Video: “Police On Guard for Thee”: Toronto Police Officers Challenge “Unconstitutional Public Health Measures”

ER Editor: This is simply an impressive interview by retired Toronto Police Inspector, Len Faul. Very clear, very well articulated, and fully in line with what police officers are meant to do – protect US. We urge people to go to their new website and sign up:

www.policeonguard.ca

The video is below; it has been cued at different points where certain topics are discussed.

Here are some main points from this video interview for those who prefer to read a summary:

• After a whole year, we now know who are most affected by this virus – the elderly. Most of us are not. So as for the latest series of dreadful, draconian lockdown measures which breach our civil rights – it’s unbelievable.
• Pre-eminent Canadian law comes from its constitution – the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – which has been trampled on. The covid rules are clear breaches of this rights. But it’s not a police issue and should never have been – it’s a health or education issue. Police shouldn’t be used as a strong arm of a tyrannical government. Past epidemics over the decades have never rendered citizens as criminals for doing what they’re supposed to do.
• Every police officer takes an oath, yet the regulations are putting frontline officers at risk because they are having to breach people’s rights. Every single action of a police officer must be accounted for, which gives the police a lot of public support. But not we are taking on citizens and criminalizing them! It’s creating a divide between citizens and police.
• A brave group of frontline officers are recognizing the disparities between enforcement rules, their oath of office and the constitution. They’re represented by Rocco Galati, who is filing a civil suit soon in the courts. The Facebook page is Police on Guard For Thee. Here is the website, which is under development. These are being established to advice the police and public on what is legal and what is not. These frontline officers cannot be identified at the moment because of reprisals.
• This group also includes military officers as well as police officers – active and retired, and is growing exponentially.
• A tipping point is emerging as more and more officers seek to break up gatherings of people, yet no arrests are made nor tickets given. Police are starting to see what they’re doing to the public.
• There is an emotional toll on police for enforcing rules over people that are legally and morally wrong. It is not a one-off thing; it’s been going on for a year. Domestic violence and abuse cases involving children are on the rise. There’s a new onset of anxiety and depression setting in on officers, just like the public. Now police officers are being held individually accountable on a financial level.
• People who’ve made these policy decisions should be held personally responsible, including the Prime Minister. We need a Nuremberg trial.
• Police are also the public. We’re rapidly losing that goodwill connection with the public.
• Govt must go through the Courts in order to restrict people’s rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The govt doesn’t have a blank cheque to do this.
• In some cities now, the police chiefs are being told by their mayors what the police chiefs must do OPERATIONALLY, which is beyond their purview. Mayors must stay out of operational decisions, but this isn’t happening. Doug Ford stomped over his police chief in order to restrict people’s freedoms. But this heavy-handedness has been seen in smaller cities, too, e.g. investigating and charging all members of a church congregation. They’ll be charged for exercising their religious rights!
• Ontario police chiefs should have gone to the courts to get legal permission for what they’re doing. And they haven’t. The govt is there to SERVE THE PUBLIC, not to force them out of work, unable to move and exercise their liberties.
• Individual police officers are obliged to follow orders; however, they’re not obliged to follow orders that are unlawful and they’re personally responsible for that. And this type of overreach is putting police between a rock and a hard place. It’s clear that lockdown measures are causing many more severe problems than the virus, so individual police officers are in a difficult position having to enforce these measures. Right now, we have health authorities that are out of control. And there’s no public conversation on the evidence for these positions. It will HAVE TO END UP IN THE COURTS. Even at the Supreme Court level.
• Amazingly, lower courts are conforming to these charter rights-destroying measures and the public health authorities. But some courts, such as in Quebec and Alberta, are ruling around these health measures to protect citizens. We’re also seeing good court decisions being made in Germany (Weimar) and the Netherlands.
• Pushback starts with a handful of good officers saying ‘this isn’t right’.
• Citizens can push back by knowing their rights and then questioning police officers who attempt to stop them or attempt to enforce unreasonable health measures. People should check the new website for this type of information. For example, you cannot discriminate against a person for their health status who is exempt from mask-wearing, and you cannot ask them about their health condition. Health is a privileged matter between a citizen and their doctor, period.
• Letter-writing to police chiefs is also useful, to engage them in conversation. They are sworn to protect us, so they are required to listen. Could ‘Police On Guard’ provide a standardized letter? Yes, this is being created along with the website.
• Our message to citizens who are being treated violently by police is ‘keep calm, be polite’. If you are in a march, with social distancing, you are not responsible for the others being around you! Organizers of these protests who are being charged will win in court. They have a right to protest; they were not causing public disorder, etc. The only requirement of the police at protests is to ensure the CITIZENS ARE SAFE from people who may be ready to attack them. That’s it.
• A lot of summons that citizens are being given are being thrown out. Which puts the frontline police officer in a predicament because he knows he is committing an offence by issuing a ticket because what he is doing is starting a prosecution process, which is known to fail.
• Things are starting to open up in some areas but we have to keep going because this must never happen again. Tam is calling for stricter lockdowns because of the natural process of variants emerging. But there’s still a 99% survival rate.
• To some degree, we are each responsible for this continuing. Restaurants in northern Italy just decided to open and the government caved. As a culture, we have become complacent. So we need to hold the feet to the fire of the people who are responsible for this. The head needs to be lopped off in order to prevent it from happening again.
• Does there need to be a level of protection between the police and politicians, like the sheriffs in the US? Canada is more like the UK and Australia where policing remains apolitical. You can’t be impartial if you’re elected. In Canada we’re seeing an aberration: we’ve seen two world wars, etc. but we’ve never seen this type of response overall. Have we forgotten what history has taught us? Govts have control of MSM, and they’ve been selling fear. Any attempt to tell the truth and what the evidence is telling us is not reaching the ears of most of the public. Which is why the brave frontline police officers are stepping up.
• In time, when the trials happen, we will have our expert witnesses testify in court giving the opposite viewpoint. So far, the information has been biased and one-way.
• And in the Canadian system, the Prime Minister can change everything in a heartbeat through Orders in Council and change it forever. This needs to be stopped.
• Bill C10 coming, to criminalize ‘harmful speech’ – could this be used to criticize govt policy over the virus? We have the right to DISSENT. Fortunately, this bill will have to be debated and can’t be rammed through via an Order in Council. Do we have enough of an opposition to properly debate it? Mmm. We don’t seem to have a functional opposition at any level; there’s little debate about anything.
• Parting message: police are generally competent investigators and truth-seekers. They seek evidence, and police operations are governed by this. Now is no different. We now have this information as to what our decisions should be. And we can’t risk making wrong decisions, for the citizens’ sake. Message to the police: your oath is your highest calling; your discretion is your greatest power. We’re all members of the public and we’re all in it together. Officers are suffering just as much as the public. The public must stand up for their rights. Govt information may be neither correct nor true. Check alternative media sources; listen to other experts, especially the villified ones! Open your eyes to what is happening to our elderly and our children.

Video: “Police On Guard for Thee”: Toronto Police Officers Challenge “Unconstitutional Public Health Measures”

For those officers who are silent while we are ordered to enact questionable policies, mandates and bylaws, we hope you will #Remember your Oath