Randy Hillier

Randy Alexander Hillier[2] (born 1958) is a Canadian politician who served as a member of provincial parliament (MPP) in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007-2022.

[9] Hillier was a licensed construction electrician (licence expired 31 July 2013)[10] with a diploma in electrical engineering technology from Algonquin College and former employee of the Canadian federal government.

Hillier's ability to attract media notice through the use of attention-grabbing rhetoric and tactics prompted one television commentator to describe him as "Don Cherry in plaid and rubber boots.

Scott Reid, the federal MP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, responded that he would be "very disappointed" if Hillier were prevented from running, adding "I can't think of anything more dangerous to our prospects [of winning in this riding]".

Similarly, his willingness to take contrarian positions (for example, announcing his denial of climate change at a mid-election meeting of the editorial board of the Ottawa Citizen)[22] earned him approval as well as opposition.

An editorial in the paper advised voters to "[t]ake a chance on Randy Hillier" and stated that "the landowners'-rights activist is doing the right thing by running for the legislature and trying to change the system he's been battling for so very long.

In March 2008, an article in the Ottawa Citizen reported that Hillier was considering leaving the Progressive Conservative caucus and joining the small Reform Party of Ontario.

Following the election, Tim Hudak appointed Hillier as the party's critic for Labour, and for Northern Development, Mines and Forestry in the provincial legislature.

Regarding Hillier's support of Jack MacLaren, former Ontario Landowners Association President, to challenge sitting MPP Norm Sterling at the Annual General Meeting of the Carleton-Mississippi Mills Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Riding Association, the Globe and Mail described Hillier as a "shrewd political operator"[27] [check quotation syntax] Prior to the 2011 provincial election, Randy Hillier and federal counterpart Scott Reid introduced motions to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the federal House of Commons, respectively, to enshrine property rights for Ontarians in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

After the 2011 provincial election, Randy Hillier co-sponsored a bill to repeal Ontario's breed-specific restrictions on pit bull ownership.

[33] The Star revealed that Hillier's concerns included that the PC Party would receive donations from Ellis Don for pushing the legislation.

[36] Hillier's bill received some public support after he recommended that it should apply to Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who was embroiled in a crack cocaine scandal.

[37] In the fall of 2013, Hillier wrote an article for the Canadian Parliamentary Review detailing his ideas to reform Ontario's Legislature to "empower" Members of Provincial Parliament.

"[5] In February 2018, Hillier filed a formal complaint against former Ontario PC Leader and MPP Patrick Brown during the leadership race.

He has been skeptical of the pandemic and has been a vocal proponent of ending the emergency measures put in place by the Ontario government, such as lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and advice regarding social distancing and use of face masks.

At the time, Ontario was in a province-wide lockdown and the number of people allowed to gather indoors had been restricted to only members of a family living in the same household.

Hillier was blocked from Twitter for 24 hours for violating its terms of service, and when he returned he blamed "trolls and bots" for his temporary ban.

He was also condemned by Kingston and the Islands MPP Ian Arthur and MP Mark Gerretsen, the latter calling for Hillier's removal from office.

[56] On 8 April 2021, Hillier was billed as the special guest speaker at a "Mask Burning" event at the South Branch Bistro, Kemptville, Ontario, organized by No More Lock Downs Canada.

[59][60] As of 5 May 2021, Hillier has been charged eight times for his defiance of the Reopening Ontario Act, including for hosting an anti-lockdown protest and march in Belleville on 16 April.

[61] In October 2021, families of several people in Ontario accused Hillier of spreading fake news and unauthorized use of their relatives photos and personal details to promote his anti-vaccination views.

Hillier tweeted the images of 11 deceased people, suggesting they died or suffered from a "permanent adverse reaction shortly after receiving their first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine," contrary to what their obituaries and relatives said.

[62] On 28 October, the Ontario legislature unanimously condemned and called for a public apology for Hillier's "disreputable conduct", in particular the post misrepresenting several people's deaths.

[63] On 15 November, Hillier falsely claimed on his Facebook page that Public Health Ontario (PHO) had undertaken investigations into "37 possible deaths" caused by COVID-19 vaccines, according to a 2021 Global News article on the role of COVID-19 misinformation has contributed to "radicalizing Canadians".

In a separate tweet, Hillier called on the RCMP to open an investigation into Justin Trudeau, whom he accused of an "act of domestic terrorism" by depriving Canadians of food and essentials in the winter (a reference to perceived supply chain issues caused by the vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, an inciting reason for the convoy protest).

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino urged Twitter to remove the post that referred to Alghabra, as Islamophobic hate speech.

He was granted bail and released later that day, on the conditions that he would avoid the general area of downtown Ottawa, not associate with any of the protest organizers, and refrain from posting on social media about the convoy and anti-vaccine or mask mandates.

The elections agency rejected the name five times due to its similarity to the existing Peoples Political Party, which has been registered since 2011 by perennial candidate Kevin Clarke.

The discussions, while initially productive, later broke down after Clarke posted about the matter on social media and added other people to his email conversations with the PPC.

[91] In 2017 allegations were made against Hillier for violating the internal conduct policies of Tay Valley Township and the Occupational Health and Safety Act.