As official sponsor of this legal challenge, the Concerned Constituents of Canada is disappointed, disheartened and, frankly, disturbed at the outcome of the application hearing that concluded roughly a month ago. As the application judge said near the end of the hearing, she would judge this matter on its merits. Unfortunately, she did not.

From the outset of my involvement at the beginning of 2021, I made it clear to all involved that this was substantially a legal action based upon the preponderance of expert evidence that challenged the premises of the pandemic. By April of that year, as coordinator of evidence at the time, I had assembled a team of six experts who would table 11 reports (6 initial reports and then another 5 upon reply). The government’s lone expert did not refute any of the evidence submitted.

Absolutely nothing changed from April/May of 2021, when all of the evidence was sworn, until September of 2024 when the evidence proffered from five of our six experts was re-sworn. Expert #1, a former Chief Medical Officer of Health of Manitoba, refused to re-swear his evidence. No real reason given. Because our public health expert was out, this necessarily kicked our scheduled hearing from early October of 2024 to one at the eventual end of February of this year. It took six months to replace that expert with Dr. David Gortler, a former didactic professor of pharmacology and biotechnology at Yale and Georgetown, with impeccable credentials at the FDA.

The government did everything it could to prevent this challenge from ever being heard. As recently as January 10th, I feared it would not be heard, given the financial realities of seeing it through. But it was. When it became apparent it would be heard, the government decided to ignore all of our expert evidence, spanning roughly 500 pages. None of it was refuted. None of our experts were cross-examined. None of our experts were challenged on their credibility, reliability or impartiality. They and their evidence were quite literally disappeared.

The expectation was of a fair hearing where all of the evidence would be weighed on the balance of probabilities and its preponderance, which lies at the heart of British common law doctrine, tradition and practice. And it has for many centuries. That did not occur. Our experts and their evidence were disappeared once again, only this time by a judge whose sworn duty is to impartially weigh evidence upon its preponderance and the balance of probabilities. She did not.

The principles of fundamental justice are rooted in the pursuit of truth, fairness and unbiased proceedings. We can’t speculate on what happened here, only that the truth-seeking function of the court was plainly and obviously unfulfilled. The courts are to rule based upon the evidence in front of it- not what they wish were in front of it, what would be most convenient to judge, or what they may impute by taking judicial notice of facts that have been vigorously contested by the very experts whose evidence is to be impartially judged.

All this, in addition to the fact that the application judge got Adam Skelly’s name wrong at the outset of the decision on the style of cause, got Adam’s motion decision citation wrong back in 2021 twice, and ignored fundamental questions of law and precedents brought up in written and oral argument. Most importantly, the application judge did not in any way address public interest standing, which was argued both orally and in writing, and backed by an affidavit specifically sworn for that purpose. The judge concluded the application hearing by clearly remarking in open court at the public interest in our challenge, given that the courtroom was packed to the point that it was standing room only. Absolutely no mention of it in her decision, whatsoever.

Naturally, an appeal is forthcoming as the decision written was obviously rushed and not what one would expect from any level of court, particularly Superior Court. It would be inexcusable coming from a newly sworn Justice of the Peace in provincial court, let alone a judge sitting on the high court bench for several years.

This challenge has always been predominantly about the lopsided, preponderance of evidence which has weighed heavily in our favour ever since April/May of 2021 when it was initially sworn. The application judge mentioned the province’s lone expert, Dr. Hodge, 16 separate times in her decision; and Dr. DeVilla’s name or the “MOH” abbreviation over 100, separate times. The number of times she mentioned one of our experts? ZERO. None of our evidence was weighed. At all. Could any reasonable person somehow see this as fair, just, or true?

Regardless of political slant or ideology- agree or disagree with Adam Skelly’s actions back in November of 2020- it is extremely troubling that a Superior Court Justice has disappeared 500 pages of unrefuted, expert evidence in a case that hinges upon it. She also made findings of fact that clearly contradicted what our experts expressly submitted. What happens when the shoe is on the other foot?

The fact is, there were reasonable alternatives that could have been employed in place of the emergency measures imposed and they could have cut short the state of emergency and mandates imposed in Ontario by nearly a full year. The government knew, or ought to have known, about said reasonable alternatives. This must be known and judged by both the courts and the people of this country- not to mention those outside of Canada who don’t have the benefit of challenging any of said emergency measures years after the fact.

The decision rendered is not listed on CanLII which is quite telling, given the public interest and importance of said decision. Please don’t be demoralized. Don’t give up and NEVER give in. Know that we will fight this to the end, until we exhaust all of our appeals. We just need your continued financial support to do so. Please consider giving. Every bit helps.

—Chris Weisdorf

Co-founder and director,
Concerned Constituents of Canada

Reasons for Decision – Skelly v. His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario et al. – Leiper J. – March 17, 2026
https://drive.proton.me/urls/FXJ9Y9CXTM#nA2ZQM4CgSv5

Aide Memoire summary of expert evidence-
https://drive.proton.me/urls/H6XVWMPWC0#sRakAcr3KXuI

Adam Skelly’s counsel is making oral arguments on the 25th. Ontario is up on the 26th. Toronto closes out the proceeding on the 27th. The hearing will be presided over by Justice Janet Leiper.

For those looking to join remotely, there is a Zoom Webinar link for viewing which appears to require registration. The registration details are below. I am not aware of any upper limit or restrictions on who can register, but please register ASAP to secure a spot. Here are the registration details as provided by the Court.  

Register in advance for this webinar: 

https://ca01web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R_Rgg5h9SrqbaAK05giHBg

Join from an H.323/SIP room system: H.323: 159.124.168.213 (Canada Toronto) or 159.124.196.25 (Canada Vancouver) Meeting ID: 647 3156 3125 Passcode: 689401 SIP: 64731563125@zmca.us Passcode: 689401 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

https://www.westernstandard.news/news/ex-ontario-man-who-defied-lockdown-by-opening-bbq-restaurant-gets-court-hearing-after-five-years/71218

https://www.drtrozzi.news/p/the-adam-skelly-bbq-case-returns

Toronto Sun: Barbecue rebel’s COVID charter challenge coming to court

https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/adamson-barbecue-skelly-charter-challenge-court

Not so with this challenge. We are happy to have passed the Canuck Law test and have done so five times thus far. For your knowledge and your education, I present to you those five easy pieces as written about this case:

Application Record of the Applicant (the evidence)-

https://drive.proton.me/urls/NPBMDD6R34#bF8OZeNsO172

Responding Record of the Applicant-

https://drive.proton.me/urls/GZ1JDKM89G#kqmRt3LCmk95

Factum of the Applicant (the legal arguments)-

https://drive.proton.me/urls/YD80AA88BC#W21r3zezz5jR

Here are the individual affidavits and reports of five of our six experts, which are in the Application Record (Dr. David Gortler’s is easily found in the Responding Record):

Expert #2 – Dr. Douglas Allen (Economics)-

https://drive.proton.me/urls/KQD039RAYW#NPkjMBb9kkGv

Expert #3 – Dr. William Matt Briggs (Statistics/Biostatistics)-

https://drive.proton.me/urls/AYS2V8SCEM#mdaIDAe9sTDI

Expert #4 – Dr. Gilbert Berdine (Pulmonology)-

https://drive.proton.me/urls/HTGQJQPVS8#jrMVnJ66wyc3

Expert #5 – Dr. Harvey Risch (Epidemiology)-

https://drive.proton.me/urls/MGAKJ85240#SkkenxyfBVcK

Expert #6 – Dr. Byram Bridle (Virology/Immunology)-

https://drive.proton.me/urls/JP370JJY1W#zHAFH7MPlzqT

The materials of the Respondents, the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario, will be posted as soon as they are served and filed. Their factums are due in less than two weeks.

It’s been a very long haul and I applaud all of you who are still with us in this challenge. If you’re not and this is new to you, take a seat for a while and buckle up. Adam Skelly’s Barbecue Rebellion began nearly five years ago in late November of 2020. He was the first business owner to defy the lockdowns in Canada and the first on the continent to ever be arrested and criminally charged for disobeying a public health order.

No one at the time could have predicted that someone would be arrested for what was very clearly a provincial offence, punishable by ticketing only. The government threw the book at him and violated their own laws by doing so. When all was said and done, six separate legal proceedings were brought down on his head like ten tonnes of bricks:

• he received many tickets made under the Reopening Ontario Act
• he was the subject of a section 22 order made by Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health under the Health Protection and Promotion Act
• he was arrested and criminally charged with obstruct peace officer, mischief and for trespassing on his own property
• he was restrained by a section 9 injunction brought by the province under the Reopening Ontario Act
• he received a phone book stack-thick number of business licence violation tickets
• he was sued for ~$187,000 by Toronto Public Health for the costs of their calling 253 police officers with cavalry and other enforcement of their public health order

Many of you already know this and have known it for a long, long time. What you don’t know is the timeline of events after that and how much everything cost.

1. November/December, 2020 – $150K – The costs associated with simply defending against the injunction hit $150K before Christmas that year. Four lawyers appeared for him. They brought no scientific, medical or expert evidence challenging the validity of the lockdowns, and were outmatched and outgunned by the Attorney General’s three lawyers. Adam ended his representation and went it alone for roughly a month on his civil matters, which included dealing with the s. 22 order on his own as a self-rep at the time.
2. December/January, 2020 – $50K – Adam’s bail conditions were severe and he applied to have them varied. He was successful, resulting in a very helpful- and rare- beneficial precedent regarding social media posting and the censorship of protesters, R. v. Skelly, 2021 ONSC 555. This would be used by some during the Freedom Convoy to exercise their fundamental freedom of expression, thought, belief and opinion after being arrested for mischief– which is what Adam was charged with. Adam covered the cost of his own bail.
3. January-July, 2021 – $150K – Counsel was retained end of January: two lawyers in Toronto and two lawyers in Ottawa. Six experts would go on to be retained in March/April. Outside counsel was brought in from April-June because of the departure of the two lawyers in Toronto in March. This was the first major setback suffered, as it interfered with the submission of expert evidence and led to a much higher cost then anticipated. Moreover, senior counsel did not follow directions given on four, separate occasions to collaborate with outside counsel to prepare written arguments. Another major setback, which ended up more than doubling the cost of the proceeding. Ultimately, this led to the motion judge declining to hear the proceeding due to a lack of jurisdiction- stemming from senior counsel’s failure to serve and file a Notice of Application and request the proper relief months earlier.
4. July-December, 2021 – $17K – Two experts were not paid by senior counsel as previously retained and contractually agreed upon. Another major setback. These funds had to be raised separately to make good on the compensation owing.
5. April-December, 2022 – $13K – Construction/resurrection of Notice of Application and follow up just until the end of the year cost this much. The government had already been granted a second costs order in writing in February without Adam’s knowledge, let alone attendance. In August, the scheduling judge refused to allow an application hearing to be booked without outstanding costs of $30K first being paid in full. The government had strongly objected and the judge agreed.
6. January, 2023 – $30K – Costs as ordered finally paid from funds freshly raised.
7. July-November, 2023 – $7K – In August, three hearing dates in early October, 2024 were ordered in a case conference. Adam’s submissions as respondent were made to defend against the province’s Motion for Security for Costs. This resulted in a devastating setback as that was successful; $32K was ordered to be paid within 60 days in late November. Funds were fully depleted and Adam brought an appeal of the costs order as a self-rep to buy time to pay it. This was roughly three years after the BBQ Rebellion and many people were demoralized due to the Convoy prosecutions and other terrible developments in Canada’s courts.
8. January, 2024 – $32K – The government left this case for dead. By God’s grace, security for costs managed to be fully paid from funds freshly raised during New Year’s Eve events. Appeal withdrawn. Counsel brought back on to handle all legal matters. Additionally, on an extremely negative note, the organizer of the GoFundMe inexplicably refused to allow for any update of the challenge, to seek additional funds, or to provide the contact info of a single one of the approximate 7,300 donors. This decision was fully supported by GoFundMe and it cost us dearly. Beneficiaries apparently have no rights, whatsoever to update or continue fundraisers, or to even seek donor information.
9. June-October, 2024 – $32K – Preparation for the hearing cost more than expected as all of the previous evidence had to be re-sworn, without exception. Adam needed a fresh affidavit. However, disaster struck again as expert #1 (public health) departed from the case without clear explanation less than a month before the application hearing. It soon became clear that the hearing would not be able to take place, although that didn’t stop the government from really pushing for it. To be clear: there was no way an application hearing that substantially intersected with public health could proceed without someone with expertise in public health, or who otherwise previously worked for the government on public health policy matters. Hearing dates vacated.
10. February-October, 2025 – $46K – It took six months to secure him, but Dr. David Gortler from the FDA/Georgetown/Yale/Heritage Foundation came on to replace expert #1 for pharmacology/public health policy. Hearing dates of February 25, 26 and 27, 2026 were secured at the beginning of August. Former Medical Officer of Health for Toronto, Dr. Eileen DeVilla, was cross-examined at the end of September. This was the first time that a current or former Medical Officer of Health of any kind was cross-examined in Canada, with respect to COVID emergency measures. Two more cross-examinations of key government witnesses will take place. After that, written arguments will be constructed. The city and the province will follow with their submissions. Then there will be a reply for written arguments- the final word before the hearing. Finally, the hearing will take place at the end of February next year.

For those of you who are counting, the tally in terms of total costs for this challenge thus far is about $527K. Adam’s GoFundMe had raised about $350K leaving us to make up the rest as a critical, world class, legal challenge in the public interest. One that will make ripples across Canada, North America, all of the British common law countries– and the entire planet– when we’re successful.

In terms of sponsoring this challenge, we are fully committed to seeing it through to the very end. That means Superior Court, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada, if necessary. Everyone has suffered through this. Some of us have lost our homes; some, our health; some, our family members; and so many, our friends. Our head of fundraising lost her sister to cancer. Expert #6, Dr. Byram Bridle, nearly lost his wife; she just had to have four limbs amputated. If there’s anyone to be demoralized, it’s all of us.

Also very demoralizing is all the division, the groundless snipes, the accusations of “grifting”, and the vile insults. But we’ve gotten over that. Few people have even been heard in court in any COVID-related challenges; several have raised more than this one and none of them have been heard on their merits. Yet, life goes on for us and we live to fight another day.

We are in dire need of funds to continue this challenge, which is made substantially on the evidence. That means it’ll affect everyone in Canada, the US and North America due to the volume of expert evidence submitted. As I’ve stated so many times already, no one has ever bothered to challenge any of the Great Lie in court. Not ANY court. People always give up. Or they don’t even start. They accept defeat without even trying. But not us. We will never give in.

For anyone new here: Why is this any different than any other COVID-related legal challenge? And why should you support it?

● All other challenges, outside of individual lawsuits due to medical damages, are “moot”. You’ve heard it before. The public health orders that effected the lockdowns and mandates are long-expired. There is also a two year limitation period to bring a civil action, aka the statute of limitations. The law can’t be challenged unless there is a “live controversy” and/or there are provable damages to the litigant. Both conditions exist in this case. The prosecution continues against Adam nearly five years after the fact. And his business and livelihood were completely destroyed by government action. Just like so many others, who are on the brink when their government loans come due.

● No one suing today would have “standing” in court. To have private interest standing, one must be directly affected by the law and/or government action. To have public interest standing, one must stand in the place of many others who have been affected by the same. Today, no one may have standing because, to repeat, the public health orders are long-expired and the limitation period has long been exceeded. There is very little left to challenge. It’s too late. Adam is literally the last man standing who has standing to challenge COVID tyranny and he passes the test for public interest standing, as established by our Supreme Court, with flying colours.

● If someone with virtually unlimited resources sued the government- any government- today, politicians and the experts would simply cry, “We didn’t know!!”, demand amnesty and forgiveness, and say they acted in good faith. The evidence must be contemporary to the time with the knowledge that everyone had at the time. The evidence is over four years old. It cannot be touched. And more is coming by way of cross-examination of former City of Toronto Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen DeVilla, as mentioned, and two other government witnesses.

● The courts have all taken “judicial notice” that COVID-19 was, and continues to be, a deadly pandemic that spreads through completely healthy people with no symptoms, whatsoever. This is the Great Lie, as it stands, and the “truth” as far as all the courts are concerned. Everything stems from it, including the vaccine mandates and all the destruction that came with them. To supplant it, the Great Lie must be called out with thorough, expert evidence. This challenge has— with six experts. This evidence must be heard. No one else on the planet has challenged the Great Lie in open court. Not yet. This will be a first in many ways. Worldwide.

Who are these experts?

● Dr. David Gortler, PhD. Former Yale and Georgetown University didactic professor of pharmacology and biotechnology. Also served within the FDA as both Medical Officer/Senior Medical Analyst, Member of the FDA Senior Executive Leadership Team; and Senior Advisor to the FDA Commissioner on matters of clinical and non-clinical drug safety, FDA regulatory affairs and FDA science policy. He has submitted a report detailing hydroxychloroquine as a reasonable alternative to COVID-19 emergency measures, along with its safety and efficacy. His analysis has also produced ample evidence of bias, misrepresentation, fraud, conflict of interest and wilful blindness regarding the publication of hydroxychloroquine’s safety and efficacy by experts and the media. Last, but not least, he has analyzed the reasonableness and proportionality of the emergency measures and concluded that they were grossly unreasonable and disproportionate, given what the government knew at the time— or ought to have known.

● Dr. Douglas Allen, PhD. Professor of economics, Simon Fraser University. He examined 88 papers from the National Bureau of Economic Research at Harvard regarding cost-benefit analyses of lockdowns. No such analysis has ever been conducted by any government, anywhere. Least of all, here in Ontario. The government has been called out and held to account directly regarding the abuse of power of the unprecedented lockdowns. Dr. Allen would go on to convert his report into a widely published economic research paper, that has been very well received by academia.

● Dr. William Matt Briggs, PhD. Former professor of statistics and biostatistics, Cornell. Co-author of the very first book ever written on the lockdowns, The Price of Panic, published in 2020. He performed a statistical analysis demonstrating that there is either no correlation, or a negative correlation, between lockdowns, and infection and mortality rates. He also submitted evidence that hospitals experienced no greater load than usual throughout 2020.

● Dr. Gilbert Berdine, MD. Harvard and MIT educated. Associate professor of medicine, Texas Tech University. Specialist in pulmonology for over two decades. He’s treated COVID patients directly. He submitted medical evidence challenging the premises of the pandemic as it affected individual patients. He also weighed in on the consequences of not specifically permitting children to be exposed to a virus which has negligible effects on those under 20 years of age. We all suffered and his evidence proves it.

● Dr. Harvey Risch, MD, PhD. Professor (now emeritus) of epidemiology, Yale. Author of several hundred papers and one of the most oft-cited in epidemiology on the planet. He submitted evidence on reasonable alternatives to emergency measures, focusing on hydroxychloroquine. More than two and a half years later, his report is unassailable and no one has even attempted to refute it. Dr. Gortler has affirmed the accuracy of Dr. Risch’s report approximately four years after it was written.

● Dr. Byram Bridle, PhD. Associate Professor of viral immunology, University of Guelph. Author of dozens of papers and former, regular peer reviewer of scientific papers. He submitted evidence on asymptomatic transmission, or lack thereof. The same for re-transmission after infection. Similarly, he opined at length upon variants-of-concern, aerosolized transmission, immune response, and also reasonable alternatives, just as Dr. Risch did. Hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin and vitamin D were analyzed and backed with impeccable, irrefutable evidence. There are 77 papers, alone, that were cited backing the use of vitamin D3 supplementation to combat infection, and lessen transmission, morbidity and mortality. The government was grossly negligent and wilfully blind to disregard them all. Dr. Gortler has affirmed the accuracy of Dr. Bridle’s report approximately four years after it was written.

I’m going to wrap this up with a quote. I have many great ones, but this one has kept me and others going in the darkest of times:

If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery–isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is.
— Charles Bukowski

Factotum

Thank you for your support. We’ve got this one– the government can’t stop us. We just have to see it through. Our target is $80K in funds to do just that. If you’re in Canada and can spare anything, we would be most grateful. If you’re outside of Canada and are sick of what the “truth” passes for in your own courts and media these days, this is the one to bank on. We need you now, more than ever. They can’t ignore a victory in court here rooted substantially in irrefutable, expert evidence.

The same goes for those backing other legal challenges: this case is highly complementary- and not competitive- to your efforts. Our victory will pave the way for yours. And if you’ve already been convicted and owe large fines, you’ll be vindicated with a victory in our case. We must shove the evidence down their throats and- with great discernment- ridicule every lie that comes our way. There is no other option.

Much appreciated, Godspeed and Amen.

–Chris Weisdorf

Co-Founder and Director,

Concerned Constituents of Canada (CCCan.org)

Federally-incorporated not-for-profit corporation

https://www.givesendgo.com/bbq_rebellion

E-transfer: ccoc4freedom@protonmail.com

See our FAQ below for answers to common questions.

Stand up now because many other businesses will sadly follow when their government loans come due. Adam Skelly and Adamson Barbecue, with the help of the Concerned Constituents of Canada, will fight tooth and nail to the end and hold the government to account with this challenge.

We need your financial support and are eternally grateful for what you’ve given and can continue to give. We can’t do it without you. We’re looking forward to finally being heard in court in 2024. We hope to see you in Toronto at the end of the month and year!

Toronto

Windsor

Ian Perry of Perrys LLP did a fantastic job of arguing against the motion. The decision was reserved with no indication of how it’ll go. It shouldn’t take too much longer to be rendered, but we have no choice but to wait and see what happens.

Other than Adam residing outside of Ontario, the criteria for a successful motion for Security for Costs to be granted, per Rule 56, have not been met.

You may see for yourself here: More Information

This is really the first major update we have regarding the Adamson Barbecue v. Ontario legal proceedings. I will write another explaining how and when the three days of hearings were scheduled, and another post will follow regarding the criminal proceeding against Adam.

Thank you for your continued support. Without it, this would have long been disposed of and Adam would most likely be sitting in jail. The wheels of justice grind slowly and most people were not ready for a protracted legal battle. There is a substantial legal bill that must be settled and another fundraiser is in the works for next month.

Please stay with us. The government is well behind the eightball with respect to the evidence. This is the only case anywhere which has challenged the premise of a deadly pandemic that spreads through completely healthy people showing no symptoms, whatsoever.

No one has properly challenged the premise of the lockdowns, distancing or masking. People just gave up and waited for mandatory, invasive testing, followed by coercive “vaccination”. It’s time to strike at the root and ensure that the Great Lie doesn’t stand.

Take a look at our comprehensive PDF summary of our case directly below, with a number of critical links embedded to the evidence, the Notice of Application and numerous other key details.