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Ottawa Freedom Convoy Overview:
- Who: Ottawa is getting back to normal after the final ‘Freedom Convoy’ protestors were cleared out, with organizers and others now faced with a $306 million class action lawsuit.
- Why: Ottawa residents claim the Freedom Convoy protestors and organizers violated their rights — including by constantly honking truck horns — during their nearly-three week occupation of the city center.
- Where: The Freedom Convoy was in Ottawa.
Ottawa is attempting to return to normal after more-than three weeks of “Freedom Convoy” protests left city streets packed with demonstrators and roads blocked by trucks.
What began as a group of truckers protesting COVID-19 vaccination requirements for crossing between the US-Canada border grew last month into a larger demonstration against pandemic restrictions imposed by the government.
It took Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoking the Emergency Act for the first time in the country’s history for the Freedom Convoy to finally be cleared out of Canada’s capital city.
The move allowed the government to do more to help end the protests, including the ability to freeze the bank accounts of key organizers and others accused of financially supporting the demonstration.
Trudeau would rescind the Emergency Act only days later after the Freedom Convoy had been effectively cleared out of the capital, reports the Christian Science Monitor.
Protestors had angered local residents by blaring their truck horns, blocking roads and bridges, and causing general mayhem in Ottawa’s city center.
Residents File Class Action Lawsuit Against Freedom Convoy
Residents responded by filing a class action lawsuit against the Freedom Convoy and its organizers, some of whom were eventually arrested for their part in the protest.
Ottawa residents, led by 21-year-old Zexi Li, claimed the protestors were violating their rights by engaging in harassing behavior and constantly honking their truck horns
The class action lawsuit, which initially asked for $9.8 million damages, grew to $306 million after a number of new defendants were added and the radius of affected individuals was expanded.
Residents were also at-one-point granted a temporary restraining order barring protestors from blaring their trunk horns, though the effectiveness of the order was later brought into question.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson at one point declared a state of emergency in response to the protest, which he said at the time was a “serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents.”
The Freedom Convoy garnered international attention, including from the US government, which at one point implored the Canadian government to do more to end the demonstration, as it began having an effect on its economy as well.
Protestors had blockaded multiple US-Canada border crossings during the demonstration, including the Emerson crossing — which connects Manitoba and North Dakota — and the Ambassador Bridge, which was closed for nearly a week despite normally being the busiest of all border crossings between the two countries.
The blockades — and the protest in general — cost Canada hundreds of millions of dollars each day when taking into account lost wages, international trade, and other issues stemming directly from the demonstration.
Were you affected by the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa? Let us know in the comments!
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