Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act

[Rick Plant]

Almost $6M in Freedom Convoy money captured as months-long injunction ends

Proposed class-action lawsuit to expand as millions in digital currency still evades authorities



A months-old injunction against Freedom Convoy organizers ended Monday, but the lawyers responsible for muting incessant honking in February are focused on expanding and certifying a proposed class-action lawsuit to ensure Ottawa residents and businesses are compensated.

Lawyers representing Ottawa residents in the proposed lawsuit against convoy protesters successfully argued for a Mareva injunction on Feb. 17, a court order to restrict convoy leaders from "selling, removing, dissipating, alienating, transferring, assigning" up to $20 million in assets raised around the world.

On Monday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Calum MacLeod said the injunction would be dissolved.

MacLeod did keep an escrow order that ensures a third-party agent could continue to hold just more than $5.7 million raised by the convoy protests until lawyers decide what will happen to the money.

Paul Champ, one of the lawyers involved in the proposed class-action lawsuit, originally said a broad net was cast to capture funds from the Freedom Convoy.

"We've gotten most of the funds that we were trying to freeze now," he said.

More money brought into escrow over past month

As of March 30, nearly $2 million in assets were being held by the third party, according to the escrow agent's last official report.

Then on Monday, the court ordered for roughly $3.8 million Cdn raised on the U.S.-based crowdfunding site GiveSendGo to be transferred to escrow.

The site had transferred that money to a Canadian bank account belonging to the not-for-profit corporation created by organizers. Instead the money was held by a payment processing company because of freeze orders put in place in February to prevent the money from being used by protesters.

More than $400,000 Cdn worth of digital currencies was also moved into escrow.

Proposed class-action suit set to move forward

Champ and his team are expected to expand the scope of the proposed class-action lawsuit to include thousands of defendants — including donors and more truck drivers involved — as they seek to reimburse downtown residents and businesses.

Defendants would then file their own materials before the court decides whether to certify the class-action suit.

"We finished our efforts to track and get control of all funds that were donated to support the convoy truckers and that were donated to essentially make it possible for the truckers to continue their occupation of downtown Ottawa and continue the harm of downtown Ottawa," said Champ.

His team hopes the money now in escrow "will hopefully one day go to compensating the people of downtown Ottawa."

Most funds raised for convoy returned to donors

The convoy protest in Ottawa raised more than $20 million total over its three-week stay in the city's downtown.

Tamara Lich, the convoy leader who had access to a significant amount of money through her role in organizing the protest — for which she has since been charged — helped raise nearly $10.1 million before donations were suspended.

The website used to raise that money, GoFundMe, then returned most of those funds to the original donors as of Feb. 5, the company said.

The almost $1.4 million that remained in Lich's possession was then transferred into escrow.

Two fundraisers launched on GiveSendGo raised more than $12 million and during a March 9 court appearance, GiveSendGo co-founder and chief financial officer Jacob Wells said donations would be returned to donors.

When asked by CBC, the company refused to disclose the total amount reimbursed.

Most of the digital currency raised as part of convoy fundraisers — 20.7 bitcoins (worth almost $1.1 million Cdn) — continues to evade authorities.

Authorities are believed to be monitoring the remaining bitcoins but it remains unclear if they will be successful in capturing them.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/freedom-convoy-injunction-ends-money-captured-1.6438103

[Rick Plant]

Crowdfunding platforms now required to report transactions, after truck convoy protests

Government says crowdfunding platforms are an emerging risk for terrorist financing

Canada has become one of the first countries in the world to require online crowdfunding platforms to report to its anti-money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, government officials told a special committee examining the truck convoy protest and the steps the government took to end it.

Finance department officials said new regulations went into effect last week, adding crowdfunding platforms and some payment processing companies to the list of companies obliged to report large or suspicious transactions to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, Canada's financial intelligence unit.

Barry MacKillop, deputy director of intelligence for FINTRAC, said the regulations close a gap that could be exploited.

"Certainly, I do believe that having them as subject to the Proceeds of Crime, Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing Act would at the very least act as a deterrent for anyone who might want to use a crowdfunding platform to advance nefarious activities," MacKillop told MPs and senators on the committee set up to examine the government's use of the Emergencies Act.

Millions raised on GoFundMe, GiveSendGo

Julian Brazeau, director general of the Finance department's financial crimes and security division, said to his knowledge Canada is the first country to require crowdfunding platforms to report transactions to a body like FINTRAC.

The move means that some large donations over $10,000 to Canadian fundraising campaigns hosted by online crowdfunding companies like GoFundMe or GiveSendGo, or which the platform thinks may be suspicious, could now be reported to FINTRAC and then potentially be flagged to police.

GoFundMe, which hosted the initial multi-million dollar crowdfunding campaign for the Ottawa truck convoy protest, said it believes "responsible action is core to social fundraising" and it will follow the new regulations.

"GoFundMe will continue to collaborate and cooperate as new regulations are put in place," said spokesperson Meghan Weltman.

GiveSendGo — which raised millions for the convoy protest after GoFundMe shut down the fundraiser because it feared it might violate its terms of service — has not yet responded to questions from CBC News.

The power of crowdfunding companies to raise money was in the spotlight earlier this year after organizers of the truck convoy protest — which paralyzed downtown Ottawa for three weeks and blocked various border crossings — successfully raised millions of dollars from donors both from Canada and abroad.

The government first required crowdfunding platforms to report to FINTRAC as part of the Emergency Economic Measures Order it adopted when it invoked the Emergencies Act to resolve the truck convoy protest. When the declaration of an emergency was revoked, that requirement ended. However, the government telegraphed plans to require crowdfunding platforms to report to FINTRAC in its budget last month, then published new regulations April 27 in The Canada Gazette.

Financial Action Task Force has identified crowdfunding platforms "as an emerging area of risk for terrorist financing."

That crowdfunding platforms weren't required to report certain transactions to FINTRAC presents "a serious and immediate risk to the security of Canadians and to the Canadian economy," it wrote.

"This risk was highlighted in early 2022, when illegal blockades took place across Canada that were financed, in part, through crowdfunding platforms and payment service providers. Allowing these gaps to continue represents a risk to the integrity and stability of the financial sector and the broader economy, as well as a reputational risk for Canada."

New regulations

The regulations will introduce a number of new requirements for crowdfunding platforms.

"Obligations include registration with FINTRAC, reporting requirements (including suspicious transactions and large value transactions), record keeping, customer due diligence and developing a compliance program," the government wrote.

The regulations include transactions in both traditional and virtual money like cryptocurrencies and "apply to domestic entities, as well as foreign entities when they direct their services to Canadians."

The government said approximately 1,000 crowdfunding platforms and additional payment processors will now have to report to FINTRAC. It estimates it will cost the platforms a total of $18-$20 million over the next 10 years in administrative and compliance costs.

Much of Tuesday evening's committee hearing focused on the Emergency Act provisions that resulted in 280 bank accounts or other financial accounts being frozen for several days. MPs and senators peppered the officials from the finance department and FINTRAC with questions, wanting to know why it was done and how it was carried out. Conservative MP Glen Motz said the move has shaken the trust of many Canadians in the government and Canada's banks.

Assistant deputy minister Isabelle Jacques said the measure was adopted to stop money from flowing to the protest and dissuade protesters from remaining on Parliament Hill. Once they left the protest, their accounts were unfrozen, with all of the accounts unfrozen by Feb. 24. Jacques pointed out that it was up to financial institutions to decide which accounts should be frozen, based on information provided by the RCMP.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/convoy-finance-crowdfunding-fintrac-1.6440671

[Rick Plant]

Freedom Convoy protesters struggling to get seized items back from police

Several Freedom Convoy protesters say thousands of dollars of items seized during February's enforcement efforts are unaccounted for, and that getting back those items that are in police possession has been a laborious process.

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) says they received 41 items from the city during the clean-up of the protests, which disrupted life in Ottawa's downtown for roughly three weeks earlier this year.

Items in the force's possession include generators, barbecues and space heaters that helped fuel and feed protesters in the city's core.

They're being stored at OPS's evidence control facility in the city's southeast. Police say six items have been returned to their owners, but 35 remain unclaimed.

"As with any property, the owner can provide proof of ownership to retrieve their item," OPS said in a statement. "Receipts, serial numbers, and photos of items are acceptable means of identifying the property."

According to some of the protesters, many of the items collected during the clean-up were either newly purchased or donated to the convoy participants.

David Paisley, who became a de-facto Freedom Convoy organizer during the protests and remains a celebrity among supporters due to his popular social media channel, Live From the Shed, said he's tried unsuccessfully to get back roughly $1,000 worth of banners he had made.

Paisley was arrested during the police enforcement — he essentially lived on Wellington Street throughout the protests and had a live feed going during his arrest — but was never charged.

When he went to retrieve his items, police asked him for the name of his arresting officer and a case number, Paisley said.

Paisley said he wasn't provided with any documentation containing that information, meaning he's come up short in his efforts to retrieve the signs — which he says hold both sentimental and monetary value.

"As best we can tell, everything was kind of thrown in trailers and taken out of there as quick as possible," he said, adding there didn't appear to be any system in place to track where seized items were being taken.

"Time was the overarching priority, so everything was very rushed."

Ben Froese operated a crane that flew a Canadian flag and was parked almost directly in front of Parliament Hill during the majority of the protests.

Froese said police caused roughly $2,500 worth of damage to his truck's cable during the enforcement action, and the location of the flag — one of the more memorable images from the protests — remains unknown.

"I still haven't heard if it was actually taken somewhere as evidence," he said. "My flag is still a big question mark as to what they did with it, if they just threw it out to the garbage, I don't know."

Not seized as evidence, says OPS

It's unclear where flags and other items that were seized ended up.

According to OPS, it received no tents, tables or chairs from the city. It's believed city officials — and possibly private contractors — responsible for cleaning the streets post-police action threw things out.

Police say none of the items in its possession were seized as evidence and they aren't waiting for a judge's order to release them.

"If they truly only have 41 items in their possession, then either a significant amount of items were thrown out, or there's some contractor somewhere sitting on a large number of items," said Paisley.

Karl Douville helped operate the Coventry Road camp and estimates thousands of litres of fuel, straw bales and other items were removed.

"It's an incredible amount of stuff. There's tens of thousands of materials there, if not hundreds of thousands of material there, that was taken off Wellington," he said.

Douville said he's co-ordinating with other organizers to create an inventory of unaccounted items, in the hopes of getting them back.

"There's a lot of stuff that shouldn't have been taken," he said, adding there were teams of people who tried to clean up during the enforcement — but police didn't allow it."

'There needs to be a fair system'

In its statement, police said they "actively worked to identify property owners" and that in some cases, items marked with a name and phone number allowed them to do that.

Organizers are contemplating searching city dumps to see if they can retrieve things like extension cords, power bars, chairs and tables that they believe were thrown out.

They also hope police will release the items so that they can ensure they're returned to their rightful owners.

Paisley said there's an expectation property will be protected by police and noted most of the people involved in the Freedom Convoy — including himself – haven't been charged with or found guilty of any crime.

"There needs to be a fair system for getting that property back. Unless there's some kind of justification for why those items are still in police possession, it seems inappropriate," he said.

"They seem to be wanting to be claiming due process now, but they skipped all the due process before. So to expect us to have receipts and proof of everything when they just came in and scooped it all up — it doesn't seem to be a fair trade-off."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/freedom-convoy-protesters-struggling-to-get-back-seized-items-from-police-1.6445709

[Rick Plant]

Great news!

Canada’s ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizer charged with perjury, obstruction of justice

One of the organizers of Canada’s trucker convoy protest has been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, the Canadian Press reported.

Pat King was charged with three counts of each on Tuesday, adding to the 10 charges he already faces for his role in the protest against COVID-19 restrictions, including mischief, intimidation, obstructing police and disobeying a court order.

King was arrested on Feb. 18 and was denied bail on Feb. 25.

The Epoch Times noted that King is the last of the high-profile Canadian protesters to be arrested and charged.

Police in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa began arresting people involved in the protest, dubbed the “Freedom Convoy,” in mid-February. The protests, which went on for three weeks, disrupted the city and led police to block off sections of Ottawa.

A spokesperson for another organizer, Tamara Lich, slammed her arrest, calling it “absolutely baseless and a disgrace to any liberal democracy, although not a surprise.”

A similar protest in the U.S., the “People’s Convoy,” caused chaos in Washington, D.C., last month before heading to California.

https://thehill.com/news/3273549-canadas-freedom-convoy-organizer-charged-with-perjury-obstruction-of-justice/

[Rick Plant]

Canada's Trucker Protests Have a New Political Champion
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/11/world/canada/trucker-convoy-protest-conservatives.html

[Rick Plant]

Jean Charest says convoy “laid siege” to Ottawa and Pierre Poilievre “appeals to the fringe minority”
https://tnc.news/2022/05/14/jean-charest-says-convoy-laid-siege-to-ottawa-and-pierre-poilievre-appeals-to-the-fringe-minority/

[Rick Plant]

CSIS was concerned about extremist violence, recruitment amid Freedom Convoy: top spy

Head of RCMP says she does not believe the Ottawa protests were a failure of police


Police enforce an injunction against protesters, some who had been camped in their trucks near Parliament Hill for weeks, on Feb. 19. A few days earlier the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, giving it temporary powers to deal with the blockades and protests against pandemic restrictions. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

Canada's spy agency was concerned extremists might commit violence and recruit members when the Freedom Convoy rolled into Ottawa earlier this year, its director told lawmakers on Tuesday night.

But David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), said he could not provide specific examples, citing classified intelligence.

"We have seen a number of individuals, who were of concern to CSIS prior to the convoy, being engaged online and also in person in the context of the convoy," Vigneault said while testifying before a special joint committee investigating the invocation of the Emergencies Act in February, in response to the protests that occupied blocks of downtown Ottawa for weeks.

"The concern we had with the convoy, at the outset and throughout, was the fact that we have seen in Canada, in other jurisdictions, violent extremists using these protests and demonstrations to engage in acts of violence, to recruit members, to be able to spread their ideology further,

CSIS was also concerned about the risk of lone actors, who would "be engaged in violence spontaneously," Vigneault said.

"This is what we were focusing our activities during the convoy and providing information to law enforcement."

The never-before-used law gave temporary powers to deal with the blockades and protests against pandemic restrictions. It defines a qualifying emergency as something that "arises from threats to the security of Canada."

Vigneault said every day the agency is uncovering and investigating threats to the security of Canada, including "a rise in anti-authority, violent rhetoric, particularly as it relates to public health measures."

He said CSIS was aware of the "opportunities that large gatherings and protest" offer for violence and recruitment to ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE), a broad term used by the agency to cover various grievances including those from far-right, anti-authority and anti-government, and racist groups.

One of the concerns for the agency was a memorandum of understanding issued by Canada Unity, one of the groups organizing the convoy, calling on the Governor General and the Senate of Canada to form a new government with the protesters themselves.

"Our assessment of the manifesto was obviously something of concern," said Vigneault.

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki told the committee the Mounties provided additional protective protection to Gov. Gen. Mary Simon because of the MOU.

Not a policing failure: RCMP commissioner

The Emergencies Act authorized a ban on travel to protest zones, prohibited people from bringing minors to unlawful assemblies and allowed banks to freeze the accounts of some of those involved in the protests. It also enabled the RCMP to enforce municipal bylaws and provincial offences where required.

At the time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argued its use was necessary to address "serious challenges to law enforcement's ability to effectively enforce the law."

But that reasoning has been questioned by the opposition and other critics who have asked whether other measures, including policing tactics, could have been used.

Lucki said she involved in conversations about triggering the act a week before it was invoked on Feb. 14, but that she never asked for it.

Pressed repeatedly about why police couldn't act sooner, Lucki said the act gave her officers, and those of the Ottawa police, different enforcement abilities — like compelling tow trucks to help move vehicles.

"This was a different type of protest where people weren't leaving," she said.

Senator questions policing decisions

She said she didn't think the event was a failure in policing, despite several senators and MPs on the committee suggesting the opposite.

"In my view, the actions by police prior to the invocation of the act demonstrated a series of police failures, not willful failures, but the inability of police to contain and act appropriately in reducing the occupation here in Ottawa," said Sen. Peter Harder.

"I find it surprising that you would say that there has been no failure of policing in respect of these incidences."

Tuesday's committee is separate from an inquiry, led by former Ontario Superior Court justice Paul Rouleau, that will look into into the events that led to the Emergencies Act being invoked and make recommendations.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/csis-rcmp-convoy-violence-1.6448734

[Rick Plant]

She broke the law....lock her up!

Crown wants Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich returned to jail to await trial

Crown prosecutors want Ottawa protest organizer Tamara Lich sent back to jail to await trial, claiming she breached her bail conditions by agreeing to participate in an event next month where she will receive a “Freedom Award.”

In an application filed in advance of Lich’s bail review hearing, the Crown claims she violated the court-imposed condition that she not express support for anything related to the Freedom Convoy movement she led in Ottawa earlier this year.

At a gala organized by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) scheduled for June 16, Lich will be given the “George Jonas Freedom Award” to recognize her participation in the protest that gridlocked Ottawa’s downtown for more than three weeks.

Lich was arrested in Ottawa in February after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act. She was charged with multiple offences related to the protest, including mischief and obstructing a peace officer  Her initial bail request was denied but that decision was reversed after a bail review.

After spending 18 days in jail, she was released on March 7th under conditions that require her to reside in Alberta and not travel to Ontario except for court appearance or to meet with counsel.

or by any other means, support anything related to the Freedom Convoy.”

The Toronto gala will feature a keynote speech by columnist Rex Murphy, with VIP tickets selling for $500. Two other galas are scheduled for Calgary and Vancouver this summer.

Promotional material for the events says Lich “inspired Canadians to exercise their Charter rights and freedoms by participating actively in the democratic process,” calling the occupation of Ottawa a “peaceful protest” that awakened many to the “injustice” of COVID lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

Unless her bail conditions are revised, Lich would not be able to attend the events in person.

“Tamara Lich has continued her support of the Convoy cause with the assistance of Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms,” the Crown’s application says.

The Crown also alleges that the Calgary-based JCCF, a registered charity that has led legal challenges of COVID measures, has a “collaborative and representative” relationship with Lich. The application says JCCF lawyer Keith Wilson referred to Lich as “the spark that lit this fire” and on one occasion identified her as his client.

Wilson and other JCCF lawyers attended the Ottawa protest and spoke on the behalf of Lich and other organizers at a press conference. They also posted videos on social media supporting the protest.

The Crown’s application notes that the organization hired a private investigator to follow a Manitoba judge presiding over the JCCF’s legal challenge of provincial lockdown mandates for churches last year.

The Crown also argues that the judge who granted Lich bail made several errors of law and asks that his decision be overturned, sending her back to detention.

The application will be heard in an Ottawa court on Thursday and Friday.

At the same hearing, Lich will ask the court to change the bail conditions that restrict her social media use and prevent her from travelling to Ontario.

Lich’s lawyer in the criminal matter, Lawrence Greenspon, declined to comment on the Crown’s application.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/crown-wants-freedom-convoy-organizer-tamara-lich-returned-to-jail-to-await-trial-1.5908985