Justice Centre head who had judge followed returns to post

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This article was published 30/08/2021 (1115 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LESS than two months after admitting he hired a private investigator to follow a Manitoba judge, the president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has returned from a leave of absence.

In mid-July, Alberta lawyer John Carpay temporarily stepped down as head of the registered charity he founded, after revealing at Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench he employed a private eye to find out if Chief Justice Glenn Joyal was following COVID-19 public health orders.

Joyal was — and is still — presiding over a constitutional challenge brought by Carpay’s organization that argues Manitoba churches should not be subject to the public health restrictions because of charter protections.

Carpay’s return to the position, along with several new job postings for the centre, was announced Monday. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The Calgary-based organization posted multiple job openings Monday for staff lawyers and paralegals, as well as one position for an office manager, citing a need to keep up with its workload.

“The board is taking steps to strengthen governance, and to provide increased independence between the litigation and educational activities of the organization. While there is still work to be done in the coming weeks and months, the board recognizes that the organization needs to end the uncertainty that comes with temporary leadership, to enable the Justice Centre to work more effectively in dealing with unprecedented challenges in our society. The board is also seeking to streamline and refresh its membership to better respond to demands on the organization,” a news release said.

On July 12, Joyal called a special court hearing to inform lawyers involved in the churches’ constitutional challenge he’d discovered he was being followed by a private investigator, who tracked him while he did errands around Winnipeg and sent someone to his home.

Following the judge’s revelation, Carpay admitted he was responsible for hiring the investigator, but said he did so separately from the ongoing legal case, with the instructions that Joyal was to be monitored but not approached.

The incident led to a complaint to police and professional misconduct complaints against Carpay and the lawyers involved in the case.

Carpay apologized to Joyal in court and apologized in a written statement the same day, calling it “an error in judgment” to include the judge in surveillance of other unnamed senior provincial government officials’ pandemic restrictions observance.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca