Well-known anti-mandate protest leader skips court date, warrant issued

David Lindsay, a well-known anti-vaccine and anti-mandate protest leader, failed to show up for his latest court date in Kelowna, B.C., and an “endorsed warrant” has been issued.

That means Lindsay, who was supposed to appear in a Kelowna courtroom on Thursday, will have to pop into an RCMP detachment and a new court date will be set, according to Kelowna’s court registry.

Lindsay was charged with two counts of assault following an incident that took place outside of Interior Health’s building in downtown Kelowna during the summer of 2021.

“On Aug. 19, 2021, the Kelowna RCMP community safety unit was called to support public safety and to keep the peace. That was in relation to a protest that was occurring outside of there,” Insp. Adam MacIntosh told Global News as the charges were announced.

“At the time, there had been an incident that occurred. We conducted an investigation and as a result an individual, who is a member of the protest, has been charged with assault.”

0:57 Kelowna RCMP explain the criminal code that applies to the Remembrance Day disruption

According to a source, one of the assault victims is an Interior Health employee and the other, a security employee.

Lindsay, a known organizer of the many anti-restriction protests in Kelowna, has also been ticketed several times by the City of Kelowna for his role in these protests.

1:07 Kelowna mayor says protest in front of hospital was misguided

He’s also a very well-known entity in B.C. courts.  He has a lengthy history arguing on his own behalf hundreds of times in B.C. courtrooms, about everything from driving fines to taxes he didn’t want to pay.

In 2006, he was designated a vexatious litigant, which means that he has to seek the court’s leave before commencing legal proceedings in any court in B.C. He failed to appeal that designation.