Twenty plaintiffs heavily embroiled in the 2022 Freedom Convoy, have initiated a legal battle against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other high-ranking members of his cabinet, at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
The lawsuit results from the government’s decision to freeze their financial assets under the measures of the Emergencies Act—an act which they feel breached their Charter rights.
The list of defendants includes not only Trudeau, but names such as Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, former ministers Marco Mendicino and David Lametti, ex-RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki, acting Ottawa Police commissioner Steve Bell, and numerous banks across Canada. The lawsuit, lodged by the Calgary-based Loberg Ector LLP, calls for a total of $2.2 million in compensation for each plaintiff.
We obtained a copy of the complaint for you here.
The defendants are accused of malicious and high-handed misconduct, breaching contractual agreements, and committing an “assault and battery” on the plaintiffs by unlawfully seizing their bank accounts. These actions, the plaintiffs argue, violate section 2(b) and section 8 Charter rights, which protect their freedom of expression and safeguard against unauthorized search and seizure.
Text exchanges between Ben Chin and Tyler Meredith, senior advisers to the Prime Minister, reveal that the seizure of Freedom Convoy assets was planned as early as early February of 2022 when the Prime Minister’s Office started applying pressure on banks to do so.
Even given the political context, concerted efforts of banks and insurers to resist making moves against their clients were recorded. These exchanges were admitted into the Public Order Emergency Commission as evidence since the commission evaluates the appropriateness of invoking the Emergencies Act in situations like convoy protests.
In mid-February, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act and, without a warrant, the bank accounts of convoy supporters were seized during their peaceful protest against extreme COVID mandates. At that same time, then-justice minister David Lametti declared the Emergencies Act a justified measure to dissolve the “illegal blockades.”
The lawsuit’s claim statement characterizes the violation of the Freedom Convoy’s constitutional rights by the use of emergency powers as “one of the largest and most egregious collective breaches of Charter rights in Canadian history.” According to an access-to-information request, assets amounting to $7.8. million from 267 bank accounts and 170 Bitcoin wallets of convoy supporters were seized in 2022.
The lawsuit seeks not only financial compensation but also legal affirmation that the defendants committed an illegal act by ordering the seizure of bank accounts.
