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.
A dispute resolution panel has agreed that tariffs on Canadian-made solar products imposed in 2018 by former president Donald Trump violated the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Pat King, an influential organizer, appeared in a video streamed live on Facebook Monday, hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was invoking the Emergencies Act in hopes of bringing an end to the protests.
- Canada's foreign affairs minister says the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine remains high as cyberattacks undermined earlier optimism Tuesday that the Kremlin might be drawing down its military forces.
People will be allowed to dance and mingle in public spaces starting at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday but masks and the COVID-19 vaccine card will still be required at organized gatherings like weddings and sports tournaments.
The female suspect, a 29-year-old from Surrey, was released at the scene pending further investigation. The male, a 44-year-old from Langley, was found to be breaching his curfew conditions and was held in custody.
Travellers can instead opt for a rapid antigen test approved by the country in which it is purchased. However, Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said rapid tests will have to be administered by a laboratory or health care entity.