John Carpay
Born
The Netherlands
CitizenshipCanada
Alma materUniversité Laval
University of Calgary
Occupation(s)Lawyer, and President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

John Carpay is a Netherlands-born Canadian lawyer, the president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, and a newspaper columnist.

In 2021, Carpay made Canadian news and took a leave of absence from the JCCF after he hired a private investigator to follow the Manitoba chief justice who was presiding over a COVID-19 related court case in which Carpay was legal counsel.

Early life and education

Carpay was born in the Netherlands, before moving to British Columbia, Canada.[1]

He has a bachelor of arts in political science from Université Laval and an Bachelor of Laws from the University of Calgary.[1][2]

Career and advocacy

He was called to the bar in 1999.[1][2] He worked in civil litigation with Calgary legal firm Rooney Prentice[2] before working for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation conservative advocacy organization[1][3] and as the executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation.[4]

As of 2023, Carpay was the president of Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms,[5] which he founded in 2010.[6] The organisation describes its mission to defend "the constitutional freedoms of Canadians through litigation and education."[7]

Carpay has written columns for The National Post, The Calgary Herald, and Huffington Post.[3]

In 2021, Carpay supported seven churches in their legal bid to fight COVID-19 public health regulations, and during that time, he hired a private investigator to follow Manitoba chief justice Glenn Joyal.[7][8] Those actions prompted a misconduct complaint from human rights lawyer Richard Warman and critique from University of Alberta's vice dean of law Eric Adams, who described the action as a "tremendous, tremendous lapse of judgment."[7] Carpay took indefinite leave from the JCCF in July 2021, before being reinstated as president in August 2021.[7] Six of the nine members of the board of directors resigned following his reinstatement.[4] An arrest warrant for was issued by Winnipeg Police in December 2022, prompting Carpay to present himself to Calgary Police Service, where he was arrested on December 30[9][10] before being released the next day.[11] Carpay has been charged with "intimidation of a justice system participant and attempting to obstruct justice."[5] The Law Society of Manitoba will bring professional misconduct against Carpay at a February 2023 hearing in Winnipeg.[5]

On August 21 2023, The Law Society of Manitoba barred from practising in the province and ordered him to pay $5,000. In his statement Carpay said, “I fully acknowledge that my instructing surveillance of Chief Justice (Glenn) Joyal was in violation of my professional obligations as a lawyer to the court and to society,”[12]



Politics

In 2018, Carpay drew criticism from Jason Kenny for comparing the LGBT flag to a swastika[13] in a discussion on Rebel Media, for which he later apologised.[14]

Carpay ran for the Reform Party in 1993[15] and the Wildrose Party in 2012.[3] Carpay is a member of the United Conservative Party of Alberta.[13][16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "John Carpay - President". Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Archived from the original on 2022-05-04. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  2. 1 2 3 "John Carpay | Montreal Economic Institute". www.iedm.org. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  3. 1 2 3 "Inside the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms". The Varsity. 2017-02-13. Archived from the original on 2022-02-04. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  4. 1 2 "Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms president John Carpay is reinstated". www.canadianlawyermag.com. Archived from the original on 2022-03-27. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  5. 1 2 3 Climenhaga, David (2023-01-04). "The 'Freedoms' Lawyer Charged with Obstruction of Justice". The Tyee. Archived from the original on 2023-01-05. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  6. ↑ von Scheel, Elise (10 Nov 2021). "Justice Centre, president sued by former employee who says organization caused him moral distress". CBC. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Bergen, Rachel (13 Jul 2021). "Lawyer files misconduct complaint after private investigator hired to follow Manitoba chief justice". CBC. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  8. ↑ Bureau, Brigitte (31 May 2022). "Code of conduct complaint filed against convoy lawyer". CBC. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  9. ↑ Gowriluk, Caitlyn (2 Jan 2023). "Lawyer faces 2 criminal charges after having Manitoba judge followed during churches' COVID-19 court challenge". CBC. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  10. ↑ "Head of group fighting COVID restrictions charged with attempting to obstruct justice". SaskToday.ca. Archived from the original on 2023-01-03. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  11. ↑ Hunter, Justine (2023-01-02). "Lawyer who hired PI to spy on Manitoba judge shocked to be arrested". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2023-01-03. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  12. ↑ "Two lawyers barred from practising in Manitoba after surveilling Winnipeg judge | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  13. 1 2 "Premier says Kenney must act after UCP member compared LGBTQ flag to swastika | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Archived from the original on 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  14. ↑ "Rebel Media speaker says pride flag and swastikas comparison 'unintentional,' apologizes | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  15. ↑ "History of Federal Ridings Since 1867: Burnaby—Kingsway, British Columbia (1987 - 1996)". Parliament of Canada. Archived from the original on 2013-10-21. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  16. ↑ Rieger, Sarah (11 November 2018). "Calgary Lawyer Challenging Gay–Straight Alliance Bill Compares Pride Flags to Swastikas". CBC News. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
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