This is a slightly expanded version of the story that appeared in the September BUZZ.
Alayne McGregor
With the class action to compensate Centretowners for what they suffered in the convoy occupation still awaiting certification, 10 occupation participants are trying to claw back some of the funds currently held in escrow.
The participants, including organizer Tamara Lich, are asking for $450,400 to fund their attendance at the Public Order Emergency Commission. According to a CTV News report, their application was filed in Ontario Superior Court on September 2; it says the funds would be used for legal representation at the inquiry, including an unnamed senior counsel at a rate of $350 per hour, plus $83,000 in travel and accommodation costs for them and other witnesses. At press time, a court date was not set.
The commission’s mandate is to examine the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act to end the convoy occupation. Lich and the other participants were granted full standing at the commission as a group along with the organization Freedom 2022 Human Rights and Freedoms. Commissioner Paul Rouleau said they had a “key role in the events that led to the declaration of the emergency,” and could “provide a vantage point that goes beyond an individual Convoy participant or observer and encompasses the organization and leadership of the Convoy.”
None of them asked for funding for expenses from the commission, although they had the right to request this if they otherwise could not attend.
Convoy donations have been frozen by the class action
The money in escrow – about $5.3 million – was donated to support the convoy occupation. It was gathered from two American crowdfunding platforms, plus bank accounts in the names of the organizers, money from a payment processor, and cryptocurrency accounts. It was frozen last spring as part of the class action lawsuit against the convoy occupation and its organizers and major participants, pending the result of the lawsuit.
The class action was filed on behalf of Zexi Li plus Happy Goat Coffee, the Union Local 613 restaurant, and waiter Geoffrey Devaney, by Ottawa lawyer Paul Champ. It seeks damages for those residents and businesses most affected by the incessant honking and engine noise, air pollution, and other effects of the trucks which blocked downtown streets for more than three weeks this winter.
Class action’s lawyer opposes funds release
Champ said he would strongly oppose any release of the funds to the 10 convoy participants. “We don’t think they should get any money from that fund. It wasn’t raised for that purpose and we believe it should continue to be preserved for the residents and businesses of downtown Ottawa who were harmed.”
“At the end of the day, these are people that raised $20 million in a little over four weeks to terrorize the people of downtown Ottawa. Now if they’re facing legal consequences because of their activities, I would suggest they they go back out to those donors and try to raise funds for legal representation.”
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Rights had been representing them thus far, and had promised to represent them at the commission, but now the centre is “reneging on that promise, I guess,” Champ said.
He said that two defendants in the class action, Benjamin Dichter and Christopher Garrah, are also bringing legal motions to obtain funds from the escrow account, in order to pay for legal counsel to defend them in the class action.
Some of the funds in escrow are in cryptocurrency, whose value has dropped substantially this year, he said. $400,000 in bitcoin was seized, and a freezing order was applied to another $700,000 in wallets for which the passwords are unknown.
“Bitcoin has proven to be extremely volatile and it has dropped by more than half, I believe. All those folks who were trying to rely on bitcoin as they invaded our city weren’t quite as smart as they thought they were.”
Adding convoy participant names to the class action
When initially filed by Champ’s law firm, the class action was directed at the four primary organizers of the occupation, plus a series of 60 “John Doe’s” – the actual operators of the trucks. Champ said he will return to court on November 3 to drop the remaining “John Doe’s” and name other defendants instead.
He said a date should be set this fall for the hearing on whether the class action would be certified. That hearing, expected sometime in 2023, determines whether this lawsuit is a valid class action. A trial still must follow to determine the merits of the case.
“Still recovering from what happened in February”
In the last few months, Champ said, he had been interviewing people about their experiences during the occupation. “With some people, it is PTSD. They go right back into the moment, and what they were experiencing second by second. This happened this night and the next morning this happened and then this happened.
“I think the people of Ottawa are still recovering from what happened in February. I think we were all impacted. Some people have tried to compartmentalize it and try to forget about it, but all you need is to hear a loud truck horn and it brings it all back for many people in downtown Ottawa.”
He said he hoped that with the Public Order Emergency Commission proceedings this fall and ultimately the class action, “we will learn more about how these events happened, how and why our authorities and law enforcement failed us so badly, and ultimately hopefully there will be accountability for what happened.”
Ottawa community groups and BIAs granted standing at the federal Public Order Emergency Commission
The Public Order Emergency Commission’s hearings will begin October 13, and are expected to last until November 25. Its final report must be presented by February 20, 2023.
Champ will represent a coalition of Ottawa community associations and business improvement areas at the commission hearings, including the Bank Street and Sparks Street BIAs but not the Centretown or Dalhousie community associations. The commission granted the coalition funding for their legal representation and other costs of participation.
The coalition has asked to participate “with respect to the circumstances leading to the declaration of emergency, lessons learned from the events and how they inform policy and legislative recommendations, and the impact of the Convoy on Ottawa and the police response.”
The commissioner, noting the groups’ long-standing connections to their communities, said they would provide “broad insight into these questions as it represents an extensive number of affected businesses and individuals, encompassing a significant geographical area.”