The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hearThursday, the cause of five Quebecers who wanted recognition that COVID-19 did not constitute a threat to public health.
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At the same time, these five people also wanted those who received fines related to health measures and who paid their fine to be reimbursed.
The initial motion by Lily Monier, Stéphane Blais, Richard Girgis, Denis Larrivee and Sonia Grewal was filed before the Superior Court in April 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The five plaintiffs sued the Attorney General of Quebec and the Department of Public Health.
In response, the Attorney General of Quebec requested, on October 13, 2022, that the request be rejected since the health measures were lifted in June 2022.
In his judgment dated June 15, 2023, Superior Court Judge Michel A. Pinsonnault ruled in favor of the prosecutor.
He concluded that the dispute had become “purely theoretical with the repeal of the legislative provisions challenged by the plaintiffs” and that there was “no practical utility in engaging in such a purely theoretical exercise”.
The five claimants chose to appeal this decision, but their request was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on January 23, 2024.
It was after this rejection that Lily Monier, Stéphane Blais, Richard Girgis, Denis Larrivee and Sonia Grewal finally turned to the highest court in the country.
The state of health emergency linked to COVID-19 was declared on March 13, 2020 in Quebec by the Legault government and was renewed every week until June 2022.
During this period, several measures were put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Quebec, including curfews and mandatory mask wearing.
Many Quebecers who did not respect these rules were issued tickets by the police, which they had to pay.
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