Yes. Real life can be stranger than fiction – part 1.

Nine year ago I was detained, handcuffed, and fined by two police officers for not holding a subway escalator handrail.

Whenever I tell people about what happened to me, they simply can't believe it. They are shocked and dismayed. Most people are at a loss for words because my story is completely at odds with their own lived experience. In Canada, you say? Not possible ...at least not without there being something more to the story. Perhaps you're thinking to yourself, she must have done something ...something far worse than just not holding a handrail.

Well, before your read any further, I want you to know what follows could prove to be unsettling – and I don't mean in a gratuitous or sensationalist way. Quite the opposite, the information may be disturbing because it challenges the basic assumption that what happened to me can't happen to you.

So, if you feel so inclined, read on and I will show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

The basic details of the incident can be independently verified on the Internet because it went viral and was picked up by mainstream news outlets and social media platforms around the globe. At the time all I wanted was an apology and for the charges against me to be dropped. Much to my disappointment, the police opted instead to double down with a concerted and sophisticated public relations campaign designed discredit me and assassinate my character.

I will be providing full disclosure with all the sordid details in subsequent blog entries, but for now I just want to ease you into my story.

I contested the fines and three years later I won my case in municipal court on the grounds there is no by-law in existence, nor has there even been, which gives the police the legal authority to compel people to hold the handrail under threat of a fine.

Please feel welcome to read the transcript of the court proceedings against me by clicking on the picture above.

Unfortunately during the intervening years much of mainstream media had opted to champion the false narrative spun by the police. My refusal to cede my charter rights under colour of law was downplayed as an irrational act of stubborn recklessness and my name was tarnished in the public eye.

Have a look at the picture below. What do you see?

I'll tell you what I see. I see an intrepid TV new reporter for a major Canadian broadcaster, riding backwards and hands-free on the very same escalator where the police intercepted me just days before – all the while insisting that there was a regulation on the books that requires people to hold the handrail under penalty of a hefty fine! I daresay the level of cognitive dissonance in this particular report is profoundly shocking for a professional news organization. How this got approved by the senior editorial staff to go to air is beyond me. Before fake news, journalism used to be about doing your due diligence and getting your facts straight using at least two reliable sources. Now all you need is a green light from somebody in a position of authority to make stuff up.

There was even a police officer present at the time and she was visibly unconcerned with the fact that commuters, other than myself, were not holding the subway escalator handrail. I know this because I happened to be standing nearby while she gave a third-party account of what happened like it was the gospel truth. The officer in question was there essentially to engage in hearsay to discredit me in advance of an official investigation into the incident. I'll be devoting an entire blog entry to the principle of presumption of innocence and how things can go horribly wrong when it is violated by those we entrust to uphold its application for our collective wellbeing and security.

I don't know about you, but I am profoundly concerned about the state of our so-called free and independent press when the editorial direction of our biggest news organizations have shown themselves to be ...well, shall we say 'flexible' when it comes to overlooking poignant facts in order to shape public opinion. I will definitively have more to say about that also in another blog entry.

The right to hold or not hold the handrail had taken on a special significance during the H1N1 influenza pandemic scare of 2009. To their credit, at least the photojournalists were quick to pick up on the Kafkaesque nature of what had taken place in the metro. They had a clear appreciation of the absurdity of the situation.

Suffice to say, neither the Transit commission of Montréal, nor the Police service of Laval were ever asked by members of the press to explain themselves for the way they had mistreated me and misled the public. In hindsight, I suppose that would have required more than a few news editors to re-examine their own standards of ethics and journalistic integrity vis-à-vis their position as cheerleaders for a non-existent regulation.

So here I am, the only person in the so-called free world to be singled out for differential treatment and selective punishment by agents of the state – outside the scope of any law – for the non-crime of exercising a right on an escalator under rule of law.

As a result, I have been embroiled in a legal battle ever since to clear my name and denounce the abuses of power perpetrated against me.

My decision to launch a civil lawsuit and carry on fighting for justice is predicated on a simple, straightforward premise: allowing agents of the state to get away with circumventing the rule of law – no matter how small or seemingly innocuous the transgression – constitutes a grave danger to our free and democratic society.

I've reached the point now where I can't do this alone anymore. The stakes have gone up and its become clear to me that this isn't just my battle to win or lose – it concerns all of us.

You see, if I lose my case against the police for abuse of power it will be used as case law and form the basis of a legal precedent giving the police new powers of immunity – something which could be used to curtail civil rights in Canada. It would give new legitimacy to what we know were fundamental civil rights abuses during the G20 summit in Toronto or the so-called 'Maple Spring' student protest in Quebec.

I decided to launch my social media campaign under the catch phrase '1 becomes many' because I believe the rights and liberties of all citizen are violated when agents of the state abuse their powers to breach the civil rights of a single individual.

It is my sincere hope reasonable persons of good character will grasp the intent of my campaign and understand the importance of raising public awareness and financial support for my court case.

Please help any way you can. Spread the word, lend your voice, consider making a donation towards my legal costs. If you have any questions, want to know more, or have any ideas on how to make my campaign more effective, by all means reach out to me.

In the meantime, stay tuned for part 2. From here onwards, your journey down the rabbit hole is going have more than a few unexpected twists and turns.