Crown withdraws four COVID-19 tickets

Kimberley J. Lavoie, 61, of Fredericton, says the province should reimburse her over the scuttled prosecution under the Emergency Measures Act

Four defendants set to go to trial in Fredericton court Thursday on alleged violations of a provincial emergency order due to COVID-19 walked away with no penalties or determinations on their cases after their tickets were withdrawn.

Bonnie Gilliard, 56, and Ken Gilliard, 57, both of Carlisle Road in Douglas; and Jason Pugh, 46, of Grand Point Road in Douglas Harbour, each faced a charge under the Emergency Measures Act.

Their tickets alleged they violated a COVID-19 order by attending a protest at Fredericton city hall Jan. 22, 2022.

Bonnie and Ken Gilliard (Photo: Facebook)

However, prosecutor Darlene Blunston told court the Crown was withdrawing those tickets.

The Gilliards are preachers who have been vocal in their opposition to government restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as vaccine requirements.

In a separate case in Moncton last year, a provincial court judge acquitted another opponent of pandemic restrictions of a similar charge related to a protest.

That judge ruled last summer the language in the government order wasn’t clear and didn’t appear to include a protest in its definitions of prohibited gatherings during the emergency.

Also scheduled to stand trial in Fredericton provincial court Thursday was Kimberley J. Lavoie, 61, of Oakland Avenue in Fredericton, but she faced a different kind of allegation under the Emergency Measures Act (EMA).

Her ticket alleged she failed to self-isolate March 9, 2022, as she was directed to do.

Blunston withdrew that charge as well Thursday.

However, Lavoie asked Judge Cameron Gunn what would become of the application she had filed with the court over the EMA citation.

Courtroom No. 1 in the Justice Building in Fredericton. (Photo: Don MacPherson/The Fredericton Independent)

Gunn said he hadn’t reviewed the application, and the defendant noted it was one seeking a dismissal of the charge plus a remedy.

The judge said the dismissal motion is moot since the Crown withdrew the charge, and as a result, the court couldn’t adjudicate over any kind of remedy either.

Lavoie asked if she could press charges against someone over the case, and Gunn noted there’s a process called a private prosecution she could pursue if she so chose.

When she was scheduled to enter a plea on the self-isolation charge last year, Lavoie refused to do so, arguing she felt the ticket was “fraudulent.” A judge entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf at that time.

Speaking outside the courtroom following Thursday’s proceeding, Lavoie told the Fredericton Independent the remedy to which she referred in court was a financial one.

“I just thought that they should pay me for all the time I put in,” she said, adding she felt compensation was merited for the stress the situation brought to her life.

Lavoie said she’s considering a potential lawsuit against government officials over the ticket, but she’s yet to decide if that’s something she wants to pursue.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.