TURMEL: Judge okays public attend air travel vax requirement Friday hearing 

Yesterday, I informed interested readers about how to attend 
the Friday case management hearing. Usually, the public do 
not participate but the judge has granted it:  

Federal Court
180 Queen Street West Suite 200
Toronto, Ontario M5V 3L6 

March 9, 2022
VIA EMAIL

John Turmel 
Benjamin Wong 

 RE: T-277-22 JOHN TURMEL v. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

Please be advised of the following oral direction of Case 
Management Judge Horne dated March 9, 2022:

    "A case management conference is scheduled in this 
    proceeding on March 11, 2022 at 9:30 am.

    This case management conference was scheduled to be 
    heard by telephone, as is the Court's usual practice. 
    The parties have been provided with dial-in particulars.

    The Court has become aware that the plaintiff has 
    distributed the dial-in particulars for the case 
    management conference. A number of members of the public 
    have expressed an interest in observing. 

    The open court principle is a crucial element of 
    judicial transparency. While case management conferences 
    are usually attended by the parties and their counsel 
    only, they are hearings of the Court. The open court 
    principle applies as much to a case management 
    conference as it applies to any other sitting of the 
    Court. 

    At the same time, the Court must be able to control its 
    own technical process. The Webex teleconferencing system 
    offers the Court a limited ability to do so. In the vast 
    majority of instances, that is not an issue given the 
    limited number ofattendees.

    In matters where there is public interest, and a number 
    of attendees are expected, case management conferences 
    have been conducted by Zoom to enable members of the 
    public to attend and observe.

    Members of the public can make a request to observe any 
    hearing by sending an email to 
    hearings-audiences@fct-cf.ca.

    To enable the Court to control its own process, but also 
    allow interested members of the public to attend and 
    observe, the case management conference will be 
    conducted on the same time and date, but by Zoom. 
    Particulars of the Zoom call will be sent directly to 
    the parties. Members of the public may make a request to 
    observe the hearing by using the email addressabove.

    There is a general expectation that parties will not 
    share or distribute dial-in particulars or contact 
    particulars for case management conferences or other 
    hearings. The parties are directed not to distribute the 
    Zoom contact particulars for this case management 
    conference. Members of the public who wish to attend and 
    observe may use the email address above to obtain that 
    information. The parties are not restricted from sharing 
    that email address with others.

Sincerely,
Cherlin McColman
Registry Officer

JCT: So if you want to listen in on the zoom call, you must 
send a request to the right email address to get the zoom 
info. Good of the court to open it up.