Three weeks after the June 2nd provincial election, Jim and Belinda received a knock on their door from two officers.

When Jim answered he was served with two summons to appear in court - one for him and one for Belinda. 

It was the second time an officer had visited the Karahalios home over the last two years.  The first, was in May of 2021 as Jim was recovering from his fight with the same cancer that took the life of Terry Fox.  Back then - while still confined to a wheelchair - Jim answered the door to receive almost $2,000 in fines against Belinda for her attendance at a Waterloo rally against lockdowns.  Jim and Belinda are still contesting those fines. 

What was the alleged "offence" the second time?

It was for New Blue Party lawn signs appearing on public property - or more specifically Waterloo region boulevards.

In other words - it was for campaigning.

But with Jim leading the way, the New Blue is fighting back! 

In November of 2021, Waterloo's Regional Council passed a "by-law" declaring a ban on election campaign signs from regional roads.   So, during the June 2nd provincial election campaign, the Toronto Star owned local media wrote a critical piece of Belinda alleging that a local Cambridge "residents" were filing a complaint about New Blue election signs because they were "seeing red."  Click here to read the article.

As it turns out, it wasn't a concerned citizen or a Cambridge resident that filed the complaint - it was the local PC campaign manager, who didn't even live in Cambridge.  But that important fact didn't stop the local media from printing the story without disclosing that the complainant was the local PC campaign manager while also falsely stating he was a Cambridge resident.

In response, our local New Blue campaigns were visited by officers more than once during the campaign and New Blue lawn signs were confiscated - some by the region and some by political partisans.  It also created a strain on other local New Blue campaigns across Ontario where similar election sign bans have been undemocratically put in place by local councils.

A ban on election signs is unjust and undemocratic.  It helps the establishment parties by making it harder for new parties and independent candidates to campaign.  Even worse, these election sign bans are likely unconstitutional (and thus illegal) based on previous decisions of our courts.

And that's why Jim's fighting back. 

Since receiving the summons, Jim has made three court appearances as lawyer - the most recent one was this week.  Jim is requesting a trial date from the court, not just to challenge the fines but more importantly to ask the court to rule the bylaw banning lawn signs as being unconstitutional. 

You might remember, Jim beat the Ontario PC Party in court after they tried to sue him and shut down the grassroots Axe the Carbon Tax campaign and inflict financial harm on the Karahalios family.  

And in 2020, Jim beat the Conservative Party in court after his unlawful removal from the leadership race at the request of Erin O’Toole.

These were the first two times in Canadian history a private citizen had been sued by a political party and a private citizen had beaten a political party in court.

Since those ordeals, Jim recovered from cancer and reconstructive leg surgery in time to lead the New Blue into its first election.  And in the six months since then, he has continued to fight for what's right - from the polls to the courts. 

While we step back to take a break from time to time, we rest easy knowing that Jim is always working tirelessly behind the scenes to change the course. 

This is just another reason why, I hope you will consider supporting the New Blue in your Christmas giving plans. 

Your contribution is eligible for a 75% political tax credit while also helping us fight the unconstitutional ban on election lawn signs and help us with the many other initiatives we are working on and will soon announce.

To chip in and help us keep moving forward, click here!  

Thank you for your support!

Annie
Founding Board Member
New Blue Party of Ontario

P.S.  Please consider a contribution to the New Blue Party in your Christmas giving plans.  A contribution before December 31st will maximize your 2022 political tax credit and help us keep fighting for what's right - from the polls to the courts!  Click here to chip in!