Court challenge of Dr. Bonnie Henry’s pandemic restrictions yet to be broadcast

When and where the unprecedented broadcast of a B.C. Supreme Court hearing will happen is still to be determined.

The court case is scheduled this week in Vancouver. It has the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy arguing to be certified for a class action lawsuit that challenges and seeks compensation for the restrictions imposed by the province and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a Nov. 7 decision, Supreme Court Judge David Crerar ruled the certification hearing will be broadcast, something that has not been done before.

“I agree with the plaintiff that our recent years have witnessed a proliferation of conspiratorial and uninformed statements about the functioning of different branches of the government, including the courts,” the judge said in his ruling.

“It is hoped that the broadcast of these proceedings will, in its small part, show that courts in Canada will hear and adjudicate applications before them in a principled, independent, and neutral manner, without fear or favour.”

READ MORE: Class action anti-vax lawsuit against Dr. Bonnie Henry will be broadcast

The society, on its website, said it has applied for the hearing to be broadcast on its YouTube channel but the latest update on Dec. 11 says that’s still to be determined by the courts.

After one day of hearings yesterday, Dec. 12, no video has been made public but iNFOnews.ca was told by the law firm representing the society an update will be posted as soon as the site for the broadcast is determined.

Regardless, any broadcast cannot be released until after 5 p.m. the day following, which means the earliest broadcast could be tonight, Dec. 13.

For status updates, go here.

The Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy YouTube channel can be found here.


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Rob Munro

Rob Munro has a long history in journalism after starting an underground newspaper in Whitehorse called the Yukon Howl in 1980. He spent five years at the 100 Mile Free Press, starting in the darkroom, moving on to sports and news reporting before becoming the advertising manager. He came to Kelowna in 1989 as a reporter for the Kelowna Daily Courier, and spent the 1990s mostly covering city hall. For most of the past 20 years he worked full time for the union representing newspaper workers throughout B.C. He’s returned to his true love of being a reporter with a special focus on civic politics