The situation in Ottawa has become worse for the Freedom Convoy - with the arrest of key organizer Chris Barber.

According to the CBC, Barber is currently in police arrest and faces criminal charges as the now-global protest against vaccine mandates and other restrictions enters its third week.

Barber is also one of three protest organizers listed in a class action complaint filed by lawyer Paul Champ on behalf of his client, 21-year-old public servant Zexi Li, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Barber, along with other convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Benjamin Dichter, are named in the claim.

Barber replied to complaints that the protest was negatively affecting Ottawa residents earlier this month by declaring that the organizers had "empathy" for the city's people.
"We understand your frustration and sincerely wish there was another way for us to communicate our message," he said at the time. "However, the responsibility for your inconvenience rests squarely on the shoulders of politicians who have [preferred] to vilify and call us names rather than engage in respectful, serious dialogue." -CBC

Meanwhile, according to the CBC, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has announced its intention to challenge the federal government for using the Emergencies Act in response to the ongoing protests and blockades.

"Emergency powers cannot and must not be normalized," CCLA executive director Noa Mendelsohn said, adding that the act's implementation "significantly infringes on Canadians' Charter rights."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on Monday in response to continued protests against COVID-19 limitations and vaccine mandates.

Other demonstrations have halted international border crossings in Windsor, Ont., and Coutts, Alta. - The convoy protest in Ottawa has been gridlocked for more than 20 days, while other demonstrations have blocked international border crossings in Windsor, Ont. and Coutts, Alta.

According to CBC Mendelsohn, reports of "violent, racist, and homophobic activities" do not warrant enacting restrictions that the CCLA regards to be a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"Whether they are environmental activists, students taking to the streets, Indigenous land defenders, workers on strike, people who know that Black lives matter, and others who oppose government measures of all kinds, protest is how people in a democracy share their political messages of all kinds," Mendelsohn said.

"Not everyone will agree with every movement's content."
According to state-owned CBC, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland claimed Thursday that financial institutions have been actively suspending the accounts of those related to the Ottawa medical freedom marches, leaving an unknown number of protestors and donors in financial uncertainty.

According to Freeland, the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies have been accumulating intelligence on convoy protesters and their supporters, which they have shared with banking institutions in order to limit access to both cash and cryptocurrency.

"The RCMP has shared the names of both individuals and businesses, as well as crypto wallets, with financial institutions, and accounts have been blocked, with more to come," she said, referring to crypto exchange accounts.

As the CBC points out, The law also allows banks to target supporters to the GoFundMe and GiveSendGo fundraising efforts that fueled the protest for account closure. Freeland refused to discuss the "specifics of whose accounts are being frozen."

The government has made crowdfunding websites and payment providers register with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), the government's financial intelligence branch, citing terrorist financing regulations.

Freeland issued a last warning to the assembled demonstrators, saying that individuals who park their huge rigs on Ottawa's streets will have their insurance terminated and their business accounts suspended, making it impossible for them to find work again.

Meanwhile, reporters from major news organizations have been pestering people who donated as little as $50 using a leaked list of donors from the GiveSendGo Freedom Convoy fundraiser.

Oh, and if you're arrested with your dog in Canada, it'll be considered'relinquished' after 8 days.

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