Lawyers for former Mississippi Mills Councillor Cynthia Guerard argued before Ontario’s Divisional Court on November 19, that the municipality violated her Charter Right to freedom of expression by punishing her for refusing to disclose her Covid vaccination status in 2022.
Guerard received a 90-day pay suspension after the Integrity Commissioner treated her silence as misconduct.
A lawyer for Charter Advocates Canada, reported that the court reserved, meaning no decision is being rendered at this time.
There is no standard timeline for a decision. It could range from 1-6 months our even outside of that.
Mayor Christa Lowry declined to comment as the matter is still before the court.
The case traces back to a Covid vaccine mandate introduced in November of 2021.
While the policy covered employees, volunteers, contractors, and students, Cynthia Guerard’s representatives argued it did not clearly apply to elected councillors. Despite this, the Municipality ordered her to leave council chambers in May 2022 for allegedly breaching the mandate. When she later attended the June 2022 meeting from the public gallery, council again deemed her in violation and demanded an apology.
A formal complaint followed, leading the Municipality’s Integrity Commissioner to investigate her for attending meetings without disclosing her vaccination status. The Commissioner, who reportedly considered her Charter right, ultimately recommended a 90-day suspension of pay, which council approved.
Mississippi Mills staff reported that it wasn’t until November of 2023, over a year after the Integrity Commissioner review, that Guerard’s lawyers raised other Charter Rights concerns in their court filings.
Commenting on the case, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms lawyer Hatim Kheir said, “Freedom of expression includes the right to say nothing. The right not to speak is an important counterpart to free speech. We are arguing that the Integrity Commissioner and the Municipality violated Ms. Guerard’s right when they based their findings and punishments on her choice not to disclose her vaccination status.”
Story by Brian Turner