OCLA is now hosting EH Carr’s seminal book about geopolitics

Posted on May 24, 2021 by admin

THE TWENTY YEARS’ CRISIS 1919-1939
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

By Edward Hallet Carr

(1939)

https://ocla.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/167060273-E-H-Carr-the-Twenty-Years-Crisis-1919-1939-an-Introduction-to-the-Study-of-International-Relations-1946.pdf

 

Posted in Social and political theory, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments Off on OCLA is now hosting EH Carr’s seminal book about geopolitics

Letter from a Swab-Injured Support Worker

Posted on May 14, 2021 by admin

OCLA received the following letter from a long-term care home worker in Ontario who was injured by a swab test. Ontario has ordered that support workers must undergo two tests per week, in a directive dated March 15, 2021.

To whom this may concern,

I am a Personal Support Worker, at a Long Term Care home in a small town in Ontario. I have been working there for approximately 5 years, and I recently had to stop going to work due to the invasive PCR testing. My workplace requires staff to get tested twice a week, once with the rapid test. I received my last swabbing on the night of March 29, 2021, when I nearly jumped out of my chair and cried. It felt like a knife was going into my nose, among other symptoms. The next day, I called my Doctor, who then agreed to see me the day after. When I went in for my appointment, my Doctor examined my nose and noticed there was redness, irritation and inflammation. She suggested to me that day, to only be tested once every two weeks, regardless, nothing should be going in my nose until it was fully healed. She gave me a prescription, and wrote me a note to my workplace suggesting that I am only to be tested once every two weeks. That day I also filled out an injury report for WSIB, with my Doctor.

After giving my Doctors note to my workplace, I was told I was not to return until I can receive regular testing, or a different kind of swab that only enters the edge of the nasal area. I had a discussion on the phone with management, and when I was basically told that my medical issue was not of priority, and that the residents’ safety mattered more, I had an emotional reaction and decided to quit on the phone. I told the management I would be writing a letter, which she would be sending to the HR department. I did not feel as if I was being properly accommodated. I felt that what the Ministry of Health, as well as the Public Health, are doing by not allowing me to work, unless I continue to be swabbed, going against the Doctors orders, is just completely wrong.

The next day, after I had quit on the phone, I received an email from management, stating they were able to find these spit test kits, and that they would look into ordering them for me, if that was something I would be interested in. Of course I had agreed, because I love my job, and I need my job as well. Ever since then, I have been told they are unable to order them in from the Ministry of Health. Also, I found out today that I will be receiving 14 days of compensation from WSIB for my time off work, and they sent me my ROE to apply for EI, because of my “injury”, but I may not be guaranteed to get it.

This is what I know now, and I have no idea what my rights are, or if I have any at this point. This is my story, and I am looking for any kind of help or advice if it is possible. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

Posted in COVID | Comments Off on Letter from a Swab-Injured Support Worker

Resources to help you defend your civil liberties in relation to COVID

Posted on February 10, 2021 by admin

This post contains links to resources to help individuals in Ontario defend their civil liberties against COVID-related violations.

Note that the resources or services listed below are all offered by organizations other than OCLA.

We will update the list below as new resources become available.

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO)

You can file a complaint to the HRTO if your face mask exemption was not honoured by an Ontario store owner. The HRTO has staff who will answer your questions and give you information to help you in the process of preparing, filing, and pursuing your complaint.

More information from HRTO:

  • “COVID-19 and Ontario’s Human Rights Code – Questions and Answers, 13. Can an employer, landlord, store, school, municipality or other organization require me to wear a mask because of COVID-19?” (Point 13 at the link here)
  • The Human Rights Legal Support Centre gives legal assistance in filing applications at the HRTO, and legal representation at mediations and hearings
  • The staff at HRTO will not give you any type of advice, but they will answer questions like “which form do I fill out?” or “has my claim been received?”

CRC Ontario Small Claims Court Filing Templates

The Constitutional Rights Centre (CRC) offers templates (for purchase) to help individuals sue store owners who have refused to honour mask exemptions. The CRC states that the  templates are intended for self-represented plaintiffs, and that CRC does not offer any legal representation in these cases.

See the CRC’s website for details.

Stand Up Canada Legal Information Packages

Stand Up Canada offers legal information packages for individuals and businesses as follows:

  1. Represent Yourself in Small Claims Court (for businesses – damages due to lockdown measures)
  2. Represent Yourself in Provincial Offences Court (for businesses – tickets for staying open)
  3. Represent Yourself – Refusal of Mask Exemption (for individuals – tickets/employment issues)

See Stand Up Canada’s website for details.

Posted in Face Masks | Comments Off on Resources to help you defend your civil liberties in relation to COVID

OCLA Report 2021-1: Ontario’s mandatory face masking and physical distancing law (Reg. 364/20)

Posted on February 6, 2021 by admin

OCLA, today, released its report entitled: “Analysis of the scientific basis for Ontario, Canada’s mandatory face masking and physical distancing law, 2020“, by Denis Rancourt, PhD.

Here is the LINK to the full report.

The report is a detailed critical analysis of the Ontario Regulation 364/20: Rules for Areas in Stage 3, under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020, S.O. 2020, c. 17, regarding its lack of a scientific basis.

The author finds that the transmission mitigation provisions of Regulation 364/20 are arbitrary and nonsensical, in light of actual knowledge about transmission of viral respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.  Given the evidence of harm from the measures themselves (shown in the Report), if Ontario was a science-based society, the government would apply the precautionary principle by immediately declaring a moratorium on all transmission-mitigation regulations, until policy-grade studies prove their worth in a rigorous harm-benefit appraisal framework.

 

 

Posted in Reports, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on OCLA Report 2021-1: Ontario’s mandatory face masking and physical distancing law (Reg. 364/20)

Canadian travellers in Russia shocked by Canada’s draconian border measures

Posted on January 31, 2021 by admin

OCLA received an email on January 30, 2021, from a Canadian couple planning to  return home from travel in Russia.

The writer of the email describes the relatively sane conditions in Russia and compares them to the draconian reality in Canada:

“Just to give you some perspective, in Russia we are free. They did impose a lock down for the first couple of weeks that the pandemic was announced. They did a progressive reopening afterwards and the entire economy was reopened. They did get a second wave, the case numbers are high here, but they did not impose any additional lockdowns. For perspective, we are in a city that had as many case numbers in a day that Canada did for the entire nation. However, people here look at the low mortality rate and apply common sense in how they are dealing with things. Russians are certainly more courageous than the average Canadian.”

The full message is below:

Subject:
Help- My wife and I are in Russia

Message:
My wife and I are in Russia, and we were supposed to return to Canada
on the 16th of February. We were watching the news closely, and we
were both appalled at these new measures. It is beyond reason to me
why this severe and draconian set of measures were necessary in light
of the national Covid numbers decreasing. My wife and I had our plan
set, given the last set of measures imposed at the start of January,
to do the test at the airport and to go directly home from the
airport. We had provisions being delivered to the house and we were
prepared to sit in our house for the 14 days alone. The government is
not clear if their suggested $2,000.00 bill would apply to both of us
jointly or separately. I do not understand how this is constitutional;
furthermore, it would seem to spit in the face of common law as well.
I’ve stayed at 5+ star hotels in the past and haven’t had to pay
anything close to two grand. I’ve seen what these hotels look like,
and it is more a prison than a hotel. I’ve seen the type of food they
are serving at these hotels and I can put forward that people in jail
eat better than what one would expect in one of these facilities.

We are not reconsidering our return, for the price to push our tickets
forward is far less expensive than the anticipated stay expense at
this prison hotel. I think the concentration of people in a
non-medical, hotel facility puts us in greater danger than had we been
allowed to just go home.

Just to give you some perspective, in Russia we are free. They did
impose a lock down for the first couple of weeks that the pandemic was
announced. They did a progressive reopening afterwards and the entire
economy was reopened. They did get a second wave, the case numbers are
high here, but they did not impose any additional lockdowns. For
perspective, we are in a city that had as many case numbers in a day
that Canada did for the entire nation. However, people here look at
the low mortality rate and apply common sense in how they are dealing
with things. Russians are certainly more courageous than the average
Canadian. Yes, they ask people to wear masks in businesses, the
subway, and in malls. No, they are not limiting family gatherings and
there is no enforcement unit running around looking to give people a
hard time. Yes you can get a ticket for certain things, but these
incidents are few and far between. The case numbers here are starting
to lower despite the fact that everything is open. I can use the
subway, I can go to a restaurant, all stores and other businesses are
open for business.

I grew up in the era where people in the West thought ill of the
controlling Soviet Union. I can not believe that I can personally say
that a person is free in Russia and not free in Canada. The world has
turned upside down, and I feel safer here than I would back home. It
is mindblowing to me that the Canadian Government helped illegal
border crossers come into the country, brought them to a normal hotel,
gave them income, food and other benefits at taxpayers expense;
specifically, we sanctioned and paid for what is technically illegal
activity. In my situation, my wife and I are citizens, we pay our
taxes, we had no forewarning that these measures would come into play
when we left Canada, and we are expected to pay an exorbitant fee to
be treated worse than a prisoner upon our return to Canada. This is a
disgrace. I am so ashamed of my government.

I’m at my wits end over this. I don’t know if you could offer any
guidance.

Posted in Blog posts | Comments Off on Canadian travellers in Russia shocked by Canada’s draconian border measures

OCLA’s 2020 Year in Review

Posted on January 1, 2021 by admin

Dear OCLA Supporter,

This email is to give you an update on the Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA)’s work in the surreal year of 2020. We hope to stay connected with you and work together to resist and reverse the rapid degradation of civil rights currently occurring in Canada.

OCLA report “Criticism of Government Response to COVID-19 in Canada”

In April, we published a research report authored by OCLA researcher Dr. Denis Rancourt, criticizing the government’s actions during the spring lockdown. The Abstract of the report reads as follows:

We review the scientific literature about general-population lockdown and social-distancing measures, which is relevant to mitigation policy in Canada. Federal and provincial Canadian government responses to and communications about COVID-19 have been irresponsible. The latest research implies that the government interventions to “flatten the curve” risk causing significant additional cumulative COVID-19 deaths, due to seasonal driving of transmissibility and delayed societal immunity.

Denis has written several research and review articles on COVID-19, including:

OCLA’s opposition to mandatory face mask policies

OCLA continues to oppose the arbitrary and draconian imposition of face masks on the general population. Our interventions in 2020 are documented at the following links:

OCLA’s submission on new online hate speech law

In July 2020, civil liberties associations were invited by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to participate in consultations to “inform the development of legal remedies for victims of online hate”.

OCLA has previously argued that the “hate speech” provisions of Canada’s Criminal Code are unconstitutional and in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and we reiterated this argument in our submission for the July 2020 consultations, as well as critiquing the Minister’s specific proposed additions to Canada’s hate speech laws.

Defending free speech of Ontario medical doctor Dr. Kulvinder Gill

In August, OCLA asked Dr. Brenda Copps, President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), to dismiss the CPSO’s investigations of tweets made by Ontario medical doctor Dr. Kulvinder Gill that are critical of COVID-19 policy and practices. The letter can be read here: https://ocla.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020-08-11-OCLA-letter-to-CPSO-President.pdf

Internet censorship

“Blocking YouTube channels and banning books on Amazon are akin to requiring government authorisation to operate a printing press or to buy a photocopier or pen and paper. Only the technology and the administrative covering structures have changed. Establishment censorship is establishment censorship.”

The above quote is from OCLA’s statement opposing Amazon’s deplatforming of Ezra Levant’s book China Virus: How Justin Trudeau’s Pro-Communist Ideology is Putting Canadians in danger.

We, like many other organizations and individuals, have also been affected by social media censorship. In July, our Facebook group was disappeared and then reappeared 24 hours later. Many posts in the group are now being arbitrarily removed by Facebook. As a backup in the event that Facebook deletes our group, OCLA maintains an alternative group at MeWe. However, our email list remains the best and most secure way to stay connected with us.

Media coverage

What you can do

Thank you for being a valued contact for OCLA. Here are some suggestions for what you can do to help:

  • Tell your friends and family about OCLA, and the importance of freedom, and suggest that they look at our website and join our free Newsletter list.
  • Let us know about civil rights violations in Ontario, via our Contact page, here.
  • Make a donation to OCLA, if you can this year.
  • If you are a lawyer or paralegal, consider adding your name to our list of legal contacts, and tell us about your relevant interests.
  • If you have academic research skills, consider offering some volunteer involvement.
  • If you have social activist skills, and would like to get more connected with OCLA, let us know.
  • Fight for freedom any way you can, and let us know about your battles.

How to stay connected and donate to OCLA

Website: https://ocla.ca
Twitter: @oncivlib
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/110883345731728/
MeWe: https://mewe.com/group/5f282c504c45c17d75d6ace4
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKqbht2j2BPu4Wb2epM4BKw

OCLA is an independent, volunteer-run organization. Donations help cover operating costs such as booking rooms for public events, printing promotional material for campaigns and events, and paying for court filing fees and court document production costs (copies and binding) for court and tribunal interventions on civil liberties issues.

As we are an entirely volunteer-run organization with a very small budget, we do depend on donations to continue our work, and appreciate any contribution you can make.

Donations can be made in three ways:

1) Through PayPal, by clicking the “Donate” button in the top-right corner of https://ocla.ca;
2) With cryptocurrency (Bitcoin and other options) at the link here; or
3) By sending a cheque to “Ontario Civil Liberties Association” to our mailing address:

Ontario Civil Liberties Association
170 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 603
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1P 5V5

OCLA is not affiliated with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) or the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA). All three associations are separate and distinct.

Thank you for your support!

Yours truly,

Joseph Hickey, PhD
Executive Director
Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA) https://ocla.ca

Posted in Newsletters, Year in Review | Comments Off on OCLA’s 2020 Year in Review

The Chairperson of the Ottawa Board of Health Keith Egli Refuses to Debate Ottawa’s Face Mask Law

Posted on October 21, 2020 by admin

This week, the OCLA invited Mr. Keith Egli, the Chair of the Ottawa Board of Health (OBH) and a City of Ottawa Councillor, to publicly debate Ottawa’s mandatory face mask by-law. The mandatory mask law was recommended by Ottawa Public Health, which is governed by the OBH.

The goal of the proposed debate was to help the public understand the City’s position on the mandatory mask policy and its basis. The OCLA invited Mr. Egli to participate in the debate along with the health expert of his choice.

Mr. Egli declined the OCLA’s invitation and indicated that no one else from Ottawa Public Health would participate in the debate. The email correspondence between OCLA and Mr. Egli can be read here.

The OCLA made its invitation to Mr. Egli following a request by Carleton University professor Darryl T. Davies. In the statement below, Prof. Davies describes his efforts to obtain credible scientific evidence about the need for mandatory face masks:

Since the City of Ottawa passed a bylaw requiring residents to wear face masks I have been writing to Keith Egli who is my councillor in Ward 9, Knoxdale-Merivale in Nepean.  I have repeatedly asked Mr. Egli to provide me with credible scientific evidence that the wearing of masks prevents people from transmitting and contracting the COVID-19 virus.  Despite sending emails to him asking for such evidence Egli has ignored my emails and failed to provide me with a shred of scientific evidence to support the passage of such a bylaw.

I provided Mr. Egli with a copy of the research paper by Dr. Denis Rancourt that clearly shows that the wearing of face masks are not effective at protecting people from either transmitting or contracting the COVID-19 virus. In his response to my emails, Egli has stated in his emails that he does not agree with Dr. Rancourt’s conclusions.  Despite repeated requests from me Egli has provided no empirical evidence to support his position.

As Keith Egli is the Chairperson of the Board of Health for the City of Ottawa, I contacted the office of the Ontario Civil Liberties Association and asked if they would be willing to facilitate a debate on the effectiveness of mask wearing between Mr. Egli and Dr. Denis Rancourt. The OCLA agreed and sent an email letter to Keith Egli requesting his participation in the debate and he immediately declined the invitation.

Facemasks and lockdowns have extremely serious economic and health problems for people in this City and residents have a right to know what scientific basis is being used by the City of Ottawa to impose such restrictive measures on the freedoms of citizens. The fact that Keith Egli declined the invitation from the OCLA to participate in such a public debate illustrates that the City of Ottawa has no scientific evidence to support the draconian measures that it has imposed on the citizens of our community.

Given the deleterious impact of these decisions, citizens in Ottawa should have had the right to be consulted in advance before such measures were ever implemented.  The residents of Ottawa did not elect people on City council to enact measures that would destroy their lives.  The residents have a right to know why these measures have been imposed and to hear the scientific evidence upon which they are based.

The fact that no consultation ever took place and the person who is the Chairperson of the Board of Health has refused to provide such information in a debate with Dr Denis Rancourt is unacceptable and it shows a reckless and irresponsible regard for the health, freedoms and well-being of thousands of people in this City who have been so adversely affected by these laws.  Before such measures were introduced citizens should have participated in a city-wide referendum on the issue. No one who voted in the last municipal election voted for representatives that would destroy their lives and muzzle their civil liberties.

Darryl T Davies

Posted in Face Masks | Comments Off on The Chairperson of the Ottawa Board of Health Keith Egli Refuses to Debate Ottawa’s Face Mask Law

OCLA at the Toronto rally against the lockdown

Posted on October 17, 2020 by admin

Carly Benjamin spoke about the OCLA’s opposition to the lockdown, mandatory masks, and other oppressive COVID measures at the 17 October 2020 rally at Dundas Square in Toronto. You can watch Carly’s speech below:

Posted in Video | Comments Off on OCLA at the Toronto rally against the lockdown

Professor Michael Palmer’s email to faculty, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, about COVID-19: “the long-festering idiocy of academia has reached its terminal stage”

Posted on September 23, 2020 by admin

You have seen the media outrage resulting from Professor Michael Palmer suggesting that COVID-19 “is no worse than a flu”, but the media have avoided publishing the important email itself, and have avoided reporting key content in the email.

Here it is, in full, below.

URLs of MEDIA OUTRAGE:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/university-of-waterloo-professor-fake-covid-1.5717576

https://globalnews.ca/news/7326275/waterloo-chemistry-professor-fake-covid-emergency/

https://www.kitchenertoday.com/coronavirus-covid-19-local-news/uw-professor-calls-pandemic-a-fake-emergency-in-chemistry-course-outline-2704205

THE FULL EMAIL:

Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2020 15:55:09 -0400
From: Michael Palmer <mpalmer@connect.uwaterloo.ca>
To: <faculty@science.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: [SciFaculty] Guidance on the detection of cheating in online tests

With all due respect, Barb, but the real cheating going on is this fake Covid epidemic. Yes, there is a virus and it kills some people, but the panic around it is created with fraudulent data. If you look at real data, it turns out that it is no worse than a flu.

The faked-up scare is used to defraud the economy and to rob the people of their freedom. And the faculty of science has its collective heads firmly lodged into its collective rears and worries about cheating students.

And, of course, about Covid funding. Because, we can make a difference, right? But if we can, why do we already know that it will all come down in the end to Billy Gates’ world-saving vaccine?

I tell you what this funding is good for: to get some academics invested in the scam, so that they will say all the right things in front of the cameras – through their masks, and with social distancing, of course. The same way it worked with the “climate change” bullshit.

I have long suspected it, but I had to see this to really believe it – the long-festering idiocy of academia has reached its terminal stage. It is beyond hope and simply should be put out of its misery. Complete waste of time, space, and money.

Have a good day,

Michael

On Wed, 3 Jun 2020 19:18:35 +0000
Barbara Moffatt <moffatt@uwaterloo.ca> wrote:

==
Good afternoon,

I am writing to you because there has been an increased volume of cheating on assignments and tests since moving to an online format, and the Faculty of Science is trying to be proactive in addressing this behaviour early in the term. As the person responsible for carrying out Policy 71 investigations for the Faculty of Science, I would like to provide some guidance about identifying and reporting evidence of this activity.

As instructors move to using online assessments available for 24-48 h time periods, it has become evident that some students are making use of inappropriate sources to find answers to test questions. In some instances, test questions are posed to ‘experts’ (e.g., via a Chegg.com subscription) who provide answers which are broadly shared amongst the class. (Answers may also be posted on other websites like Course Hero or Stack Exchange).  Soon after answers are posted on these websites, they become available through Google. Thus, many students tend to start the test later in the exam window, after consulting Google for answers; many students describe this activity as “studying for the test”. We have seen this happen on final exams as well as assignments and quizzes. I have been told students take turns being an early test taker in different courses so reaping the benefit of posted answers is shared.

My suggestion is you look for online answers to the toughest questions on your assessments before you begin to mark them. Often the Chegg answers contain errors and so student responses with these errors are easy to spot. Moreover, it is much less work to have these ‘available answers’ in-hand as the tests are being marked. I have purchased a Chegg subscription and can look at particular answers for you as well, if you suspect a problem. If you find evidence of this activity, please contact either Samantha St. Amand (copied on this message) or me and we will help with tracking and follow-up on any allegations of misconduct you wish to pursue.

Thank you for your efforts to more effectively detect this misbehaviour,

Sincerely
Barb Moffatt
==

—
Michael Palmer

Department of Chemistry
University of Waterloo
200 University Ave. W
Waterloo, Ontario
N2L 3G1
Canada
[…]
URL:    http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~mpalmer/

—
H.L. Mencken on COVID-19:
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
—

Posted in Face Masks, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Professor Michael Palmer’s email to faculty, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, about COVID-19: “the long-festering idiocy of academia has reached its terminal stage”

OCLA Letter in Defence of Free Speech of Dr. Kulvinder Gill

Posted on August 11, 2020 by admin

The OCLA has written to Dr. Brenda Copps, President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), asking her to immediately dismiss investigations into tweets made by Ontario medical doctor Dr. Kulvinder Gill that are critical of COVID-19 policy and practices.

The OCLA’s letter can be read here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on OCLA Letter in Defence of Free Speech of Dr. Kulvinder Gill