Johnston has been criminally charged for promoting hatred against Muslims. The largest ever cyber defamation award in Canada was awarded against Johnston for anti-Muslim hate speech. He did not pay any of the $2.5 million in damages and continued to engage in "unrelenting hate speech" according to the court. Consequently, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison (Paramount Fine Foods v. Johnston). He was also found to have made "more than outrageous" statements about and threats towards Alberta public health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic (in Paramount Fine Foods v. Johnston). He was also sentenced to an additional 4 months in prison for an unrelated contempt conviction for defamation. In an attempt to evade these prison sentences, Johnston unsuccessfully tried to cross the Canada-US border in freezing temperatures. He continues to make content about Canada but has moved to Panama. For $150, you can book a 60 minute call with him to be counselled on how to move your wealth to Latin America. Johnston finished 2nd in the 2018 Mississauga mayoral campaign (13.5% - up from 11th with 0.5% of the vote in 2014); 9th in Calgary in 2021 (0.4%). His content is often explicitly anti-LGBTQ+, anti-Muslim and racist.