The two Calgary lawyers who hired a private investigator to follow and photograph a Manitoba judge in hopes of catching him breaching COVID-19 public health restrictions have been disbarred by the Law Society of Alberta, which found their professional misconduct amounted to “an attack on judicial independence.”
John Carpay, the president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) and its then-litigation director Jay Cameron can no longer practise law in Alberta.
“The public must know that lawyers do not and cannot engage in this misconduct,” reads the 18-page decision released Tuesday.
The lawyers were found guilty of professional misconduct for failing to act with honour and with integrity.
‘Vindictive abuse of process’
Alain Hepner and Alex Steigerwald, lawyers for Carpay and Cameron, say they are considering appealing.
In a statement posted to the JCCF website, Carpay called the disbarment decision a “vindictive abuse of process.”
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In December 2023, Carpay submitted a letter of resignation to the Law Society of Alberta that it “refused to accept,” according to the JCCF.
“The Alberta Law Society’s decision to refuse Mr. Carpay’s resignation, and to commence brand new disciplinary proceedings over the same issues after delegating the matter to the Manitoba Law Society, is a vindictive and petty abuse of process,” reads part of the statement on the justice centre’s website.
‘More than an error in judgment’
In 2021, Carpay and Cameron were involved in a court case challenging the constitutionality of the province’s COVID-19 restrictions, presided over by Manitoba Justice Glenn Joyal.
In June of that year, the pair hired a private investigator to take photos of Joyal in hopes of catching the judge breaching pandemic-era provincial restrictions.
Joyal noticed he was being followed and called the parties into his courtroom on June 12, 2021. When confronted by the judge, Carpay admitted he’d hired the private investigator. The judge also learned that day that an agent of the investigator had come to his home and spoken with his daughter.
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