A lawyer representing Freedom Convoy participants is arguing for the dismissal of a $290 million class-action lawsuit against convoy organizers and protestors, saying that the inclusion of donors in the lawsuit would have a “profound chilling effect” on political donations.
“What we’re talking about is fundamentally important political expression in the sense of donating money to a cause weighed against the value of allowing a very tenuous claim... And so this is going to create, potentially, a profound chilling effect on political donations in the future,” Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) lawyer James Manson argued at the Ottawa Courthouse on Dec. 14.
“Who would donate money to a cause knowing that they could be saddled with indeterminant liability for things that happened at a protest that they have no idea about?”
Back in February 2022, Ottawa residents Zexi Li and Geoffrey Delaney, Happy Goat Coffee Company, and Union 613 launched a lawsuit against Freedom Convoy organizers Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, as well as other convoy participants.
The lawsuit also names the thousands of people who donated money to the Freedom Convoy online who “knew or ought to have known that the protest was participating in illegal activities and substantially interfering with residents, businesses and workers in downtown Ottawa.”
Damage Claims
Mr. Manson argued that the lawsuit against the protest participants contained numerous factual errors and legal weaknesses. Mr. Manson took issue with the lawsuit’s claim that the parked vehicles made it “impossible or almost impossible for other vehicles to pass through the downtown Ottawa core.”Mr. Manson also said the claim that protestors’ vehicles were idling 24 hours a day was an “unfair characterization.” He cited cross-examination from trucker and protestor Harold Jonker, who said trucks did not need to run all night because many had bunk heaters to keep their occupants warm.
“We’re not disputing the fact that there were there were trucks idling downtown, it’s that they were not idling 24 hours a day,” he said. “I think the main point of all of our evidence and all of the allegations is simply to say that this is really a gross exaggeration of what was going on with respect to the trucks running.”
Mr. Manson also said for the public nuisance claim in the lawsuit, the citizens must have suffered uniquely, and the damages must not have only been monetary in nature.
“The only thing that [Happy Goat Coffee] is claiming is loss of profits, which is the same as every other restaurant or business,” he said.
“To be a little bit tongue in cheek, nobody is suggesting that a semi-truck drove through the restaurant window and ended up in the lobby. Maybe we could talk if that were the case. So the point is simply that there’s no special damage, and in my submission that is a serious problem.”
