As reported back in March 2021, several members of our group residing in Ontario have applied together for a Section 74 reference. This is the procedure outlined in the Firearms Act for requesting that a Provincial Court Judge review the cancellation of the registration certificates of restricted firearms affected by the May 2020 bans. This is separate from our main case before the Federal Court.
Many others across Canada have filed the same application, with varied results. A number of applicants have been rejected by Provincial Courts that accepted the AGC arguments that the cancellation of registration certificates was “automatic” by action of the new law, and essentially outside of Provincial Court jurisdiction. Our Ontario group is one of a very small number that have succeeded in getting a hearing, with presentation of evidence and cross-examination of Applicants and Respondents.
The hearing will be held by Zoom videoconference and is scheduled to begin Monday July 12, 2021 at 10:00 am. Since this is a public hearing, people interested in observing may request access from the trial coordinator: TorontoNorth.OCJ.Criminal.TrialCoordinator@ontario.ca
You will have to indicate the following court file numbers in your request: 20-40008425 / 20-40008426 / 20-40008427 / 20-40008428 / 20-40008429 / 20-40008430 / 20-40008431