Based in Toronto, Constable Michael Brisco from the Windsor Police Service entered an appeal to the Ontario Divisional Court, with a formal request to revise the penalty leveled against him because of his monetary contribution to the Freedom Convoy in 2022. Brisco, as per the recent statements issued by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), had a “misconduct” charge pinned on him for financially supporting the Freedom Convoy with a mere $50.
“It was unfortunate that private donor information was unlawfully accessed,” said Darren Leung, Brisco’s attorney.
“It is outrageous that the Ontario Provincial Police obtained this information to assist in persecuting police officers who were exercising their right to free expression,” he continued, as reported by LifeSiteNews.
“The evidence used to convict Constable Brisco amounted to nothing more than opinions from people who did not like the message…Leung added. We are hopeful that the Divisional Court will see that the entire conviction was unreasonable.”
He maintained that “It’s outrageous that information was leveraged by the Ontario Provincial Police to further target officers trying to exercise their free expression rights.”
Leung also put forth that the evidence used against Brisco was heavily biased, based on individual viewpoints from people who were against the Convoy’s message. Leung expressed his anticipation that the Divisional Court would deem the charges unreasonable.
Following a donation to the 2022 Freedom Convoy, where thousands of Canadians united in downtown Ottawa demanding an end to vaccine mandates and COVID regulations, the legal disputes for Brisco commenced. While he chose to remain on unpaid leave due to his refusal to adhere to the then-prevalent mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, Brisco made a $50 contribution to the Freedom Convoy’s GiveSendGo account on February 7, 2022.
Unfortunately, Brisco’s donation never reached its intended recipient – the Freedom Convoy – following a court order freezing the funds in the GiveSendGo account. This came at the behest of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s controversial and illegal implementation of the Emergencies Act, an authoritarian means of control.
The consequent hacking of the GiveSendGo website led to the exposure of the donors’ personal details. Brisco’s name being publicly exposed led to his charges of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act (PSA).
