'Freedom Convoy' lawsuit expands to include more Ottawa residents, new defendants
CTV
A proposed class-action lawsuit over the 'Freedom Convoy' has expanded to include more potential downtown Ottawa plaintiffs and added more defendants.
A proposed class-action lawsuit over the 'Freedom Convoy' has expanded to include more potential downtown Ottawa plaintiffs and added more defendants.
In a decision Monday, an Ontario court judge rejected an attempt by Freedom Convoy organizers to quash an updated version of the lawsuit against them and will allow the potential class-action claim to proceed.
“There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the plaintiffs seeking remedies against the defendants who were involved in one way or another with the activities of the ‘Freedom Convoy’ and their ‘occupation’ of downtown Ottawa,” wrote Justice Calum MacLeod of the Ontario Superior Court.
His ruling rejected a motion from lawyers for some convoy organizers to strike an amended statement of claim.
That amendment filed by lawyer Paul Champ expands the boundary of potential plaintiffs to include much of Ottawa’s Lowertown neighbourhood.
The so-called "occupation zone" also includes the Rideau Centre shopping mall, which shut down during the protest, putting many employees temporarily out of work. Champ said the new boundaries now include 15,000 residents as potential plaintiffs.
The lawsuit against the organizers of the protest that occupied the city for three weeks in January and February 2022 seeks at least $290 million in damages. The lawsuit alleges residents were harmed by constant horn honking and diesel fumes, and that businesses and their workers lost income during the three-week protest in January and February last year.
