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.
That's when restrictions were set to expire, but Dr. Bonnie Henry said last week that they believed COVID-19 hospitalizations were expected to spike after cases within the community had peaked.
There are 35,985 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 257,677 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 819 COVID-positive individuals are in hospital and 99 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
The small meteorite broke through a woman's ceiling in Golden, B.C., in October, landing on her pillow, next to where she had been sleeping moments earlier.
Horgan posted the update on Twitter, saying he is "so grateful" for the compassion and professionalism of the BC Cancer team and health workers across the province who are under incredible strain right now.
Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray could not immediately be reached for comment but said last month she plans to ensure the decision to phase out 19 open-net pen farms from the Discovery Islands is carried on to completion.
Toronto police have also increased patrols around synagogues and other Jewish community buildings, although they have said there is no known threat at this time.
