S74 Reference Appeals
Donation protected
After the Government's decision to ban certain types of sporting and hunting equipment by Order in Council in May 2020, affected owners who held valid registration certificates in compliance with Canadian law started receiving notices from the Registrar advising that their certificates were no longer valid. The reason why this matters is the cancellation of valid issued certificates is contrary to the purpose of Order in Council, and makes compliance more difficult.
Hundreds of Canadians receiving these notices decided to exercise their legal right to a hearing to have the issue referred to the Provincial Court. The issue in part is that the notices claim that the certificates are nullified, but there is no such thing as nullification according to the law.
At the hearings, the government is taking the position that as the certificates were nullified (a term made up by the Registrar), the applicants are not even entitled to a hearing. Some applicants were successful in overcoming this hurdle, others were not.
A group of unsuccessful S74 applicants are now looking to fund an appeal to the Superior Court of Ontario challenging the dismissal of their applications. The appeal will concern whether the Provincial Courts used a fair and legally valid process to deny the applicants a full fair hearing on the merits.
The applicants who have been successful so far, are also being appealed by the government, and it is essential that unsuccessful applicants also be able to bring an appeal in order to put a stop to the unfairness. The alternative is to do nothing and allow the government to continue to run roughshod with people's procedural rights.
The immediate need is to launch an appeal to the Superior Court of Ontario for two recent dismissals. We need to hit our fundraising target ideally by Feb 10th, 2021 so that appeal notices can be filed with the court during the appeal window.
The applicants are currently requesting the court documents necessary to file the appeal and are shopping for counsel to represent. One prominent Subject Matter Expert Lawyer has indicated a willingness to take it on.
The fundamental purpose of this type of hearing is to hold the government decision makers accountable and prevent them from making up their own rules and running roughshod over peoples rights in a clear disregard for the principle of Procedural Fairness. This right to procedural fairness and a fair hearing are some of the few enshrined statutory rights that owners of affected equipment have.
The specific fundraising target was based on quotes regarding the general range of costs for this type of appeal, and is the immediate urgent need. In the event that our community continues to be incredibly generous and we exceed that goal, residual funds will be retained as a general fund to contribute to any other appeals that may arise.
In the event that there are residual funds at the conclusion of all S74 hearings (unlikely, as some believe this is headed to the Supreme Court) any residual funds will be donated to the ongoing Federal Challenges which are seeking a review of the constitutionality of the gun ban itself.
Thank you kindly for your consideration.
Stay Classy.
Hundreds of Canadians receiving these notices decided to exercise their legal right to a hearing to have the issue referred to the Provincial Court. The issue in part is that the notices claim that the certificates are nullified, but there is no such thing as nullification according to the law.
At the hearings, the government is taking the position that as the certificates were nullified (a term made up by the Registrar), the applicants are not even entitled to a hearing. Some applicants were successful in overcoming this hurdle, others were not.
A group of unsuccessful S74 applicants are now looking to fund an appeal to the Superior Court of Ontario challenging the dismissal of their applications. The appeal will concern whether the Provincial Courts used a fair and legally valid process to deny the applicants a full fair hearing on the merits.
The applicants who have been successful so far, are also being appealed by the government, and it is essential that unsuccessful applicants also be able to bring an appeal in order to put a stop to the unfairness. The alternative is to do nothing and allow the government to continue to run roughshod with people's procedural rights.
The immediate need is to launch an appeal to the Superior Court of Ontario for two recent dismissals. We need to hit our fundraising target ideally by Feb 10th, 2021 so that appeal notices can be filed with the court during the appeal window.
The applicants are currently requesting the court documents necessary to file the appeal and are shopping for counsel to represent. One prominent Subject Matter Expert Lawyer has indicated a willingness to take it on.
The fundamental purpose of this type of hearing is to hold the government decision makers accountable and prevent them from making up their own rules and running roughshod over peoples rights in a clear disregard for the principle of Procedural Fairness. This right to procedural fairness and a fair hearing are some of the few enshrined statutory rights that owners of affected equipment have.
The specific fundraising target was based on quotes regarding the general range of costs for this type of appeal, and is the immediate urgent need. In the event that our community continues to be incredibly generous and we exceed that goal, residual funds will be retained as a general fund to contribute to any other appeals that may arise.
In the event that there are residual funds at the conclusion of all S74 hearings (unlikely, as some believe this is headed to the Supreme Court) any residual funds will be donated to the ongoing Federal Challenges which are seeking a review of the constitutionality of the gun ban itself.
Thank you kindly for your consideration.
Stay Classy.
Organizer
J P
Organizer
Ottawa, ON
