The court case involving the City of Barrie and the Oro-Medonte man who became the public face of fighting back against pandemic restrictions appears to have reached a stalemate, if not dissolved altogether.
It just depends on who you ask.
Tyler Nicholson, who helped organize weekly “freedom rallies” in Barrie in 2021 and who battled with the city over its pandemic-related restrictions, says he had not been informed of any updates on the court proceedings.
City spokesperson Scott LaMantia says the case has been adjourned indefinitely.
Meanwhile, an official with the Ministry of the Attorney General says it’s still considered an active file.
Nicholson, who now resides in the Dominican Republic after leaving Canada later in 2021, continues to post on social media, most recently in December, questioning the science surrounding COVID-19, the validity of the 1969 NASA moon landing, and other hot topics in the online world of conspiracy theories.
He also appears to have just launched a restaurant called Surf ‘n Dine near where he now lives in the Caribbean.
The demonstrations in downtown Barrie, which typically attracted between 200 and 500 people, were contrary to the provincial stay-at-home order, provincial legislation and regulations, the city’s COVID-19 emergency measures bylaw, and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s public health guidelines.
The protests, which had been running almost every Saturday since mid-March 2021, had initially been held at Meridian Place until the city issued an emergency order April 29, 2021, to close and fence off the downtown square. After that, the demonstrations were held at Centennial Park and the Sadlon Arena parking lot.
On May 13, 2021, the City of Barrie issued a notice of application with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for an injunction to prevent Nicholson from organizing, hosting and participating in any further gatherings on municipal property. Nicholson was an Oro-Medonte resident at the time.
The city served Nicholson with the application material and notice of motion, as well as an affidavit in support of its interim injunction.
Also in May 2021, Nicholson launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $50,000 to cover his legal fees, but how much was raised is unclear. He also claimed the city was trying to “intimidate” him by seeking the court injunction.
In a recent email, LaMantia said the application is adjourned.
“There is no need to proceed with the court application because an agreement was reached with Mr. Nicholson, which achieved essentially the same thing that the city was seeking in court,” he said.
However, Robert Quinlivan, a court representative for the Ministry of the Attorney General, said in an email on Dec. 8, 2023, “the case is active, but there has been no movement or hearings since late 2021.”
An injunction is an order to stop or prohibit someone from doing a specified action. The court may approve an injunction to prevent harm or to protect a legal right.
“If the court orders an injunction restraining the organizer from a certain conduct and the organizer does not comply with this order, a court may find them in contempt,” LaMantia said in 2021. “Should there be a finding of contempt, a judge may make an order for a remedy as appropriate, which may include a fine or imprisonment.”
It's unclear how much the city spent on legal fees surrounding this case.
Nicholson also received two Provincial Offences notices and one Part 3 summons, Barrie police confirmed.
In a Facebook Messenger discussion with a reporter, Nicholson seemed unaware of how or when the injunction proceedings would officially end.
“Nothing to share really. The city deemed the matter moot since the stay-at-home order ended,” he said. “I was going to motion it, but it was another $12,000 just for the motion and I didn’t have it.”
Nicholson said he has also contemplated suing city officials, who “destroyed my livelihood in that town” and “assassinated my character.”
When asked about the recent statement from the city about the application being adjourned, Nicholson clarified what he thought the agreement was between him and the city.
“The agreement was, while we were preparing our cases, I agreed that I wouldn’t organize a protest until the hearing. I wouldn’t go to Meridian Place, or speak publicly, due to the lockdown,” he said.
“That was what we agreed on, but we never actually got a hearing. We never actually went to court, because when we said we were ready, we said we had our evidence and affidavits ready, and once the city found out who my expert witness was, then all of a sudden it was a moot issue — that the stay-at-home order was lifted, so there was no reason to have the case seen," Nicholson added.
Nicholson said he felt confident about heading into the hearing.
“But that’s only after they saw I had an expert witness that they wouldn’t have been able to beat,” he said.
Nicholson did not name the “expert witness.”
“My lawyer said the court won’t see it,” he said.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding how this battle with the city will end, at least on paper, Nicholson says he wants it over with.
“I told my lawyer I want them to officially forfeit the case so that it will be on record that they’re the ones that bowed out,” he said. “We’ll see what happens with that.”
In regard to the injunction, OrilliaMatters obtained a copy of the 579-page application record dated May 14, 2021.
The documents contain the notice of application, along with documents from the World Health Organization (WHO), the federal government, the provincial government, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, the declaration of emergency signed by Jeff Lehman, who was Barrie’s mayor at the time, and local news reporting during the pandemic, among other information.
The package also contains copies of social media posts by Nicholson, along with photographs and videos recorded by a private investigator retained by the city “to observe and document a public event and gathering that was to be held on April 24, 2021, and to ascertain who was organizing the public event and gathering,” the investigator says in an affidavit included among the documentation.
The footage shows Nicholson giving speeches at the local rallies, the crowd in attendance, signs and rally T-shirts being sold.
Shortly after being served by the city in May 2021, Nicholson said he was “respectfully bowing” out of weekend rallies and claimed he was merely the MC.
Nicholson had taken credit for organizing and hosting the events, including a Facebook Live video on May 10, 2021, in which he stated numerous times that “nobody is going to stop” him from continuing to run the rally. He was also involved with a Toronto rally in May of that year, which he said he was “teaming up and co-hosting the event.”
