It looks like FordNation just made it a LOT easier, and potentially MUCH MORE REWARDING to pursue legal recourse against the #MaskMandate in the Reopening Ontario Act jurisdiction because suddenly we can hit the courts for #MaskExemption refusals which occurred after the date which the province-wide mask mandate came into effect, which was 0001EDT on Saturday October 3rd, 2020.
And, as it's no longer a Municipal Bylaw but a Provincial Law, whereas we formerly could only expect a maximum settlement from the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal of $50,000 we now have a ceiling of $10,000,000.
Yes, theoretically speaking, if we were to have a distressing enough violation of our Mandatory Mask Exemption Rights, we could receive an award of up to ten million. Not likely, but there is a reliable frameworking for threatening damages.
Note: Despite the cycling roll-back to Stage 1/2/3, the Exemptions are boilerplate codification of identical wording:
- Rules for Areas in Stage 1, O Reg 82/20 (Last updated from the e-Laws site on 2021-01-25)
- Rules for Areas in Stage 2, O Reg 263/20 (Last updated from the e-Laws site on 2021-01-25)
- Rules for Areas in Stage 3, O Reg 364/20 (Last updated from the e-Laws site on 2021-01-25)
*Current and verified as of February 01, 2021.
- The person responsible for a business or organization that is open shall ensure that any person in the indoor area of the premises of the business or organization, or in a vehicle that is operating as part of the business or organization, wears a mask or face covering in a manner that covers their mouth, nose and chin during any period when they are in the indoor area unless the person in the indoor area,
-
- is a child who is younger than two years of age;
- is attending a school or private school within the meaning of the Education Act that is operated in accordance with a return to school direction issued by the Ministry of Education and approved by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health;
- is attending a child care program at a place that is in compliance with the child care re-opening guidance issued by the Ministry of Education;
- is receiving residential services and supports in a residence listed in the definition of “residential services and supports” in subsection 4 (2) of the Services and Supports to Promote the Social Inclusion of Persons with Developmental Disabilities Act, 2008;
- is in a correctional institution or in a custody and detention program for young persons in conflict with the law;
- is performing or rehearsing in a film or television production or in a concert, artistic event, theatrical performance or other performance;
- has a medical condition that inhibits their ability to wear a mask or face covering;
- is unable to put on or remove their mask or face covering without the assistance of another person;
- needs to temporarily remove their mask or face covering while in the indoor area,
- to receive services that require the removal of their mask or face covering,
- to engage in an athletic or fitness activity,
- to consume food or drink, or
- as may be necessary for the purposes of health and safety;
- is being accommodated in accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005;
- is being reasonably accommodated in accordance with the Human Rights Code; or
- performs work for the business or organization, is in an area that is not accessible to members of the public and is able to maintain a physical distance of at least two metres from every other person while in the indoor area.
- Subsection (4) does not apply with respect to premises that are used as a dwelling if the person responsible for the business or organization ensures that persons in the premises who are not entitled to an exception set out in subsection (4) wear a mask or face covering in a manner that covers their mouth, nose and chin in any common areas of the premises in which persons are unable to maintain a physical distance of at least two metres from other persons.
- For greater certainty, it is not necessary for a person to present evidence to the person responsible for a business or place that they are entitled to any of the exceptions set out in subsection (4).
- A person shall wear appropriate personal protective equipment that provides protection of the person’s eyes, nose and mouth if, in the course of providing services, the person,
- is required to come within two metres of another person who is not wearing a mask or face covering in a manner that covers that person’s mouth, nose and chin during any period when that person is in an indoor area; and
- is not separated by plexiglass or some other impermeable barrier from a person described in clause (a).
You can download the PDF (with highlighted sections) directly from our mirror of Ontario.ca or just perv the embed embedded below.
We're already helping with a case in which a party was subject to extortion (threat of eviction for having claimed exemption from the Mandatory Mask provision of the O. Reg 364/20 2.4, or Toronto By-Law 541-2020 and Toronto By-Law 664-2020).
This claimant was formally served with a NOTICE OF INFRACTION of the "Mandatory Mask Bylaw" at approx 1700EDT on October 2nd, 2020. As a result, this claimant may be provided with legal recourse via the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, NOT just the Municipal Bylaw Enforcement Tribunal and/or the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal or Ontario Small Claims Court (lower damages in Small Claims, so only advisable if there is not a prima facie Human Rights violation, and then not really effective)..
Social Justice Tribunal (Human Rights Tribunal) awards are limited to a ceiling of approx 50K award. There is no such ceiling on Superior Court of Ontario judgements, actually $10,000,000 (ten million).
I need to run this by legal counsel, but I'm pretty much certain that this is a golden ticket for our cause. If ANYBODY has been denied service after 12:01AM EDT, October 3rd 2020, they may also have a claim.
I'm not a lawyer, but I am well versed in applicable legislation, and I do have an axe to grind against the Province for its universal deceit, so Covfefe Operations + Intelligence is officially open to assisting in the pursuit of legal remedy for Residential Counterstrikes.
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