Crackpot conspiracy theories and their proponents are a great source of interest for me. Whether it’s Rudy Giuliani claiming that Dominion voting machines caused Donald Trump to lose the last US election, Alex Jones claiming the Sandy Hook mass murders were a hoax, Bill Gates plotting to inject 5G chips into our bodies to track our movements, or anything promoted by QAnon, it’s reassuring when conspiracy theorists have their day in court, and their inane theories fold like cheap tents. The fact that Alex Jones must pay over $45 million in punitive damages should scare the willies out of all conspiracy theorists. As we saw earlier this year, Canada isn’t immune from this kind of toxic stupidity, and it’s interesting to see how it’s treated in the courts.
In Bank of Montreal v. Karen Wai King Lew 2022 BCSC 1320, a mortgagor in foreclosure argued that her mortgage had been forgiven under the Global Economic Security and Reformation Act (“GESARA”). This is a law that involves new currencies backed by gold, the abolishment of all debt, and the elimination of the IRS in the US. No one knows about it because a secretive “New World Order” used the World Trade Center attack in 2001 and the subsequent invasion of Iraq as a diversion that prevented the law’s full implementation. When this was argued in court, Madam Justice Matthews wisely determined that GESARA was not part of the Canadian legal landscape and was of no force and effect. I would have used a few choice four-letter words in my reasons, but that’s probably why she’s a judge and I’m not.
GESARA proponents seem to share very close degrees of consanguinity with the Freemen on the Land and similar anti-government movements. They see themselves as sovereign citizens and Children of God; independent of government and the rule of law (other than the Magna Carta). When embroiled in litigation, sovereign citizens are normally vexatious and nonsensical, particularly when they attempt to overwhelm the justice system with voluminous documentation and unhinged pseudo-legal arguments. The Alberta decision of Meads v Meads 2012 ABQB 571 weighed in on these OPCA (Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument) litigants, stating: “this category of litigant shares one other critical characteristic: they will only honour state, regulatory, contract or family, fiduciary, equitable and criminal obligations if they feel like it. And typically, they don’t.”
The jurisprudence on Canadian conspiracy theorists may expand during the coming year. Romana Didulo is a prominent anti-vaxxer and QAnon media darling who fashions herself as the “Commander and Chief and Queen of the Kingdom of Canada.” Global News and other media outlets reported that Didulo had previously called for violence against anyone who allowed for the vaccination of children, posting: “shoot to kill anyone who tries to inject children under the age of 19 years old with coronavirus vaccines/bioweapons or any other vaccines” (although “shoot to kill” was subsequently changed to “arrest”). In previous posts, she said: “Please, use airports, hospitals, schools, stadiums and other public venues to hold and detain all traitors” … “They will stay there until Military Tribunal is held for each one of them until the day they are executed via firing squad or hanging.”
In August, she went to the police station in Peterborough Ontario with 30 of her followers to arrest the police for crimes against humanity relating to COVID-19 vaccines. Needless to say, five of her followers were arrested and will have their day in court.
Reflecting the exasperation that many Canadians have had with conspiracy theorists, antivaxxers, and the Freedom Convoy this year, the Mayor of Peterborough, Diane Therrien has my undying respect and admiration for saying publicly what a court could never say. In a tweet, Mayor Therrien said: “People have been asking me to comment on the events of the past weekend in #ptbo…. I hate giving airtime/spotlight to these imbeciles. Here is my comment: f*** off, you f***wads.”
She may never be a judge, but she’s one hell of a politician.