Convoy class action claim increased to $306M as downtown restaurateurs join lawsuit

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Convoy class action claim increased to $306M as downtown restaurateurs join lawsuit The lawsuit also names donors who gave money through GiveSendGo, the alternate fundraising platform organizers turned to when GoFundMe shut them down. Photo by Tony Caldwell / Postmedia

Article content A class action lawsuit against the “Freedom Convoy” in downtown Ottawa has added 31 new named defendants and ballooned to a $306-million claim for the disruption to lives and livelihoods from the now three-week old occupation.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Convoy class action claim increased to $306M as downtown restaurateurs join lawsuit Back to video The claim has also expanded to include anyone who donated to the convoy after Feb. 4, the day the organizers’ initial GoFundMe campaign was cancelled when the fundraising platform said it had evidence “that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity.” Two prominent downtown restaurant owners and a ByWard market server who’s been out of work since the demonstration began have also added their names as plaintiffs, alongside 21-year-old Zexi Li. Henry Assad, owner of the Happy Goat, and Ivan Gedz of Union Local 613, joined the lawsuit along with server Geoffrey Devaney. Photo by Screen shot / Zoom The amended lawsuit was announced at a Thursday morning media conference by Ottawa lawyer Paul Champ, who on Wednesday successfully extended an injunction to silence demonstrators’ truck horns for another 60 days.

Article content Champ said private investigators had been gathering information about the trucks at the demonstration, logging licence plates and tracing owners through provincial registries. “It’s time to stop,” Champ said. “All the individual truckers who are still in downtown Ottawa, still causing mayhem, still causing chaos, still causing disruption to the residents and businesses of downtown Ottawa, it’s time to go home. And when you get home, I strongly recommend you get independent legal advice. Don’t listen anymore to the organizers. You’ve been led down a path that, unfortunately, is going to cause you some serious financial consequences.” The lawsuit also names donors who gave money through GiveSendGo, the alternate fundraising platform organizers turned to when GoFundMe shut them down.

Article content “Anyone who has materially contributed financially to the continuing occupation of downtown Ottawa knew what they were doing. Particularly the people who contributed to GiveSendGo who by that time knew the unlawful behaviour of the convoy participants,” he said. “Those people knew that the air horns and rail horns were tormenting the people and businesses of downtown Ottawa and causing harm. And they wanted that to continue.” Assad said he had to temporarily close three of his Happy Goat locations and many of his employees have been harassed and threatened. “We need to take back our city,” Assad said. “Our city is being held hostage.” As a restaurant owner, Assad says he’s in favour of easing the COVID-19 restrictions in place.

Article content “But the methods and the organization behind the protest is very dangerous.” Photo by Screen shot / Zoom Gedz said his business is down 25-50 per cent since the occupation began because people don’t want to come downtown. “I’ve spent a lot of time walking around these protests … and on any given day it seems like something out of Mad Max movie. I don’t think people who haven’t been downtown realize just how bad it is.” Both Assad and Gedz said they are aware of the extreme online backlash they could endure by coming forward. They’ve warned staff to distance themselves from the businesses on social media. “If us as an organization can put ourselves forward and perhaps shield some of the hostility, we’re happy to do that,” Gedz said. The statement of claim also expands the area covered by the class action from Bronson Avenue in the west, Somerset Street in the south and into the ByWard Market. It now includes up to 12,000 residents and hundreds of businesses, including the Rideau Centre which has reported it’s losing $3 million a day.

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