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.
There are 612 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 102 are in intensive care. In the past 24 hours, nine new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,840.
British Columbia's environment minister says the province can't afford to wait any longer to confront climate change after last year's devastating fires, floods, slides and heat waves. George Heyman says last year delivered the message that the time to address climate change is now.
Demonstrations have been planned in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver today to denounce the Russian military strike against Ukraine, and the Canada-Ukraine Foundation has launched a fundraiser for humanitarian aid.
The new sanctions will target 58 people and entities connected to Russia, including members of that country's elite and their families, the paramilitary organization known as the Wagner Group and major Russian banks.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday the extraordinary, time-limited powers would be pulled back now that the immediate crisis is over. They were brought in last week to respond to protests and blockades against COVID-19 restrictions and the Liberal government.
One of the occupants of the SUV tried pulling her inside the vehicle and stealing her purse. The suspect or suspects then fled in this vehicle after their attempt was unsuccessful.
