BC family’s ‘incoherent’ conspiracy theory dismissed by court
A BC family that took the government to court arguing it had a secret stash of money earmarked for them since birth has learnt that following conspiracy theories can be costly.
Justice Gordon Weatherill called their claim "incoherent, unintelligible nonsense" in a recently published May 5 BC Supreme Court decision.
The decision says husband and wife Jason and Nadia Zimmer, along with their daughter Taliyah Zimmer, launched the case arguing their birth certificates confirm their entitlement to "property" that the government has been holding from them since their birth.
"We are here to get our property vested," Jason Zimmer told the court.
The decision says the Zimmers followed an "extremely peculiar" idea put forward by conspiracy theorists which claim that each person is associated with a secret government bank account which contains millions of dollars. The theory goes that this system was set up after governments abandoned the gold standard monetary system.
Followers believe that the secret bank account is in some way linked to a number on a birth certificate or Social Insurance Number.
READ MORE: B.C. 'freeman' gets one year in jail for contempt of court
The Zimmer family argued in court they wanted this money, which was redeemable upon presentation of their birth certificates.
Justice Weatherill didn't agree, calling their theory "completely devoid of merit."
The decision says the courts have labelled such litigants as Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments, often referred to as Freeman on the Land.
The Zimmers said they "never consented to being governed" and argued that the government's lawyers were "third-party interlopers" who had no right to represent the government.
"He did so without evidence or authority," the justice said.
While the Zimmers were going after a secret stash of cash, the attempt will actually cost them money.
Justice Weatherill said their "incoherent, unintelligible nonsense" was "supported by equally incoherent and unintelligible affidavits," calling the family's legal action "frivolous and vexatious."
The justice then dismissed the case and ordered the family to pay the court costs in full.
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