ISIS supporter Aaron Driver still waiting for court date

It could be April 2016 before ISIS supporter Aaron Driver can fight a peace bond that would put limits on his activities for one year.

"It's ridiculous," Driver's lawyer, Leonard Tailleur, said of the delay after a brief court appearance Monday morning.
He hopes a meeting with the judge and federal crown on August 4 will speed things up.

Tailleur and the lawyer representing the Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties say the delay puts Driver's right to a fair and timely hearing in jeopardy.

"This is one of the first times the constitutional implications of it are being called into question, so this is an important case, not only in Manitoba but across Canada and that's why we want this to be heard before a judge sooner rather than later," Corey Shefman said after court.

He expects more cases like this with the passage of Bill C-51.

"And without the court's guidance on whether or not they're constitutional, we're in for a very messy legal situation where Canadian citizens could find their rights and their liberties stripped from them for no reason," Shefman said.

The RCMP have applied for a peace bond to place conditions on Driver, 23, for one year on the suspicion that he may help or engage in terrorist activities.

A date for that hearing has not yet been set. Driver is challenging the peace bond application under the Charter of Rights.

He has not been charged with anything and is out on bail. But in the meantime, he's already living under strict conditions.

They including wearing a GPS monitoring device, not possessing any computers and avoiding social media.

"Mr. Driver hasn't committed a crime, he hasn't even been accused of committing a crime and yet he's subject to conditions that are so harsh that many people who are on what we call house arrest don't have conditions as harsh as his," Shefman said.

"So in many ways, he's in a type of custody which makes me think and makes MARL think that we do need to make this move along quicker."