MOOSE JAW - Community activist Tannis Brideau has been a vocal critic of all pandemic-related measures during the past four years, but the woman’s efforts to convince people of her views have landed her in serious legal trouble.
A multi-day trial began in June at Moose Jaw Provincial Court to hear from witnesses, watch videos and listen to audio connected to incidents from last fall. Between Oct. 1, 2023, and Nov. 1, 2023, Brideau allegedly harassed people at the Civic Centre Plaza, Golden West Radio Station and Prairie South School Division.
As a result, police charged Brideau with two counts of mischief over $5,000, one count of causing a disturbance — yelling and screaming — in a public place and one count of repeatedly communicating with other persons while prohibited.
Pandemic accountability
Brideau — who described herself as a “freedom fighter” — said she demonstrated outside the three locations to promote the National Citizens Inquiry (NCI) occurring in Regina this spring and convince people of the damage the pandemic measures caused.
“I was just standing up for the truth … ,” Brideau said. “My stance is all these five charges stem from the fact that I was advocating for the public and the harms that they all suffered … .
“I would do it again,” she added. “I would go to jail to prove a point that the state was in the wrong during COVID.”
Judge Brian Hendrickson made it clear that the trial was not about COVID-19 or the pandemic’s measures because those topics were irrelevant.
“You have a fundamental misunderstanding of this trial. This is not an inquiry into the efficacy of COVID (vaccines),” Hendrickson said. “You may try to turn it into that, but this is about you and your five offences and the Crown’s attempt to prove them.”
Crown prosecutor Tony Gerein agreed, noting Brideau clearly didn’t understand the serious legal jeopardy she was facing if she thought the trial was a mini-inquiry into the pandemic. Moreover, while she could think what she wanted about the pandemic, she couldn’t force people to accept her views.
The judge’s warning did not stop Brideau — who thought she was facing “political persecution” — from asking witnesses about how much federal money their businesses received to comply with the pandemic mandates, whether they had heard of the NCI or whether they knew of other pandemic-related court cases.
These questions frequently prompted Gerein to calmly stand and object, with the judge agreeing and ruling the questions irrelevant.
After witnesses — including police officers — left the stand, Brideau encouraged them to visit the NCI website and tell others about it.
Respect, respect, respect
Brideau is representing herself — she wants to “face (her) accusers face-to-face” — even though the court offered her a lawyer to help with the proceedings and ensure they proceeded smoothly.
Due to her unfamiliarity with procedures, Judge Hendrickson — one of the most patient judges around —continually reminded her how trials work, how to behave, how to treat people, how to ask questions, not to interrupt the Crown or witnesses and to stand when she spoke.
Also, because Brideau regularly made declarative statements when questioning witnesses, the judge sometimes turned the most relevant statements into questions since he thought they had merit.
Yet, she ignored Hendrickson’s recommendations and was combative with the Crown prosecutor, the judge, the witnesses — she called some liars — and the court sheriffs. Moreover, whenever she heard something that she disliked, she interrupted the person speaking, raised her voice, yelled, and sometimes aggressively approached the stand.
Her many outbursts prompted Hendrickson to interject often, reminding her several times to show “respect, respect, respect” since the trial would proceed quickly and efficiently if she stopped interrupting others.
Several times, Judge Hendrickson also called short breaks so Brideau could compose herself emotionally because it was “completely inappropriate” for her to “harangue the witnesses.”
The trial was supposed to conclude in June, but because of the delays, it will continue in August.
