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Rocco Galati

Rocco Galati
Photo by J.P. MOCZULSKI

Rocco Galati is a Canadian lawyer based in Toronto, Ontario. He is the founder and executive director of the Constitutional Rights Centre (CRC),[1][2] and a former director of Children's Health Defense Canada.[3][4]

History

Galati founded the Constitutional Rights Centre in November 2004.[1:1]

COVID-19

Galati has been a vocal opponent of COVID-19 vaccines and government measures in response to the declared COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[5] In this regard, he has represented a range of individuals and organizations. Examples include Dr. Rochagné Kilian of Owen Sound, who is part of a group of Ontario doctors accused of freely dispensing vaccine exemptions, Action4Canada and Vaccine Choice Canada.[5:1][6][7]

On July 6, 2020, Galati filed a lawsuit on behalf of Vaccine Choice Canada challenging Canada's provincial and national COVID-19 response. Among the named defendants were the Government of Canada, Government of Ontario, the City of Toronto, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).[8] Galati was also involved in the preparation of a lawsuit against COVID-19 vaccine mandates at the University of Waterloo, in coordination with Children's Health Defense Canada.[9] Prospective plaintiffs were instructed to prepare to pay $2,000 to join the suit, and that they may be "on the hook" for an additional $2,000 if the suit was unsuccessful.[10]

Galati became a director of Children's Health Defense Canada in April 2021.[3:1][4:1] Between approximately August 2021 and January 2022, CHD Canada was based at the same Toronto, Ontario address as Rocco Galati's law office and his Constitutional Rights Centre.[11][12][13] As of April 2022, the address was changed to a post office box in Bellevue, Ontario.[14]

In January 2022, Galati was reportedly seriously ill in the intensive care unit (ICU).[5:2]

In August 2022, Justice Alan Ross of the Supreme Court of British Columbia struck a COVID-19 vaccine mandate lawsuit brought by Galati against the Government of British Columbia, describing the claim as "bad beyond argument."[7:1][15] Among other issues, Justice Ross noted in his decision that the civil claim included "improper allegations, including criminal conduct and ‘crimes against humanity.’"[6:1] A similar suit was struck by Judge Simon Fothergill of the Federal Court of Canada in February 2023 on the same grounds.[16]

In March 2023, Galati filed a class action lawsuit against the Regional Municipality of York and York Regional Police on behalf of employees fired or placed on leave as a result of the municipality's mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.[15:1]

Galati ceased being a director at CHD Canada in June 2023.[3:2][4:2]

On December 11, 2023, Justice William Chalmers of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by Galati against multiple defendants, including the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy (CSASPP), finding that the suit was intended to silence criticism of a proposed class action lawsuit related to COVID-19 restrictions.[17][18] Galati was subsequently sued by Dr. Ashvinder Kaur Lamba, a former client "alleging he favoured his own anti-lockdown ideology over her legal wellbeing."[19]

On December 18, 2024, another proposed class action suit brought by Galati was rejected by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on the grounds that it lacked a reasonable cause of action, constituted an abuse of process, and that the court had no jurisdictional authority over the matter.[20] The suit was brought on behalf of 473 plaintiffs, many of whom were unionized and had not exhausted the mandatory arbitration process.[21]

On February 13, 2025, a class action lawsuit was filed against Galati and his Constitutional Rights Centre (CRC) on allegations of "negligent misrepresentation and a pattern of sloppy, 'bad beyond argument' pleadings across six legal challenges launched between 2020 and 2024."[22] Galati is represented by Ken Fitz of McLennan Ross, while the CRC is represented by Joe Spelliscy of Duncan Craig.[22:1] The suit was brought by Sheikh Law and West Point Law Group.[23]

Further reading

  1. About Us. Constitutional Rights Centre. Retrieved October 11, 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20201011051651/https://www.constitutionalrightscentre.ca/about-us/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. Butler, C. (2021, May 4). Group of Ontario police officers launches charter challenge of pandemic restrictions. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/police-oath-pandemic-legal-challenge-1.6012099 ↩︎

  3. Events for Children’s Health Defense Canada. OpenCorporates. Retrieved January 5, 2024, from https://opencorporates.com/companies/ca/12951126/events ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. Colbeck, C. (2023, June 20). Children’s Health Defense Canada - Form 4006 - Changes Regarding Directors. Internet Archive; Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. https://archive.org/details/childrens-health-defense-canada-federal-corporate-records/Directors_1.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. Mandel, M. (2022, January 8). Anti-vaxx doctors fight investigation into their issuing vaccine exemptions. Toronto Sun. https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/mandel-anti-vaxx-doctors-fight-investigation-into-their-issuing-vaccine-exemptions ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. Dacre, C. (2022, September 1). COVID-mandate lawsuit tossed for being “bad beyond argument.” Business in Vancouver. https://www.biv.com/news/economy-law-politics/covid-mandate-lawsuit-tossed-being-bad-beyond-argument-8268868 ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. Action4Canada v British Columbia (Attorney General), 2022 BCSC 1507 (CanLII). (2022, August 29). CanLII. https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2022/2022bcsc1507/2022bcsc1507.html#par45 ↩︎ ↩︎

  8. Butler, C. (2020, August 13). Details emerge of Vaccine Choice Canada lawsuit over coronavirus response. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/coronavirus-charter-challenge-1.5680988 ↩︎

  9. Open letter to UW officials: Repeal the COVID vaccination and testing mandates. (2021, August 26). University of Waterloo Cheriton School of Computer Science. https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~mannr/Open-letter-UW-vaccine-mandates.html ↩︎

  10. Update on the lawsuit against university mandates. University of Waterloo. Retrieved March 24, 2025, from https://links.uwaterloo.ca/Repeal_UW_Mandatory_Vaccination_Policy/lawsuit-instructions.pdf ↩︎

  11. 1062 College St. toronto - Google Search. Google. Retrieved January 5, 2024, from http://archive.vn/2024.01.05-225024/https://www.google.com/search?q=1062+College+St.+toronto&oq=1062+College+St.+toronto&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQLhhA0gEIMTA3NmowajGoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8%23cobssid=s&ip=1 ↩︎

  12. Contact. Children’s Health Defense Canada. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220128142817/https://childrenshealthdefense.ca/about-us/contact/ ↩︎

  13. Contact. Children’s Health Defense Canada. Retrieved August 13, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.08.13-014938/https://childrenshealthdefense.ca/about-us/contact/ ↩︎

  14. Contact. Children’s Health Defense Canada. Retrieved April 10, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220410214542/https://childrenshealthdefense.ca/about-us/contact/ ↩︎

  15. Quigley, J. (2023, March 6). Region, police named in $126M class action vaccine mandate lawsuit. NewmarketToday. https://www.newmarkettoday.ca/local-news/region-police-named-in-126m-class-action-vaccine-mandate-lawsuit-6655006 ↩︎ ↩︎

  16. Johansen, N. (2023, February 24). Massive lawsuit challenging COVID vaccination requirement for federal workers tossed by court. CastaNet. https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/412962/Massive-lawsuit-challenging-COVID-vaccination-requirement-for-federal-workers-tossed-by-court ↩︎

  17. Galati v. Toews et al, 2023 ONSC 7508 (CanLII). (2023, December 11). Canadian Legal Information Institute. http://archive.today/2024.02.17-190624/https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2023/2023onsc7508/2023onsc7508.html ↩︎

  18. Blackwell, T. (2024, February 15). Controversial lawyer ordered to pay $132,000 to fellow lockdown foes. National Post. http://archive.today/2024.02.15-110957/https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/controversial-lawyer-ordered-to-pay-fellow-lockdown-foes ↩︎

  19. Blackwell, T. (2024, February 21). Ontario doctor sues prominent anti-lockdown legal crusader. National Post. http://archive.today/2024.02.21-115640/https://nationalpost.com/news/ontario-doctor-sues-prominent-anti-lockdown-legal-crusader ↩︎

  20. Dorceus v. Ontario et al., 2024 ONSC 7087 (CanLII). (2024, December 18). CanLII. https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2024/2024onsc7087/2024onsc7087.html ↩︎

  21. Coxson, D. (2024, December 27). Hospital workers who refused COVID vaccine lose court battle. Sudbury.com. https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/hospital-workers-who-refused-covid-vaccine-lose-court-battle-10005929 ↩︎

  22. Ugolini, T. (2025, March 22). Lawyer Rocco Galati faces class action over COVID case handling. Rebel News. https://www.rebelnews.com/lawyer_rocco_galati_faces_class_action_over_covid_case_handling ↩︎ ↩︎

  23. Hand et al v. Galati et al. West Point Law Group. Retrieved March 24, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250324183440/https://westpointlawgroup.com/class-action/hand-et-al-v-galati-et-al/ ↩︎