only income I receive is service app.
I don't have the money to pay $880, and I'm doing everything I can to support my daughter.
I don't know what I'm going to do.
Bridget's story made me so mad for her and her whole family.
I'm sure you feel that way too.
And how awful for her five-year-old to witness it all.
I know my kids would be absolutely distraught.
Who was Bridget hurting in an empty park alone with her five-year-old?
Who was in danger?
Whose health was she putting at risk?
What made her so dangerous that day that she needed to be cuffed, stuffed in a cop car, and searched, her body and her belongings in front of her child, treated like a street thug or a violent offender, like an actual criminal, instead of a mom just taking her daughter out for some fresh air.
And all of this happened to Bridget before she was issued an insane $800 fine.
It's crazy.
It hardly feels like Canada.
How can Bridget fight this alone?
The good news is she's not alone.
Bridget has accepted our offer to help her fight this fine.
That would be wonderful.
Thank you so much.
We put Bridget in touch with the top Toronto criminal lawyer we've been working with, Sam Goldstein.
He's a bencher with the Law Society of Ontario.
Now, I spoke to Sam earlier about what Bridget says happened to her that day and why he agreed to take on her case.
Just watch.
What I understand is that there may very well be an infringement of Ms. Carlson's rights.
And mostly what I'm concerned about is whether the police had the lawful authority to arrest her and then to proceed to search her.
With respect to Ms. Carlson, I understand the allegation is that she was alone in the park with her child and she was using the swing.
And the police officer approached her.
As a result of the conversation that took place between the police officer and herself, she then was arrested, meaning that she was handcuffed, escorted to a police cruiser.
Her coat was searched and her backpack was searched.
Now, I think it's important for your viewers to understand that if there was a lawful arrest, and let's assume that for a moment, that the police do have the right to search people incident to arrest.
And they have a very limited common law authority to be able to do that.
The issue becomes the provincial legislation certainly gave the police the right, the authority, statutory authority, to be able to ask her what her date of birth is, what her name is, and her address.
But I'm not so sure the provincial government also enacted companion legislation to give the police the ability to actually arrest her.
That is to say, to handcuff her, right?
Because it was a ticket.
And in tickets, there was nothing that says all they could have simply done was to issue the ticket by simply giving it to her and leaving her alone.
In this case, they went further to that.
And I think that's the central issue about what happened to her.
Today, I want to introduce you to Walter Matheson from New Brunswick.
He received a nearly $300 ticket.
His crime, sitting alone in his car in a Tim Horton's parking lot while he finished his muffin and coffee before carrying on his day for failure to comply with the direction of emergency measures.
But Walter is obviously a quick thinker because he did something many journalists wouldn't think to do, let alone normal people just minding their own business, trying to wash down a muffin with a double-double in a parking lot completely alone in one's own car.
Walter started recording the audio on his phone.
So while we don't have a video of what happened to Walter, we do have the audio of his interaction with the police officer.
There's a lot of dead air as Walter politely waits for the cop to ticket him, so we just cut that out for brevity.
But you can hear for yourself.
Walter isn't rude.
He actually jokes with the cop.
And the cop goes from jovial to angry, nearly immediately with Walter, the moment Walter wanted just a little bit of clarity from him.
Just listen.
Not too bad.
Good.
Good.
Tim Hortons has asked me to move people from the parking lot here.
Really?
I know you're by yourself and all that, but what it does is it's letting the teens see what happens, and then they all start hanging out here later on.
And Tim Hortons, pardon me?
I don't believe that.
You don't believe the teens will do that?
That's their opinion.
No, that's true, but they have asked, and it is up to them to do it.
This country is still a free country.
Okay, if you don't move, I'm going to give you a $292 ticket.
Is that right?
Yes.
For doing what?
For not moving in compliance to what I'm saying.
I'm trying to be nice to you.
License, please.
License, please.
Oh, you.
Then leave now.
Okay.
I was nice to you.
I gave you a chance.
Get out.
If I catch you back here, it will be a $292 ticket.
Constable John Thompson.
Okay, thank you, John.
Okay.
I'd still like to see your driver's license though.
Well, I'm okay.
No, I'd like to see it, sir.
Stop right there.
That's where you're trying to get it.
Driver's license.
Just a minute.
I'll back up.
Doesn't matter.
You don't have to.
You stop right where you are.
How long is this going to go on?
I have no idea.
No idea.
I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm doing a job.
I'll be right back.
Okay, sir.
I was nice to you.
I asked you to leave.
You gave me a hard time.
So now you're getting a ticket under the failure to comply with the directions of the Emergency Measures Act.
Yes, you did, sir.
Okay.
You didn't want to leave.
Don't try arguing now.
If you want to take it up with something, you can take it up with the sergeant at the office.
I'm not dealing with you.
Or you can go to court and you can contest it.
Okay?
$292.50.
You can pay it at any service who brings one.
You can pay it online.
Okay.
Do you want it on court?
Do you want to go to court in English or in French?
I'm English.
Do you want it in English?
Of course I do.
Okay.
You have your driver's license back.
Thank you very much.
I'm going to give you a sign here.
It's not admitting guilt.
Just have explained it to you.
I'm not going to sign.
Okay.
Refuse to sign.
It still stands, even if you don't sign.
Okay?
If you come back here, you will now be trespassing.
Excuse me?
If you come back, you will now be trespassing.
Recording Interaction Went Wrong00:10:30
Does that include every Tim Hortons in town?
No, that's just one here in Hampton.
That's that's one.
Just this one.
So if you come back, you're trespassing.
There's your ticket.
Leave the parking lot now, sir.
Let's find another one.
Next one goes up to $1,000.
Really?
Yes.
You can get up to $10,000.
How many of you give it out today?
You're the first.
Well, I feel so good of you.
You're lucky.
You're the first.
You're the first ass.
Thank you very much.
Okay, let's sum up what we heard there.
The cop asked Walter to leave.
Walter wonders why.
So the cop gets mad really fast.
And so Walter tried to do what the cop asked him to do and leave.
And then the cop stops Walter from leaving and then tickets him for not leaving when the police ask him to.
And why?
What was the reason why?
Because an older man eating a muffin alone might attract teenagers to the Tim Hortons parking lot.
Has this cop ever met a teenager before?
Now, I talked to Walter a couple of days ago on Skype because his story is just so weird and crazy.
Just watch.
Well, I think I was there about maybe five to ten minutes.
And they never told me when I went through the drive-thru that I could only get my coffee and then leave.
So, of course, I always parked in that parking lot, drink my coffee, eat my muffin, and then leave.
That's what I always do.
So I didn't see anything unusual.
There was no sign saying no loitering or anything like that.
So I was quite surprised when this happened.
Do you know who called the cops on you?
I don't know if they called him on me, but the police themselves, the police officer there told me that Tim Hortons had called them.
And the reason was that myself and the other people that were in the parking lot parked there, there was probably five or six cars, would attract teenagers.
Now, I don't know if they have some kind of a problem with teenagers there.
I haven't heard that.
You started recording your interaction with the police officer, which I think is fascinating for me as a journalist because I know some journalists who wouldn't do that.
What made you start recording?
Well, I've had experiences in the past where police officers have actually lied about what happened or our interactions.
So I said, well, it isn't going to hurt to record this.
And then I have my side of it and his side of it.
I tried to be as calm as I could there with him.
And I didn't use any swear words or anything like that.
And so I just said, well, I'll turn it on there.
This should be interesting.
I'll show my wife when I get home there what happened.
The police officer shows up at your window, I suppose, and you can tell he's not angry with you.
You're not disrespectful to him.
But once you question this $292 ticket that he's threatening you with unless you leave, things get pretty heated pretty fast.
And the cop goes from zero to 60.
He goes from happy to very angry and very aggressive with you.
Yes, it's almost like the excuse he gave me wasn't actually the truth.
And maybe he was upset about that, that really Tim Hortons didn't call him or something like that.
I don't know.
Even if he had come over and said, do you mind finishing your coffee and your muffin and leaving?
I would have said, that's what I always do.
So I would have left.
But I don't believe that I did anything wrong.
I don't think I deserved a $292 ticket.
No.
But I certainly still think it's a free country.
I should have been able to sit there and have a coffee in my donut.
You know, Walter, I think that you're right.
I think this is still a free country.
I don't think you deserve that ticket.
I think that our viewers at home will probably feel much the same way.
And that's why we are going to help you fight this ticket.
I have an incredible update to bring you about the case of Walter Matheson.
He's our fight the fines case from Hampton, New Brunswick, who was ticketed by police in a Tim Hortons parking lot while he ate his muffin and finished his coffee completely alone in his car.
He was ticketed for failure to comply with emergency measures.
The thing is, Walter did try to comply, but the police officer then stopped him and ticketed him nearly $300 after Walter said this is still a free country.
This country is still a free country.
Okay, if you don't move, I'm going to give you a $292 ticket.
Is that right?
Yes.
For doing what?
For not moving in compliance to what I'm saying.
And the cop involved, well, he got particularly abusive, even swearing at Walter at one point.
There's your ticket.
Another one.
Next one goes up to $1,000.
Really?
Yes.
You can get up to $10,000.
How many of you give it out today?
You're the first.
Well, I feel so good if you're not.
You're lucky.
You're the first.
You're the first half.
However, Walter brilliantly recorded the interaction and then he gave it to us.
Now, I hate being part of this story.
I really do.
But today, I'm part of the story because we've now received a legal threat letter on behalf of the cop who ticketed Walter.
I want to read this letter together with you.
And I'll stop as I'm reading to point things that I notice out to you, if that's okay.
I am almost 100% certain this lawyer did not watch the video or read the accompanying website article before firing off this bullying and threatening letter to us at Rebel News.
Okay, here it goes.
Dear sir or madam, regarding Constable John Thompson and article, aggressive bullying by the police.
Now, I just want to point out that she got the address wrong.
She spelled Eglinton wrong.
It's Eglinton, not Ellington.
Not off to a great start.
Please be advised we represent Constable Thompson respect to the above-cited matter.
We understand one of your reporters named Sheila Gunnreid published an article, Aggressive Bullying by Police.
The grammar here, it's not great for a legal letter.
There are extra commas just hanging around all over the place.
We understand your reporter recorded a conversation without the knowledge of Constable Thompson.
No, no, you definitely don't understand that because I didn't do that.
Next time, watch the video before sending off a letter about how bad that video is.
I say repeatedly in the video that the recording of the interaction came to us by way of Walter Matheson.
He recorded his own interaction with a cop and then sent it to us.
I definitely wasn't on the other side of the country sitting in a Tim Hortons parking lot with a man I absolutely didn't know at the time recording an interaction with a cop.
However, even if it were true that I was, and it's definitely not, that's crazy, how does that change anything?
It's not illegal to record someone.
And it doesn't change the fact that the cop did behave poorly and unprofessionally towards Walter, even swearing at him at one point.
Then the lawyer tells me that I'm mean, kind of.
This is unacceptable.
Why?
It's not illegal.
I might have hurt Constable John Thompson's feelings a little bit, but I certainly didn't break any laws by publishing that audio recording, and neither did Walter when he recorded it.
Constable Thompson has had two death threats as a result.
Now, death threats are indeed terrible.
I definitely don't condone those.
And I get my fair share of them too.
I'd advise Constable Thompson to call 911 or the Hampton Police Complaints Line and file a report about them.
And if the death threats are really, really getting out of control, maybe the Hampton police could take someone off the coronavirus muffin eater beat down at the local Tim Hortons to help investigate the spate of criminality directed at Constable Thompson.
You know, real police work.
In addition, Sheila Gunread repeatedly mentions his name in the article.
Oh, do I?
Now, the word article is capitalized here for some reason.
But this statement is also wrong for a couple of other different reasons.
And again, it furthers my suspicions that this lawyer didn't even do 10 minutes worth of watching a YouTube video before she sent this letter to us.
First point.
Does she think we were supposed to hide this cop's identity?
That's not how it works, lady.
Now, we used Thompson's name in the name key on the screen to differentiate in the recording when he was talking versus when Walter Matheson was talking.
That's for clarity.
But we never even wrote his name in the accompanying article with the video.
Not even once.
I didn't even say the cop's name once in the video.
Walter didn't say his name either.
Neither did the lawyer I interviewed about the case, Sam Goldstein, because my problem, at least at the time, was truly with out-of-control coronavirus legislation, not so much with the police tasked with enforcing it.
Except now I do have a real problem with this one specific cop, don't I?
Because he just made it my problem, didn't he?
I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm doing a job.
Anyway, let's keep reading this thing.
This is defamation of character.
Okay, so is this a defamation or libel notice?
Because normally that's the first thing lawyers put in these sorts of letters.
Lawyers don't normally add that as a throwaway line stuffed into the middle of a legal threat letter.
Let's keep reading, though.
As such, we suggest you remove Constable John Thompson from the article.
That's the article in which his name was never really written.
Anyway, here's the craziest part, though.
Are you ready?
And return the recording to the Hampton RCMP forthwith.
Yours truly, Lutz Longstaff Parrish, Carly Parrish, acting for Constable John Thompson.
This lawyer is demanding that I give my journalistic materials over to the RCMP in Hampton, New Brunswick.
Fight the Fines Bylaw Controversy00:08:09
That's not how it works, sister.
You just can't write a demand letter telling a journalist to turn their materials over to the police because a cop doesn't like a news report that he was in.
And this lawyer, she used the word returned as though these materials belonged to the police in the first place.
Does the Hampton RCMP know that she's having them participate in the proposed confiscation of my journalistic materials?
Now, if I were someone who would comply with this demand, and I think you know I'm definitely not, who at the RCMP station would be dumb enough to take receipt of my journalistic materials on behalf of Constable Thompson?
I mean, this is truly insane.
David Mente's for Rebel News here in Coburg, Ontario.
And folks, I am with Tamara Ugolini.
And wow, this might be one of the most incredible fight the finds case that Rebel News has taken on.
You are not going to believe what happened to Tamara and one of her friends.
I believe exactly two weeks from this Saturday, Tamara.
You were down here near the beachfront of Coburg.
It's a beautiful beach.
And what happened?
A friend and I decided a hot day like today.
We were very overheated.
So we decided to take a leisurely stroll through our beautiful Great Lakes shoreline.
We entered the pier as some exhibitors did today and about halfway through became harassed per se by a bylaw officer.
Now, there's a huge sign here.
There's other signs.
Beach closed, entry prohibited.
Nobody on the beach unless you take a census of the seagulls, of course.
So did you know that maybe you were in contravention of a bylaw by walking here?
So there actually isn't any bylaw in effect here in the town of Coburg.
My understanding was that I was exercising my freedom of mobility to stroll the shoreline.
Indeed, you sent along to me via email some land surveys, and I believe the border of the town, if I've got this right, it's where the lifeguard stations are, these huts along the beach.
And basically, when you go further than that and into the water, that is no longer town of Coburg land.
So was that the basis on which you thought you were home free by doing this?
Correct.
Yeah, there seems to be a lot of gray area in terms of who or if anyone actually owns these shorelines.
So it'll be interesting to see moving forward.
Maybe there can be some more definitions, black and white happening there.
Now, back to your story.
The bylaw officer approaches you and your friend, and what is the nature of the discussion?
Right, so he asks us to come toward him and discuss what we were doing.
So happily, we happily obliged.
We were cooperative, peaceful.
My friend and I, Joyce, she was here earlier.
She's a 60-year-old woman, so you can imagine the two of us are quite the threatening pair.
And at that point, there was some backup called.
He was calling for backup for the two of you.
Because there's no bylaw, so a bylaw officer has no real authority here.
So he called for some backup, I guess, because we were acting so unlawfully strolling a shoreline, and we were very threatening, which is sarcasm for the record.
And so, you know, the officer and I went back and forth a little bit.
And she called.
Please tell me the nature of the back and forth discussion, Tamara.
Was the officer saying, I'm going to write you up for one of those $880 tickets?
Was she asking for identification?
How did it pan out?
Right.
So they basically wanted to, yes, hit us with a fine to which I refused to receive because I was well within my rights.
And my friend did receive the fine.
But however, because I refused, the officers and I went back and forth for a few minutes.
And eventually I was arrested despite not receiving any feedback as to whether or not I was actually facing an arrestable offense.
And when you say arrested, do you mean you were actually cuffed and put in a police cruiser?
Correct.
I was handcuffed.
Walking on a beach?
I was handcuffed.
My belongings were taken and I was held in a jail cell for about an hour and a half until I could speak with duty counsel.
I find this staggering, folks, and Tamara, because we have seen throughout the Wuhan virus being played out these last several months, correctional facilities releasing violent criminals so that social distancing is maintained.
You walk on an empty beach, unless you include the seagulls, and you get arrested, handcuffed, put in a police car, and put in a cell.
I can't connect the dots here.
Right.
And also on that note, neither can I, because in Colbridge here specifically, we've had no COVID cases since the end of April.
We've had no COVID-19 deaths.
So these restrictions and further impositions are entirely unjustified.
These are not demonstrably justifiable.
And this is a huge overreach into our civil liberties and rights and freedoms.
And tell me, even if, and I mean, in a court of law, everything will play out when it comes to what the boundaries are, what the bylaw is, and whatnot.
But even if there was a hard and entrenched bylaw here that said, you cannot go on this beach, why?
I mean, it's acres and acres of empty beach, and yet we see on this very day a street festival where there's hundreds of people on concrete and asphalt.
That is evidently okay.
We have a trailer park.
You can see it just behind us.
Bumper-to-bumper trailers.
That's okay.
I mean, I'm trying to make sense of this all, Tamara.
Yeah, you and me both.
I'd be really interested to know where the people from that trailer park are coming from if the intention here was to keep the others away.
You know, again, folks, we've come across more than a dozen fight the fines cases.
I particularly think this is one of the most egregious ones yet.
Two people, law-abiding citizens, walking on a deserted beach and to be treated like violent criminals.
And it's even questionable in terms of the boundaries of the town and whether the bylaw is indeed in effect on the shoreline.
You know, Tamara, I'm sure our viewers are equally perturbed by what happened to you and your friend.
So I'm so happy.
I understand you've reached out to our legal eagle, Sam Goldstein.
He is going to represent you.
I mean, Sam Goldstein, I can tell you, top-notch criminal lawyer.
He's a bencher.
He is going to fight for justice because I think what happened to you, bylaw or no bylaw, I think it was completely unjustified.
Yes, and thank you, Rebel News, for that because we need to put the end to this hypocrisy of the new normal.
Indeed, we do.
It is hypocrisy.
It is, I guess, politicians, including local ones in little towns like Cobourg, clamping down on our rights and freedoms.
Even if you have a bylaw, it doesn't trump the Constitution.
And exit question, Tamara.
This is the theme we seem to come across all across Canada, is that it's almost as though politicians of all stripes, of all levels of government, municipal, provincial, and federal, they've gotten a taste of almost totalitarian power with these coronavirus rules.
And they kind of like the taste and they don't want to give up that drink.
Right.
Well, as we know, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
So it's time for we, the people, to be back in charge because we have all the rights.
Politicians' Taste for Power00:00:22
Well, what do you think?
What I find so interesting about the Fight the Fines cases is the different walks of life people are from.
In fact, many of them are people who probably would never even think of the rebel as their place.
But when they needed help, we were there.
And more to the point, you were there helping to crowdfund the lawyers.
There's still a lot more fighting to do, but I think that we're a reason the tide is turning.