The third of four important challenges to British Columbia’s vaccine passport order was heard in Victoria’s Supreme Court on May 12–13.
Unlike the first two challenges, which were brought on by The Democracy Fund and the Canadian Constitution Foundation, and included petitioners who were unable to receive a COVID-19 vaccine due to medical reasons, the third challenge was brought forth by a self-represented man, Jeremy Maddock, who did not take a COVID injection due personal choice.
“I’m saying that it should be a matter of personal choice, regardless of one’s medical status,” said Maddock when we met up for an interview about his case the day before it was heard.
Maddock believes that since the vaccines carry some benefits and risk, taking one is something each person should be able to weigh for themselves.
After our interview, Rebel News became aware that the Supreme Court of British Columbia issued an order prohibiting Mr. Maddock “from engaging in the unauthorized practice of law and from commencing prosecuting or defending a proceeding in any court on behalf of someone else.”
We reached out to Maddock for comment about the injunction order against him, which is technically still in place and set to be heard in the B.C. Court of Appeal in December 2022.
“With respect to the law society injunction, it was imposed in response to my business model of appearing as agent for disputants in traffic court, which I began doing in 2014 and continued doing without incident until 2020,” Maddock said.
“I graduated from UVic Law School in 2016, but am not a practicing lawyer, working instead as a consultant for lawyers. There were never any complaints about the quality of my
services in traffic court, only the fact they were being delivered in the first place, at much lower cost than a lawyer would charge,” Maddock explained.
The background of the case was accurately described by Ian Mulgrew in the Vancouver Sun.
Maddock appears on both the unauthorized to practice list as well as the “innovation sandbox” of approved participants that are authorized to offer certain legal services under the supervision of practicing lawyers.
Maddox believes this speaks volumes “about the inconsistency of the law society’s position.”
We also received an update from Maddock about how he felt his day in court for his challenge against B.C.’s vaccine passport order pertaining to restaurants went.
Maddock found the day encouraging, both because of supporters who attended the hearing and the line of questions brought forth from Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson.
Maddock felt that Hinkson appeared to “accept that one does not need a special medical reason to invoke the Charter-protected right to medical autonomy.”
When government counsellor Julie Gibson reportedly “struggled to engage with basic principles of personal liberty” by suggesting that Maddock should have to explain his decision not to be vaccinated in order to bring forth such a judicial review, the chief justice responded by questioning why Maddock should have to give such a reason.
Chief Justice Hinkson is presiding over all four of the current vaccine passport-related challenges in B.C., and will reserve judgment until after all four have been heard.
The last of the four hearings is being brought on by Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy, whose petition challenges three sets of B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s public health orders which mandated COVID-19 injections for health-care workers.
While the legacy media has largely ignored how the first three important vaccine order challenges have played out in court, Rebel News has had our boots on the ground to keep you properly informed.
You can click here for a recap of the first challenge, and here for the second challenge which was made possible by the generous Rebel News supporters who donated at FightVaccinePassports.com and you can make sure you don’t miss my upcoming report on what happens during the final of the four challenges by giving us your contact info so we can update you when the report goes live.
The Democracy Fund’s challenge to B.C.’s discriminatory vaccine passport is just one of many expensive but immensely important vaccine- and freedom-related cases they hired a team of top-notch lawyers to fight.
Please continue to donate at FightVaccinePassports.com if you wish to set a new precedent for medical freedom in Canada.
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Author Drea Humphrey
