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 ire of Ottawa residents about traffic gridlock, the incessant blare of truck horns, harassment of service workers and fouling of property has sparked questions concerning the role of police in ensuring public order.
The federal government introduced legislation on Monday to continue providing as many rapid tests as possible to the provinces and territories. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos introduced the bill in the House of Commons on MPs' first day back after a six-week break.
Assistant Chief Ken Gemmill says crews were called to the highrise around 6 a.m., finding flames and smoke coming from a fourth-floor unit with a man still inside.
Brad West said the citizens of Port Coquitlam revere Fox and don't support anyone using his image to make political statements that Fox would not have supported.
There are currently 27,454 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 293,124 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 1,048 COVID-positive individuals are currently in hospital and 138 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
A 26-year old man was attacked with a machete while sleeping inside Gastown's Colonial Hotel on Friday. The attack left the man with two partially severed fingers and knife wounds to his left knee.
