An injured Ontario worker denied compensation has attempted to arrest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his cabinet ministers and Ontario premiers in a relentless effort against injustices he perceives in workers compensation.Brian Kidder told the Western Standard his real story has never been told, despite making 15 arrest attempts on high-profile people,“I go to all the press and all the ones that took my story said, ‘Awesome story,’ but it'll never see the light of day, because they don't bite the hand that feeds them, being the government,” Kidder said in an interview.When 2004 began, life was good for Kidder. Six months of the year he drove equipment for highway maintenance doing salting, sanding and plowing. He was also a security guard at a local bar on Fridays and Saturdays and was on call on weekdays.Kidder’s life changed forever on a security shift at a bar July 2, 2004 when one man cut another’s throat with a broken beer bottle. Kidder arrested the assailant but was mobbed by many of his friends who kicked him in the head several times. In future months he started having seizures.The sidelined worker applied for compensation to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). In testimony to a hearing on Kidder’s case, a Dr. Carlen said there was a “reasonable probability” his injuries led to seizures. However, neurologist Brian Murray was more cautious.“It is possible that seizures were aggravated by the head injury, but this is impossible to prove,” Murray said, saying “multiple factors” in Kidder’s personal and family medical history raised questions.The WSIB ruled against Kidder in 2013 and his negative experience with WSIB prompted him to look at the system more broadly. He says Canadian workers compensation programs began to cut back payouts in the 1990's to reduce unfunded liabilities that followed after the North American Free Trade Agreement. Kidder said the Paul Martin Liberals in 2005 pressed provincial governments to change a line that disallowed disability payments for those applying for worker’s compensation. He said he and 185,000 other Ontarians applied for disability as a result. He finds irony that governments will acknowledge a disability exists but won’t give worker’s compensation for what the worker insists was the cause.“I’m standing my ground. I want the money I want because it’s mine. I’m not out for damages, but I'm not going to rest until people get justice,” Kidder told the Western Standard in an interview.“I was harassed incessantly in the 60's and 70's for being the son of a cop. So I got bullied constantly. And my dad [said], ‘You always stand up to a bully and always protect the weak. Well, that’s what I've done most of my life.”Kidder says his consultations with those who work with the homeless suggest at least a quarter of them had a workplace injury. He also believes the rejection of claims has contributed to thousands of suicides.In 2012, a report by the Ombudsman’s office of the OPP found more officers had died of suicide over the previous 23 years than police work. Kidder claims he told former Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Vince Hawkes why this happened.“I told him those suicides of his officers back to ‘97 all have a common link, WSIB and that their deaths took place at or around the tribunals. The next day he puts in the news one of the [needed] steps is to assign personnel to aid the officers with their WSIB claims. Three hours later he announced his retirement."“I was asking through [police officers in my] family, and the story is he was forced to retire for putting that line in.”The comment Hawkes made at his retirement in September 2018 is that he was looking forward to spending more time with his family. But, days later, the OPP Ombudsman announced he was assessing new complaints about officers’ “operational stress injuries and suicide.” In 2020, an expert panel report on OPP suicides found “stressful or overwhelming events related to work, such as violence or loss of status” was one of the factors.Although Ontario legislation says only a greater than 50% likelihood is enough to confirm worker’s compensation, Kidder says the threshold in practice is much higher. Proving a systemic problem in court is difficult to do.“The information you need to court before a judge you cannot get without warrants. You cannot prove bad faith, which you need to prove immediately to get the next date. That's why there's been no successful chances,” Kidder said.Kidder decided to employ a different tactic by pursuing the denial of claims as a criminal matter. He says police had begun to investigate the systemic denial of claims within WSIB as a whole until the government of Kathleen Wynne had ordered police not to take the complaints or investigate. Kidder, Norm Traversy and Jeff Lozier had attempted to get court hearings to see if there was grounds for an arrest, but, according to Kidder, faced more interference.Section 337 of the criminal code states every provincial or federal bureaucrat “entrusted by virtue of that employment with the receipt, custody, management or control of anything, [who] refuses or fails to deliver it to a person who is authorized to demand it and does demand it is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.”Kidder appealed to the federal government for help with their case and was using Section 337 as part of their grounds. To his surprise, Section 337 was repealed on December 13 2018 while Jody Wilson-Raybould was still attorney general. Kidder interprets this action as an obstruction of justice and believes all sitting MPs of the time as accessories.Section 592 of the criminal code says, “any individual who is charged with being an accessory after the fact to any offence can be indicted, regardless of whether or not the principal offender has been indicted or convicted or is amenable to justice.”“I don't have to prove who did the crime. I just have to prove it was done. I have court dates,” Kidder claims.“Why do you think they’re running scared of me? You should see them run when I'm in Ottawa. [Former Justice Minister Brian] Lametti was standing there talking to four cops. I was about 30 feet away. 'Hey Lametti!' [He] looks over. 'Brian Kidder' [I said], and he ran for his car. All four cops were laughing their asses off.”Kidder said he had another encounter with former Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino.“I looked at him. I was about ten feet away. I said, ‘Brian Kidder and you better wipe that f_ing smirk off right now.’ He started running back. I think he headed towards the Privy office.”Kidder said he has also tried to arrest Justin Trudeau nine times, including at the 2020 Speech from the Throne.“It was stalled by almost two hours by me. I had about 30 people with walkie talkies surrounding the Privy Office,” he recalled.“They couldn't come back to do the red carpet and do their little speech because Brian’s sitting there [Kidder himself] with his little legs crossed on that block of granite that says ‘Canadian Senate’ on it right by the doors.”Kidder also tried to arrest Jagmeet Singh in recent years, someone Kidder said he approached on the subject while Singh was a Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament in Bramalea-Gore-Malton.“He says, ‘Well, this is obviously your property. I’m going to make some calls, and get you your money,’” Kidder recalled. When Kidder said that would not happen, Singh reportedly asked why.“To not pay me after 11 years shows that the money was legally mine and was held without [proper] right, which fits thresholds for theft and fraud.”Singh allegedly disagreed it was criminal, to which Kidder replied, “I expect you to say that. You're a lawyer by education; you do just realize your criminal and civil culpability.”Kidder says in personal interactions, both former mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug were sympathetic to his cause before the former’s passing and the latter’s becoming Ontario premier. On October 21 2020 Kidder attempted to arrest Premier Ford for criminal breach of trust. Online video shows Kidder making physical contact with a police officer while trying to get into the Ontario Provincial Parliament for the arrest before being taken down.Kidder said he has made 15 arrest attempts and has twice been charged with assaulting a police officer. He was released on bail for $1,000 each time and was never convicted.“The reason it's gotten away with everything I've done is because I haven't broken the law. There's a video showing me assaulting two police officers, basically. As soon as you put your hands on someone, that's assault. Now I was just trying to move them out of my way to gain access to the legislature,” he explained.“They couldn't convict me on it because it’s my right. I am allowed to use as much force as required to make or maintain an arrest or in defence of myself. And it doesn't distinguish between a cop getting in my way, or a citizen.”Three days after his first attempt to arrest Ford, he made another one at his home three days later, also without success.Kidder said he has faced media silence during his long journey and what publicity he has received has misrepresented him. His arrest attempts were sometimes falsely cast as a backlash against lockdowns. Nor was he formally part of a group called Canadian Revolution, as some claimed. He said he knew from the outset people might wonder if he was “woo-woo” crazy, so he has had psychological assessments prior to and during his efforts to confirm he checks out.Now a resident of Sudbury, Kidder is planning to authorize more arrest attempts by deputizing other people to conduct them. He says Section 494(2) of the criminal code allows him to authorize others to arrest without warrant those he identifies to have committed indictable acts in relation to his property.Kidder said his fight to validate worthy compensation claims dominates his life and those close to him have had to accept it or leave.“Everybody in my life has had to be second. My marriage broke down within six months of my accident [when] my fight started. Every woman I've ever dated, I've ended up having to let go because I can't afford to let anybody get in the way. No one."“And my family knows that too. They all have to accept being second. They're number one in my heart, but they have to be second because there's too many people suffering. While you and I are talking about this, maybe someone’s getting ready to take their life.”
