Lawsuit filed by COVID-19 denier and anti-masker against B.C. government dismissed

A lawsuit filed by a prominent B.C. COVID-19 denier and anti-masker against the B.C. government has now been dismissed.

Mak Parhar — who previously claimed hot yoga can kill the novel coronavirus, posted a series of videos where he entered health-care facilities to get the “truth” about the pandemic, and was charged with violating quarantine laws — filed a lawsuit alleging trespass, malfeasance, extortion, terrorism, kidnapping and fraud by the government.

The defendants listed were B.C. Premier John Horgan, Health Minister Adrian Dix, Attorney General David Eby, Chief Constable for the New Westminster Police Department Dave Jansen and Crown lawyer Adrienne Switzer.

This is in relation to Parhar’s arrest in November 2020 after he returned from the U.S., where he said he attended a flat Earth conference in South Carolina.

New Westminster police said they reminded Parhar of federal legislation around international travel and gave him a violation ticket. He refused to comply and continued to leave his home, police said.

The 47-year-old was eventually arrested for repeated violations under the Quarantine Act and charged with three counts of failing to self-isolate for 14 days upon returning to Canada.

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He spent four days in jail before being released.

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In the decision posted April 16, Justice Murray Blok wrote the defendants asked for the claim to be dismissed as it “disclosed no reasonable cause of action; was embarrassing in the legal sense of that term; was frivolous and vexatious; and was an abuse of process.”

Parhar argued that he was “harmed by being arrested, kidnapped and locked up for four days,” saying he harmed no one and wanted his case heard in “Parhar Court.”

Blok wrote that he is not without sympathy for Parhar.

“He spent four days in jail, evidently the result of alleged breaches of the Quarantine Act, and it appears this occurred because someone convinced him, or he convinced himself, that statute law does not apply to him,” Blok stated.

“It was a hard way to learn that laws do not work on an ‘opt-in’ basis.”

The lawsuit was dismissed and Parhar has been ordered to pay $750 in court costs.

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Parhar is scheduled to go to trial this summer as he is still facing multiple charges for repeatedly breaking mandatory quarantine laws.