Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 28 Feb, 2022 01:15 PM
An Ontario court has extended to March 9 a freezing order on funds donated to the recent Ottawa convoy protest, as a class-action civil suit against protest organizers continues.
Parties in the case have agreed to move some donated funds and cryptocurrency into escrow, which could be redistributed to affected Ottawa residents and business owners should the class action succeed.
Norman Groot, a lawyer representing some convoy protest leaders, says ChristopherGarrah, Benjamin Dichter and Nicholas St. Louis have agreed in principle to moving donated funds within their control to an escrow account.
Groot notes the funds that Garrah, Dichter and St. Louis have agreed to move to escrow might not account for all the cryptocurrency that was donated, and he proposed parties meet next week to take stock of what has been transferred.
An escrow agent will oversee the transferred funds, and will be permitted to change the passwords for cryptocurrency.
The class-action lawsuit seeks a total of $306 million in damages related to the three-week anti-government convoy protest near Parliament Hill that snarled traffic, shut businesses and plagued residents with near-constant honking.
The Canadian Armed Forces has been called in to help with recovery efforts in flood-stricken B.C., with the provincial government declaring a state of emergency. The military will provide both air and land support for critical provincial supply chains and in evacuation and rescue efforts.
Repairing the British Columbia highways washed out by heavy rains and flooding will be complicated by the scale of the damage, the terrain and the coming winter, building experts say.
Starting Nov. 22, those wishing to access buildings in the parliamentary precinct, including elected members, will need to be fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
The medical association is also calling on social media companies to address harassment and threats made on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Nicholas Schiavo of the advocacy group No Conversion Canada says he has spoken with the federal government about the new bill, and that it will "leave less room for loopholes."
The cause of the blaze and extent of damage to the vessel wasn’t immediately clear, though the Canadian Joint Operations Command reported there were no injuries. The ship is docked in the Norwegian city of Trondheim for repairs.
