COVID-19
Preston Manning announces National Citizens’ Inquiry into Canada’s COVID-19 measures
From NationalCitizensInquiry.ca
A Citizen-Led Inquiry Into Canada’s COVID-19 Response
A citizens group, chaired by Preston Manning, has announced plans for a National Citizens Inquiry (NCI) into Canada’s response to COVID-19.
Canada’s federal, provincial, and municipal governments’ responses to COVID-19 were of an unprecedented nature and magnitude. The policy, legal, economic and health authority interventions into the lives of Canadian families, businesses and communities were, and to great extent remain, significant.
These interventions impacted the physical and mental health, civil liberties, fundamental freedoms, livelihoods, and overall social and economic wellbeing of all Canadians. The social impacts, business bankruptcies, delayed healthcare and avoidable deaths due to lockdowns, restrictions, and mandates have been profound. The fracturing of families and communities, and the erosion of fundamental Charter rights merits a thorough and comprehensive investigation.
“The magnitude of these interventions demands a comprehensive, transparent, and objective inquiry into the appropriateness and efficacy of the measures imposed,” said Manning, a former Federal leader. “We need to determine what worked and what didn’t and identify how we can respond better in the future.”
Normally such inquiries would be commissioned by governments under the provisions of the federal or provincial Inquiries Acts. However, commissioning an Inquiry whose primary purpose is to investigate governmental response would mean that governments would be investigating themselves. In the eyes of many Canadians, such a commission would lack the necessary credibility and integrity to have confidence that a proper investigation had taken place. Hence the need and desire for a citizen-led Inquiry.
It is also being recognized that in a healthy and functioning democracy, citizens need to be more actively involved in contributing to and monitoring the actions of government.
“Many Canadians have expressed a desire to see such an Inquiry conducted. And more are expected to do so by signing a petition posted at nationalcitizensinquiry.ca,” said Manning. “Over 11,000 Canadians have already signed the petition, and thousands more are signing each day.”
“A federally incorporated not-for-profit company – Citizens Inquiry Canada – has been established to receive and disburse funds needed to finance the Inquiry. A website is under development – nationalcitizensinquiry.ca – where information on the Inquiry will be available including location and dates for the inquiry, and eventually a record of the testimony and Commissioners’ recommendations.”
“Visitors to the Inquiry website,” said Manning, “will be invited to sign the Petition in support of the Inquiry, suggest the names of potential Commissioners for the Inquiry in whom they have confidence in their expertise and independence, and to donate to help finance the Inquiry. Since announcing this initiative, we have seen it resonate strongly from coast-to-coast: 10,000 Canadians have already signed the petition.”
It is anticipated that the inquiry will be launched in early 2023. Manning expects public hearings of two to three days each will be held in cities across the country, providing the opportunity for both virtual and in-person participation.
Ordinary citizens and experts in various disciplines, medical, legal, social, and constitutional will be invited to testify as to the impacts of the measures implemented by governments in the last two and a half years.
“The inquiry will examine the consequences on public and personal health, rights and freedoms, on specific demographic groups such as the aged and our children, and the economy. Those testifying before the Inquiry will also be asked for recommendations for how Canada’s response in matters as this could be better managed in the future.” A final Summary Hearing will be held in Ottawa, expected by the end of March 2023, with the Inquiry Commissioners issuing a report shortly thereafter containing their observations and recommendations.
You can watch the press release online below
COVID-19
Court compels RCMP and TD Bank to hand over records related to freezing of peaceful protestor’s bank accounts
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice has ordered the RCMP and TD Bank to produce records relating to the freezing of Mr. Evan Blackman’s bank accounts during the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest.
Mr. Blackman was arrested in downtown Ottawa on February 18, 2022, during the federal government’s unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act. He was charged with mischief and obstruction, but he was acquitted of these charges at trial in October 2023.
However, the Crown appealed Mr. Blackman’s acquittal in 2024, and a new trial is scheduled to begin on August 14, 2025.
Mr. Blackman is seeking the records concerning the freezing of his bank accounts to support an application under the Charter at his upcoming retrial.
His lawyers plan to argue that the freezing of his bank accounts was a serious violation of his rights, and are asking the court to stay the case accordingly.
“The freezing of Mr. Blackman’s bank accounts was an extreme overreach on the part of the police and the federal government,” says constitutional lawyer Chris Fleury.
“These records will hopefully reveal exactly how and why Mr. Blackman’s accounts were frozen,” he says.
Mr. Blackman agreed, saying, “I’m delighted that we will finally get records that may reveal why my bank accounts were frozen.”
This ruling marks a significant step in what is believed to be the first criminal case in Canada involving a proposed Charter application based on the freezing of personal bank accounts under the Emergencies Act.
Chris Carbert (right) and Anthony Olienick, two of the Coutts Four were jailed for over two years for mischief and unlawful possession of a firearm for a dangerous purpose.
From LifeSiteNews
The “Coutts Four” were painted as dangerous terrorists and their arrest was used as justification for the invocation of the Emergencies Act by the Trudeau government, which allowed it to use draconian measures to end both the Coutts blockade and the much larger Freedom Convoy
COVID protestor Chris Carbert has been granted bail pending his appeal after spending over two years in prison.
On June 30, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Jo-Anne Strekaf ordered the release of Chris Carbert pending his appeal of charges of mischief and weapons offenses stemming from the Coutts border blockade, which protested COVID mandates in 2022.
“[Carbert] has demonstrated that there is no substantial likelihood that he will commit a criminal offence or interfere with the administration of justice if released from detention pending the hearing of his appeals,” Strekaf ruled.
“If the applicant and the Crown are able to agree upon a release plan and draft order to propose to the court, that is to be submitted by July 14,” she continued.
Carbert’s appeal is expected to be heard in September. So far, Carbert has spent over two years in prison, when he was charged with conspiracy to commit murder during the protest in Coutts, which ran parallel to but was not officially affiliated with the Freedom Convoy taking place in Ottawa.
Later, he was acquitted of the conspiracy to commit murder charge but still found guilty of the lesser charges of unlawful possession of a firearm for a dangerous purpose and mischief over $5,000.
In September 2024, Chris Carbert was sentenced to six and a half years for his role in the protest. However, he is not expected to serve his full sentence, as he was issued four years of credit for time already served. Carbert is also prohibited from owning firearms for life and required to provide a DNA sample.
Carbert was arrested alongside Anthony Olienick, Christopher Lysak and Jerry Morin, with the latter two pleading guilty to lesser charges to avoid trial. At the time, the “Coutts Four” were painted as dangerous terrorists and their arrest was used as justification for the invocation of the Emergencies Act by the Trudeau government, which allowed it to use draconian measures to end both the Coutts blockade and the much larger Freedom Convoy occurring thousands of kilometers away in Ottawa.
Under the Emergency Act (EA), the Liberal government froze the bank accounts of Canadians who donated to the Freedom Convoy. Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23 after the protesters had been cleared out. At the time, seven of Canada’s 10 provinces opposed Trudeau’s use of the EA.
Since then, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley ruled that Trudeau was “not justified” in invoking the Emergencies Act, a decision that the federal government is appealing.
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Court compels RCMP and TD Bank to hand over records related to freezing of peaceful protestor’s bank accounts
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