Judge in Prince Rupert strikes arguments as ‘stupid’ in contempt case

PRINCE RUPERT — A provincial court judge in Prince Rupert has sentenced a 46-year-old man to a year in jail for contempt of court, ruling he tried to circumvent the justice system with “pseudo-legal” and “stupid” arguments.

Judge David Paterson sentenced Cameron Hardy, in part to deter others from subjecting the court to the theory known as “organized pseudo-legal commercial arguments.”

Paterson’s ruling details how Hardy, who was facing a charge of resisting or obstructing a peace officer in 2021, considers himself a “freeman,” meaning he won’t accept that courts have jurisdiction over him and falsely believes Canadian law doesn’t apply to him.

“The courts of British Columbia are legitimate, or they are not. There is no middle ground. There are no shades of grey,” Paterson’s ruling says. “Unfortunately for Hardy, the courts of British Columbia, including the provincial court of British Columbia, are legitimate.”

Ottawa-based lawyer Richard Warman said he was both surprised and reassured by Paterson’s ruling because courts in the past have been reluctant to treat such conduct as the “full frontal attack on the judicial system that it is.”