WINNIPEG, Manitoba (LifeSiteNews) – A judge has stayed two charges leveled against People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier for violating COVID isolation health rules in 2021 because he was “illegally” asked about his COVID jab status, but he was hit with fines of more than $2,000 on two other charges relating to illegal gatherings.
On Tuesday, Provincial Court of Manitoba Judge Anne Krahn ordered Bernier to pay a total of $2,008.30, of which $1,296 was for illegal gathering.
The extra costs above the first charge were surcharges for the second fine, of which Krahn determined his time served in jail was sufficient punishment and reprimanded him.
During his court appearance, as per a PPC press release, Bernier noted how the COVID lockdowns were a “dark time in Canada,” but he was “proud of what I did.”
“It was the first time in Canadian history that a politician was thrown in jail for a non-crime. It was an embarrassing example of political repression,” Bernier told the court.
“I must admit, I did make a mistake. I should not have held the meeting outside. I should have done it in a Walmart where this gathering would have been allowed!”
Bernier’s trial was supposed to last three days. However, he made an agreement with the court to condense his trial into one day to “avoid unnecessary expenses to Manitoba taxpayers.”
For his trial, Bernier made an agreement with the “Crown to admit to everything included in the Agreed Statement of Facts: that he did indeed travel to Manitoba without quarantining and hosted public meetings in violation of the ongoing covid restrictions.”
His lawyer, Alex Stiegerwald, noted that this is “not an admission of guilt which would imply a violation of the Criminal Code rather than temporary provincial restrictions.”
Of his isolation charges thatbwere dropped by the Crown, the PPC noted that this was done “as they illegally asked Bernier his vaccination status without first informing him of his right to an attorney.”
At the time in 2021, the province of Manitoba had a rule in place that those coming into the province without the COVID shots had to isolate for a time. Bernier chose not to get the COVID shots.
During the trial, Bernier asked Krahn if he could make a charitable donation to the Manitoba Association of Women’s Shelters to help support victims of domestic violence instead of paying the fine to the government.
Judge Krahn refused his request and demanded he pay his fine within 30 days.
Bernier charges stem from his arrest in June 2021 in St.-Pierre-Jolys, which is just south of Winnipeg, because he chose to speak at a freedom rally while on tour in advance of the 2021 federal election.
His Manitoba tour was well publicized in advance and caught the attention of then-Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, who warned Bernier that, should he break the local rules, “he’s going to be light in the pocketbook.”
After a brief stay in jail, Bernier was released but later said of his experience in speaking to then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he would go to “jail again” to fight for freedom.
Last Friday, Bernier announced he will run in the upcoming Manitoba federal by-election in the Portage-Lisgar riding, promising to fight for traditional family values against a society “overtaken by evil,” including “transgender madness.”
Of note is that the Portage-Lisgar area is where Bernier was arrested after holding an outdoor rally in 2021.
Bernier told reporters that voters in Portage-Lisgar would be “very proud” that he “stood firmly against these unnecessary and tyrannical covid restrictions.”
Yesterday, Bernier made a large pro-life announcement, saying if elected as an MP in the upcoming June by-election in Manitoba that he will introduce a private member’s bill to try and ban late-term abortion, which he called “abhorrent.”