This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays, we look at a case of a new government that appears to have popped up in Canada, and just what powers they (don’t) have. Then, we examine a very strange theft out of Burnaby. Finally, we look at one way you definitely should not try to sway your neighbours in the upcoming US election.
Follow the jump to read more of this week’s weirdest and wackiest legal cases from around the globe!
This is… Not Law
Apparently this week, posters started appearing on bus stops from the “National Council of Common Law Assemblies” — a fake legal organization — that has claimed they are a sovereign government independent of Canada, but in Canada. These posters advised individuals that it is now a crime for Canada to impose masking, social distancing, quarantines, mandatory testing, and vaccines.
The problem is that Canada has only imposed one such rule: quarantines. And only then in very limited circumstances.
It is also not possible for an organization to overrule the Canadian or provincial government’s health orders in this way. The reason for this is that in Canada, only the federal government can make criminal law. Even if the NCCLA is a regulatory or municipal government, they cannot write criminal law, nor can they write laws that “supplement” criminal law or impede upon its application anywhere in Canada.
And even for them to create a criminal law, assuming they had the power, they would have to have a prohibition, a penalty, and a public purpose for the law. While they may prohibit and seek to impose a penalty, there is no public purpose for this. Indeed, the existing quarantine law does have a public purpose.
So if you see a “legal notice” that relates to COVID-19 or alleges that something is a crime, remember that only the federal government can create crimes. And recognize this for what it is: covidiocy.
An Unusual Theft
People steal all sorts of unusual things. They steal cheese and meat, license plate stickers, catalytic converters, and so on. But usually there is something valuable or useful to the thief that motivates the crime.
In this unusual case out of a Burnaby school, thieves came to the school around September 7, 2020 and stole a large blue plastic slide. There’s inherently nothing valuable about a slide itself, as blue plastic is effectively worthless for resale, other than as an actual slide. This wasn’t a theft of metal for scrap. And the slide was so big that it would have required a large truck to enter the school yard, and load it into, before driving away.
Police are asking “who steals a slide?” And honestly, I want to know WHY?
Crappy Politics
While many people cannot stand Trump fans and the hateful views that many Trump fans espouse, they voice their concerns in lawful ways: protest, free speech, and political debate.
But for one teenager in Maine, that was not enough to send a message about why people should dump Trump. She took to her bicycle, located Trump signs on lawns in her neighbourhood, and defaced them with messages. Then, she placed dog feces in the mailboxes of those individuals to really hammer home the message.
Police sought out the vandal, who confessed to the crimes. At the (surprisingly reasonable) request of Trump fans, the police did not press charges.
