Two lawsuits were launched this week by victims of Justin Trudeau's invocation of the Emergencies Act, which a Federal Court recently found to be unconstitutional.
Freedom Convoy Organizers Launch $2 Million Lawsuit Against Federal Government Over Charter Violations | Epoch Times | Matthew Horwood:
February 15, 2024 - "The main organizers of the Freedom Convoy have launched a new $2 million lawsuit against the federal government on the two-year anniversary of the Emergencies Act being invoked, claiming that Ottawa violated their Charter rights when invoking the act to end the demonstrations.... According to lawyer Keith Wilson, organizers [Tmara] Lich, Chris Barber, Tom Marazzo, Danny Bulford, and 'other protestors who were targeted by Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland' submitted lawsuits on Feb. 13. The lawsuits are being done in a mass tort form, meaning each claim is being brought forth individually and settlements will be given out on a case-by-case basis.
"The Freedom Convoy protest was started as a response to a mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccination for truck drivers crossing the Canada–U.S. border, and resulted in vehicles converging in the nation’s capital. The protest evolved into a larger movement against pandemic mandates and restrictions, with similar protests being held at several Canada–U.S. border crossings. To end the protests, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, which gave law enforcement expanded powers to arrest demonstrators, freeze the bank accounts of some protestors, and require towing companies to remove protesters’ vehicles from Ottawa’s downtown core.
"In a Statement of Claim for Mr. Marazzo filed in the Ontario Superior Court Justice, which was obtained by The Epoch Times, he says his bank accounts and credit cards were frozen on Feb. 15, 2022.... The Statement of Claim accuses the Canadian government of interfering with the plaintiff’s Section 8 Charter Rights, which deal with unreasonable search and seizure. It claims Ottawa did not have lawful authority to issue the EO and freeze Mr. Marazzo’s bank account. The document also accuses the federal government of Interference with an Economic Interest of the Plaintiff by compelling third-party financial services to deny banking and credit card services to Mr. Marazzo; committing Abuse of Process by barring him from financial services; committing the Tort of Intimidation by forcing him to comply with demands; and committing the tort of Misfeasance of Public Office by exceeding their powers as public officials.
"The lawsuits come weeks after a Jan. 23 ruling by Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley, who wrote that the Liberal government’s use of the Emergencies Act did 'not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness—justification, transparency and intelligibility—and was not justified in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints that were required to be taken into consideration. Justice Mosley ruled that invocation of the act infringed the Charter’s Section 2(b), which deals with “freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression,” and Section 8, which deals with the 'right to be secure against unreasonable search seizure.' He also ruled that the freezing of protestors’ bank accounts was 'not minimally impairing,' as the measure applied everywhere in Canada—including in areas where no protests were occurring—and because there were “less impairing alternatives available” to Ottawa."
Trudeau Govt, Police & Banks Being Sued Over Emergencies Act } Clyde Do Something | February 15, 2024:
Convoy Protesters Whose Bank Accounts Were Frozen Launch Lawsuit Against Feds, Banks | Epoch Times | Matthew Horwood:
February 15, 2024 - "Numerous Freedom Convoy protesters who had their bank accounts frozen after the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act have filed a tort lawsuit against federal ministers and financial institutions behind the decision.... 'It’s what we had to do. The people that are in it, are not in it for the money. It’s the principle. They have to be held to account, every last one of them,\ said Eddie Cornell, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
"Loberg Ector LLP commenced the proceedings in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on behalf of 20 plaintiffs on Feb. 14, which is exactly two years after Ottawa invoked the Emergencies Act to deal with the trucker protest.... A Feb. 14 press release claims the plaintiffs are seeking relief from the “unjustified and unconstitutional actions” of the federal government, financial institutions that followed the federal directive to freeze bank accounts, and police agencies that helped bring the protest to an end.
"Mr. Cornell, who co-founded the group Veterans 4 Freedom, told The Epoch Times that Canadians who had their accounts frozen were chosen as plaintiffs because their cases are easier to prove in court. 'With other people, for example, that were ... shot with tear gas and that sort of thing, it’s a much bigger litigation, it takes much longer, and much more evidence has to be gathered. So we had to go with something that is provable beyond a doubt, he said. Mr. Cornell was one of five plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the federal government that resulted in Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley’s ruling in their favour on Jan. 23....
"According to the Statement of Claim, all plaintiffs are individuals or businesses who had their financial accounts and private property frozen, including banking, credit cards, and cryptocurrency. It adds that not all plaintiffs participated in the Freedom Convoy, and some had joint accounts frozen despite never having been in Ottawa. The lawsuit also lists the Canadian Anti-Hate Network as a defendant, arguing that the organization provided 'false information to several other defendants and media organizations designed to harm the plaintiffs' and that its statements led to the Emergencies Act being invoked. The lawsuit seeks general and special damages of up to $1.16 million for each plaintiff for various charges such as injurious falsehoods, defamation, harassment, intimidation, Charter breaches, and 'high-handed misconduct.'”
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