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For CFL fans the last refuge is always hope

Published

5 years ago

3 minute read

The best thing Randy Ambrosie has done for the CFL is create headlines.

Which makes it interesting that, in many ways, the worst thing he has done for Canada’s struggling professional football league is create headlines.

It’s amazing that the former offensive lineman with the Toronto Argonauts, Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders, appointed in 2017 has been commissioner for barely more than three years.

Among his first stated projects was a “world-wide CFL,” complete with athletes from almost anywhere in the world. In most league centres, trials were pooh-poohed as ridiculous, but at least one German player — no previous grid experience — won a spot on last year’s Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Ambitious plans for 2020 fell apart after a promising start: coronavirus interfered, no surprise.

At that time, a national uproar developed when Ambrosie designed a pitch for $150 million in federal funds to make sure the aged league could stay alive for the 2020 season and several years into the future. Many spoke out that the league’s noble Canadian tradition deserved support but it was hard to imagine, and still is, that megabuck owners such as David Braley of the B.C. Lions,  Bob Young of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Roger Greenberg of the  Ottawa Redblacks should be handed major federal aid while many other Canadians were suddenly facing dire emergencies.

Small wonder that the original appeal got only cursory notice from Ottawa and other government levels. Then, later, came a bid for a loan of $44 million. Followed by the newest request: only $30 million, interest-free, of course.

Details have not been fully released but Ambrosie has said the money would be used for player salaries, COVID-19 tests and the startup costs required to play in a “hub city” situation at Winnipeg, proposed by Manitoba Mayor Brian Pallister. It is also known that the government has asked — maybe for the first time — about a potential repayment plan.

Word circulated last week that a meeting between CFL brass and government officials is due within a few days. There have been indications — nothing official, of course — that this smaller request has been receiving positive attention.

When and if the funds are provided, work will begin in earnest. Players who have been objecting to lack of info from their league and team employers can finally expect some serious attempts to communicate. How the funds will be split among the league’s teams is also up for grabs: most successful at the box office are community-based western organizations who have been harmed as much as their wealthier league brethren by the general economic and social shutdown.

For fans, the last refuge is always hope. Today, at least, it seems there is some chance we’ll get back to games on the field rather than behind closed doors.

Fingers crossed, everyone.

Was the quick evolution of Draisaitl from prospect to standout THE biggest on-ice element in this positive building project?

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COVID-19

Judge denies Canadian gov’t request to take away Freedom Convoy leader’s truck

Published on December 20, 2025

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

A judge ruled that the Ontario Court of Justice is already ‘satisfied’ with Chris Barber’s sentence and taking away his very livelihood would be ‘disproportionate.’

A Canadian judge has dismissed a demand from Canadian government lawyers to seize Freedom Convoy leader Chris Barber’s “Big Red” semi-truck.

On Friday, Ontario Court of Justice Judge Heather Perkins-McVey denied the Crown’s application seeking to forfeit Barber’s truck.

She ruled that the court is already “satisfied” with Barber’s sentence and taking away his very livelihood would be “disproportionate.”

“This truck is my livelihood,” said Barber in a press release sent to LifeSiteNews.

“Trying to permanently seize it for peacefully protesting was wrong, and I’m relieved the court refused to allow that to happen,” he added.

Criminal defense lawyer Marwa Racha Younes was welcoming of the ruling as well, stating, “We find it was the right decision in the circumstances and are happy with the outcome.”

John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), said the decision is “good news for all Canadians who cherish their Charter freedom to assemble peacefully.”

READ: Freedom Convoy protester appeals after judge dismissed challenge to frozen bank accounts

“Asset forfeiture is an extraordinary power, and it must not be used to punish Canadians for participating in peaceful protest,” he added in the press release.

At this time, the court ruling ends any forfeiture proceedings for the time being, however Barber will continue to try and appeal his criminal conviction and house arrest sentence.

Barber’s truck, a 2004 Kenworth long-haul he uses for business, was a focal point in the 2022 protests. He drove it to Ottawa, where it was parked for an extended period of time, but he complied when officials asked him to move it.

On October 7, 2025, after a long trial, Ontario Court Justice Perkins-McVey sentenced Barber and Tamara Lich, the other Freedom Convoy leader, to 18 months’ house arrest. They had been declared guilty of mischief for their roles as leaders of the 2022 protest against COVID mandates, and as social media influencers.

Lich and Barber have filed appeals of their own against their house arrest sentences, arguing that the trial judge did not correctly apply the law on their mischief charges.

Government lawyers for the Crown have filed an appeal of the acquittals of Lich and Barber on intimidation charges.

The pair’s convictions came after a nearly two-year trial despite the nonviolent nature of the popular movement.

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COVID-19

Freedom Convoy protester appeals after judge dismissed challenge to frozen bank accounts

Published on December 19, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Protestor Evan Blackman’s legal team argues Trudeau’s Emergencies Act-based bank account freezes were punitive state action tied directly to protest participation.

A Freedom Convoy protester whose bank accounts were frozen by the Canadian government says a judge erred after his ruling did not consider the fact that the funds were frozen under the Emergencies Act, as grounds for a stay of proceedings.

In a press release sent out earlier this week, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) said that Freedom Convoy protestor Evan Blackman will challenge a court ruling in his criminal case via an appeal with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

“This case raises serious questions about how peaceful protest is treated in Canada and about the lasting consequences of the federal government’s unlawful use of the Emergencies Act,” noted constitutional lawyer Chris Fleury. “The freezing of protestors’ bank accounts was part of a coordinated effort to suppress dissent, and courts ought to be willing to scrutinize that conduct.”

Blackman was arrested on February 18, 2022, during the police crackdown on Freedom Convoy protests against COVID restrictions, which was authorized by the Emergencies Act (EA). The EA was put in place by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, which claimed the protests were violent, despite no evidence that this was the case.

Blackman’s three bank accounts with TD Bank were frozen due to his participation in the Freedom Convoy, following a directive ordered by Trudeau.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, in November of this year, Blackman was convicted at his retrial even though he had been acquitted at his original trial. In 2023, Blackman’s “mischief” and “obstructing police” charges were dismissed by a judge due to lack of evidence and the “poor memory of a cop regarding key details of the alleged criminal offences.”

His retrial resulted in Blackman getting a conditional discharge along with 12 months’ probation and 122 hours of community service, along with a $200 victim fine surcharge.

After this, Blackman’s application for a stay of proceedings was dismissed by the court. He had hoped to have his stay of proceedings, under section 24(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, allowed. However, the judge ruled that the freezing of his bank accounts was legally not related to his arrest, and because of this, the stay of proceedings lacked standing.

The JCCF disagreed with this ruling, noting, it “stands in contrast to a Federal Court decision finding that the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act was unreasonable and violated Canadians’ Charter rights, including those targeted by the financial measures used against Freedom Convoy protestors.”

In 2024, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley ruled that Trudeau was “not justified” in invoking the Emergencies Act.

In early 2022, the Freedom Convoy saw thousands of Canadians from coast to coast come to Ottawa to demand an end to COVID mandates in all forms. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, Trudeau’s federal government enacted the EA in mid-February.

After the protesters were cleared out, which was achieved through the freezing of bank accounts of those involved without a court order as well as the physical removal and arrest of demonstrators, Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23, 2022.

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