John Carpay

Last updated
John Carpay
Born
The Netherlands
Citizenship Canada
Alma mater Université Laval
University of Calgary
Occupation(s)disbarred lawyer, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

John Carpay is a Netherlands-born Canadian. He was disbarred by the Law Society of Alberta on September 2, 2025. [1] [2] He is the president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, and a newspaper columnist.

Contents

Early life and education

Carpay was born in the Netherlands, before moving to British Columbia, Canada. [3]

He has a bachelor of arts in political science from Université Laval and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Calgary. [3] [4]

Career and advocacy

He was called to the bar in 1999. [3] [4] He worked in civil litigation with Calgary legal firm Rooney Prentice [4] before working for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation conservative advocacy organization [3] [5] and as the executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation. [6]

Carpay is the president of Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, [7] which he founded in 2010. [8] The organisation describes its mission to defend "the constitutional freedoms of Canadians through litigation and education." [9]

Carpay has written columns for The National Post, The Calgary Herald , and Huffington Post. [5]

In 2021, Carpay supported seven churches in their legal bid to fight COVID-19 public health regulations, and during that time, he hired a private investigator to follow Manitoba chief justice Glenn Joyal. [9] [10] Those actions prompted a misconduct complaint from human rights lawyer Richard Warman and critique from University of Alberta's vice dean of law Eric Adams, who described the action as a "tremendous, tremendous lapse of judgment." [9] Carpay took indefinite leave from the JCCF in July 2021, before being reinstated as president in August 2021. [9] Six of the nine members of the board of directors resigned following his reinstatement. [6] An arrest warrant for was issued by Winnipeg Police in December 2022, prompting Carpay to present himself to Calgary Police Service, where he was arrested on December 30 [11] [12] before being released the next day. [13] Carpay has been charged with "intimidation of a justice system participant and attempting to obstruct justice." [7] The Law Society of Manitoba will bring professional misconduct against Carpay at a February 2023 hearing in Winnipeg. [7]

On August 21, 2023, The Law Society of Manitoba barred from practising in the province and ordered him to pay $5,000. In his statement Carpay said, "I fully acknowledge that my instructing surveillance of Chief Justice (Glenn) Joyal was in violation of my professional obligations as a lawyer to the court and to society." [14]

In 2021, Carpay took a leave of absence from the JCCF after he hired a private investigator to follow the Manitoba chief justice who was presiding over a COVID-19 related court case in which Carpay was legal counsel. Carpay was disbarred by the Law Society of Alberta on September 2, 2025. [15] [16]

Politics

In 2018, Carpay drew criticism from Jason Kenney for comparing the LGBT flag to a swastika [17] in a discussion on Rebel Media, for which he later apologised. [18]

Carpay ran for the Reform Party in 1993 [19] and the Wildrose Party in 2012. [5] Carpay is a member of the United Conservative Party of Alberta. [17] [20]

References

  1. ↑ on, Posted (2023-08-28). "John Carpay Banned From Practicing Law In Manitoba After Hiring Private Investigator To Follow Judge". Canadian Anti-Hate Network. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  2. ↑ "Calgary lawyer John Carpay tells disciplinary hearing his decision to spy on Manitoba judge was 'grave error'". calgaryherald. Archived from the original on 2025-05-30. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "John Carpay - President". Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Archived from the original on 2022-05-04. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  4. 1 2 3 "John Carpay | Montreal Economic Institute". www.iedm.org. 6 March 2006. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  5. 1 2 3 "Inside the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms". The Varsity. 2017-02-13. Archived from the original on 2022-02-04. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  6. 1 2 "Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms president John Carpay is reinstated". www.canadianlawyermag.com. Archived from the original on 2022-03-27. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  7. 1 2 3 Climenhaga, David (2023-01-04). "The 'Freedoms' Lawyer Charged with Obstruction of Justice". The Tyee. Archived from the original on 2023-01-05. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  8. ↑ von Scheel, Elise (10 Nov 2021). "Justice Centre, president sued by former employee who says organization caused him moral distress". CBC. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Bergen, Rachel (13 Jul 2021). "Lawyer files misconduct complaint after private investigator hired to follow Manitoba chief justice". CBC. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  10. ↑ Bureau, Brigitte (31 May 2022). "Code of conduct complaint filed against convoy lawyer". CBC. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.{{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  11. ↑ Gowriluk, Caitlyn (2 Jan 2023). "Lawyer faces 2 criminal charges after having Manitoba judge followed during churches' COVID-19 court challenge". CBC. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "Head of group fighting COVID restrictions charged with attempting to obstruct justice". SaskToday.ca. 2 January 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-01-03. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  13. ↑ Hunter, Justine (2023-01-02). "Lawyer who hired PI to spy on Manitoba judge shocked to be arrested". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2023-01-03. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  14. ↑ "Two lawyers barred from practising in Manitoba after surveilling Winnipeg judge | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  15. ↑ on, Posted (2023-08-28). "John Carpay Banned From Practicing Law In Manitoba After Hiring Private Investigator To Follow Judge". Canadian Anti-Hate Network. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  16. ↑ "Calgary lawyer John Carpay tells disciplinary hearing his decision to spy on Manitoba judge was 'grave error'". calgaryherald. Archived from the original on 2025-05-30. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  17. 1 2 "Premier says Kenney must act after UCP member compared LGBTQ flag to swastika | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Archived from the original on 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  18. ↑ "Rebel Media speaker says pride flag and swastikas comparison 'unintentional,' apologizes | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  19. ↑ "History of Federal Ridings Since 1867: Burnaby—Kingsway, British Columbia (1987 - 1996)". Parliament of Canada. Archived from the original on 2013-10-21. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  20. ↑ Rieger, Sarah (11 November 2018). "Calgary Lawyer Challenging Gay–Straight Alliance Bill Compares Pride Flags to Swastikas". CBC News. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
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