A defiant Chris Scott has only one regret from his two-year legal fight against pandemic-related charges.
“The only thing that I regret throughout this whole thing is that I signed bail conditions to get out of jail that said I would follow the rules.
“I would never, ever, ever do that again.
“I did that on advice because it was in my best interest, but sometimes in life, I think we have to put our best interests aside and maybe go through some tribulations to get things changed.”
Scott was arrested after an anti-lockdown protest was held outside his café in May 2021. He spent three days in jail before being released on bail.
He was later convicted of breaching a court order and sentenced to three days in jail covered by his time in custody. He had to pay nearly $31,000 in fines and court costs and was put on probation.
The fight is not over, said Scott, who saw all other pandemic-related charges he was facing dropped on Monday.
“This is the end of me worrying about getting fined into oblivion. But this is just the beginning of pursuing some reform in this province and fixing things so that people never have to go through this again.”
He wants to see those who took authority that does not belong to them held accountable.
For him, the issue boils down to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats making decisions that interfere with Albertans’ rights. The Charter allows Canadians’ rights to be breached but only when it can be reasonably justified.
That did not happen, he said.
“It didn’t matter that there were people like me and others who said we have dozens of world-renowned expert witnesses willing to testify that your science is junk, what you’re doing isn’t right, we can manage this better, we can do a better job, we can save more lives if we do this.”
The only evidence the courts required was that the chief medical officer said a health measure was necessary.
“We’re faced with this problem of now we know these bureaucrats can take away our rights and we have no remedy.”
Scott said the Alberta Prosperity Project will be championing the need for changes. The organization bills itself as a not-for-profit, non-partisan project, to educate and unite all Albertans to protect their prosperity, freedom, and self-determination.
Many people have told him, politicians, government officials, law enforcement and health-care providers that they knew health restrictions were wrong but did not feel they could speak up.
