OTTAWA, Ontario – Canadian truckers who received notices by police to leave or potentially be arrested said law enforcement was “over-stepping” with another “scare tactic,” and vowed to stay.

“Those who are willing to give their life for this cause, need much more than being threatened with arrest, with fines, with losing insurance,” trucker Csaba Vizi told Fox News Digital.

Canadian truckers have been protesting in Ottawa since late January calling for an end to COVID-19 mandates. On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history. By Wednesday, police began handing out notices warning demonstrators to leave or potentially face arrest for “committing a criminal offense” by “blocking the streets.”

“It’s not a piece of paper that’s going to make me leave,” one trucker told Fox News Digital. “I’m here to stay.”

“I think it’s cute,” Wendell Thorndyke told Fox News Digital. “They turned the police into meter maids,” he continued.

Many felt police were wrongly using a “scare tactic” in an effort to get the Freedom Convoy to leave Ottawa.

It’s just a power play on them trying to scare us,” Mike Anderson said.

“The Charter of Rights and Freedoms says we can peacefully protest” and that document is “basically saying that it’s wrong,” he continued.

“This is another way of them over-stepping what they are actually allowed to do,” the trucker told Fox News Digital.

Trucker Clarence Penner felt similarly. “Everything we’re doing is 100% peaceful and within our Charter rights,” he said. “If anyone is going to be breaking the law, it’s them.”

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All truckers who spoke to Fox News Digital said they would not leave and expected most others feel the same way.

Penner, for instance, said while the warning may “ruffle some feathers for some,” most will not to be scared since they anticipate police “would try every last card in their backpack.”

Vizi agreed that some might be intimidated, but said he was committed to staying.

“Somebody can go take my house, I don’t care at this point” Vizi said. “Probably, my bank account is froze.”

“I’m broke financially anyway so take it, who cares?” Vizi continued.

Canadian trucker Steve Ness told Fox News Digital: “I have a son, I don’t want him seeing dad in handcuffs. But I’m not too scared, I’m not doing anything wrong, it’s still peaceful.”

Also saying he’d be staying indefinitely was trucker, Mike Fabinski. “I’m not moving, I’m staying all the way,” he said. “This is the price you pay for freedom, you got to do what you believe.”

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Like Fabinski, Canadian trucker Matt Mackenzie remained committed to the protest: “As long as it takes, if we were afraid of pieces of paper, we had no business coming in the first place.”

Another laughed when asked if he’d be leaving soon. “Oh, I live here now, I’m going to change my address,” Thorndyke told Fox News Digital.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/canadian-truckers-wont-scare-away?test=38861ea43380e1402f1c90f21546ad4b

The post Canadian truckers say warnings won’t scare away Freedom Convoy first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has argued that the protests, which have snarled traffic in cities and at the border, did not meet the standard to have invoked the Emergencies Act.

“The Emergencies Act can only be invoked when a situation ‘seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada’ & when the situation ‘cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada,’” it said on Twitter.

“Governments regularly deal with difficult situations, and do so using powers granted to them by democratically elected representatives. Emergency legislation should not be normalized. It threatens our democracy and our civil liberties,” the association added.

Trudeau on Monday invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act, which gives the federal government broad powers to restore order.

It threatened to tow away vehicles to keep essential services running; freeze truckers’ personal and corporate bank accounts; and take further action to strike at their livelihoods and the sources of their financial support.

“Consider yourselves warned,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told the “Freedom Convoy” members.

“If your truck is used in these blockades, your corporate accounts will be frozen. The insurance on your vehicle will be suspended. Send your rigs home,” Freeland added.

Some groups have approved of the measure, calling it “responsible” and “a good strategy,” but others have condemned it as government overreach, Fox News reported.

Lori Williams, a politics professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary told Reuters that “there’s the danger this could create more problems,” adding: “That’s why this has to be done with the cooperation of premiers and if they don’t want help, then the federal government needs to hang back.

“It has to be very targeted, very strategic and very restrained, because these are enormous powers that are being implemented,” she said.

Leah West, an assistant professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, said: “The federal government must consult with provinces and Cabinet must believe the protests rise to the level of a national emergency.

“Can it truly be said the security of Canada is threatened by largely non-violent protests? Certainly, our sovereignty and territorial integrity are not at risk,” she said in a tweet.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault said that imposing the act risks putting “oil on the fire” by further polarizing the population and argued that local authorities in the province have the situation under control.

“I was very clear with the Prime Minister that the federal emergency act must not apply in Quebec. I think we don’t need it. I think that at this moment it would not help the social climate,” Legault told reporters, according to Reuters.

“There’s a lot of pressure right now and I think we have to be careful. So it’s about time we put all Quebecers together. But I can understand that enough is enough in Ottawa. You can protest but you cannot do what they are doing since two weeks,” he said.

In Manitoba, Premier Heather Stefanson said she believed that “the sweeping effects and signals associated with the never-before-used Emergencies Act are not constructive here in Manitoba, where caution must be taken against overreach and unintended negative consequences.

“While the situation is very different in Ontario, this ultimate federal legislation should only be considered on a measured and proportional basis, in locations where it is truly needed,” Stefanson told reporters.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said: “I’ll support the federal government and any proposals they have to bring law and order back to our province, to make sure we stabilize our businesses and trade around the world as the world is watching us right now, wondering if it’s a stable environment to open up businesses and expand businesses.

“These occupiers, they’re doing the total opposite what they say they’re there to do. They’re hurting hundreds of thousands of families, millions of jobs across the province,” he told reporters.

Goldy Hyder, CEO of the Business Council of Canada told Reuters: “We recognize the gravity of the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. Having called on the federal government to show national leadership, we welcome this as a step toward ending illegal blockades across the country and upholding the rule of law.”

Phil Boyle, associate chair for legal studies at the University of Waterloo called it “an interesting strategic move there to go after the money. That seems appropriate.

“One of the things that worked in Windsor, with the Ambassador Bridge, was the threat of taking away their licenses. If your livelihood depends on license, you’re going to think twice before putting that at risk. So that might very well work with the case of Ottawa,” Boyle told Reuters.

“No doubt there will be some litigation to come of this, considering it’s never been done before… If these emergency measures are targeted within a particular province… Trudeau would only do it if he had the relevant province on board. Maybe that would lessen the potential for litigation,” he said.

“I wonder, how does this Federal emergencies order square with the (Ontario) provincial emergencies order that was just ordered on Friday? I don’t think we’ve ever been in a situation where both the provincial and the federal government have, at the same time, invoked extraordinary emergency measures,” Boyle added.

For more than two weeks, hundreds and sometimes thousands of protesters in trucks and other vehicles have clogged the streets of Ottawa, the capital, and besieged Parliament Hill, railing against vaccine mandates for truckers and other COVID-19 precautions and condemning Trudeau’s Liberal government.

With Post wires

Source: https://nypost.com/2022/02/15/canada-pm-justin-trudeau-slammed-for-invoking-emergency-powers/

The post Canada PM Justin Trudeau slammed for invoking emergency powers to stop protests first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Canadian police announced Monday that seven people have been arrested and more than 100 have been issued tickets in connection to “demonstration-related enforcement” in Ottawa.

This comes after Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency Sunday afternoon as approximately 500 trucks and vehicles with the “Freedom Convoy” continued to linger in the streets of the Canadian capital to protest vaccine mandates and other coronavirus-related restrictions.

Ottawa Police Service issued a warning earlier Monday that “anyone found bringing fuel to the demonstration trucks in the red zone could be subject to arrest and charges.”

Multiple vehicles and fuel have been seized. Five of the seven arrests were for unspecified mischief. A sixth person was charged for driving while prohibited and a seventh for mischief “relating to property damage of a downtown business,” police said in a press release.

Ottawa Police@OttawaPolice

ICYMI: 7 people arrested, 100 tickets issued in Demonstration-Related Enforcement

@OttawaPolice has made multiple arrests in relation to several enforcement actions related to the ongoing demonstration. There are over 60 criminal investigations so far.

More than 100 Highway Traffic Act and other “Provincial Offence Notices” were issued for offenses including excessive honking, driving the wrong way, defective muffler, no seat belt, alcohol readily available and having the improper class of driving license, police said.

So far, 60 criminal investigations related to the demonstration have been opened, primarily for mischief, thefts, hate crimes and property damage. Confederation Park has been fully cleared and fenced.

Ottawa Police Service has received 100 Ontario Provincial Police officers to assist with demonstrations.

Watson said in a statement Sunday that declaring a state of emergency “reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations.”

“This is a siege — it is something that is different in our democracy than I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said on Saturday. “We do not have sufficient resources to adequately and effectively address this situation.”

The “freedom truck convoy” has attracted support from many U.S. Republicans including former President Donald Trump, who called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a “far left lunatic” who has “destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford has called the ongoing protest “an occupation.”

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday that he and the state’s attorney general would investigate GoFundMe after the crowdfunding online platform shut down the Canadian “Freedom Convoy” official fundraising campaign. Faced with fraud allegations, GoFundMe then walked back its stance about redistributing the funds and said it would be refunding the thousands of donors automatically.

The convoy has since turned to the Christian fundraising site GiveSendGo to collect donations.

Fox News’ Jon Brown and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/canada-freedom-convoy-ottawa-police-arrest-tickets-fuel

The post Canada ‘Freedom Convoy’: Ottawa police arrest 7, threaten charges for others caught bringing fuel to truckers first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Following the example of the thousands of Canadian truckers protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the capital of Ottawa, truckers in other countries have begun organizing their own versions of the “Freedom Convoy.”

From Leeuwarden in the Netherlands to Wellington, New Zealand, to London to Canberra, Australia, truckers are hitting the road to send a clear message: stop the mandates.

Another group of truckers is planning a protest in the United States, driving to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

“I think you’re starting to see what will become a big global movement to end these mandates,” Brian Brase, co-organizer of the U.S. protest, told Fox News Digital on Sunday. “It’s a violation of your human rights to be mandated to take this vaccine. If you want it, go get it, but being mandated to get it, we’re standing up against that. We think it’s wrong.”

Brase told Fox News Digital that the U.S. trucker effort was “just shy of 140,000 people when Facebook dropped us.” On Feb. 2, Facebook removed a Facebook page called “Convoy to D.C. 2022.” A spokesperson for Facebook’s parent company, Meta, told Fox News that the platform removed the group “for repeatedly violating our policies around QAnon,” which Facebook previously labeled a “violence-inducing conspiracy network.” Brase had disputed that claim, saying, “That’s just not true.”

Brase said truckers from across the U.S. are calling to join the effort. “We’re having trucker companies from all over the country calling us, drivers,” he said. He teased a major press release with details on Tuesday, Feb. 8. “The sheer volume of response… I’m going to say we’ll be just as big as Canada if not larger.”

“Canada has inspired the entire world to stand up,” Brase told Fox News. “We’re so proud of our Canadian brothers and sisters in the trucking industry.” He also said that truckers across the world have called him to coordinate and express support. “Across the world, I’ve had people reach out: Finland, and Switzerland, and Norway, and Germany, and the UK, Australia.”

“The truck drivers are uniting worldwide,” he said.

At least 1,000 people have gathered near Parliament House in Canberra to protest the COVID-19 vaccine mandate and other pandemic restrictions, the Canberra Times reported Saturday. Organizers have called for 5 million Australians to converge on the capital ahead of Parliament’s return on Feb. 8.

Truckers in New Zealand reportedly launched a convoy from both ends of the country. One group departed Sunday from the North Island and another will depart from the South Island, with both converging at the capital of Wellington, which is near the middle of the country, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Jess, who operates the TikTok channel @nztruckies, told the Toronto Star that she and other protesters from the South Island won’t be able to make it to Wellington because they need to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to ride the ferry to the North Island. Jess did not give her last name to the Toronto Star.

Truckers across Europe are also planning convoys.

A World Freedom Convoy group on Signal is planning two separate protests, the Brussels Times reported. In about a week, 40,000 people joined the Signal chat. Truck drivers plan to drive to their respective capital cities on Feb. 7, and the broader European group will drive toward Brussels on Feb. 14.

About 25 trucks, dozens of cars and several tractors gathered in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, to protest COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday, the Dutch channel Omrop Fryslâan reported, according to NL Times. The Freedom Convoy Netherlands is consciously echoing the Canadian effort.

Aram Lemmer, a business owner and organizer in Austria, told the Toronto Star that he and two other organizers have a commitment of 2,500 vehicles driving to Vienna in a convoy on Feb. 13, including cars, trucks, tractors and cyclists. They are demanding that the government give up all restrictions and resign. Austrian lawmakers on Thursday approved a measure forcing Austrians to decide between getting vaccinated for COVID-19 or face a fine ranging from 600 to 3,600 Euros ($680-$4,000 USD). Only pregnant women, those who have contracted the virus within the past 180 days, and those with medical exemptions can escape the mandate.

Jay Cameron, litigation director at the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms, which represents the Canadian Freedom Convoy in court, explained why he thinks the protests are spreading across the world.

“There is no mystery as to why protests are spreading: Humanity is objecting en masse to the abuse of bureaucratic tyrants who for two years have suspended the checks and balances which are intended to protect the citizenry,” Cameron told Fox News Digital.

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“People have lost their jobs and their civil liberties: their freedom of religion, speech and freedoms of movement, and their democratic representatives have been largely or entirely sidelined with respect to these arbitrary and often nonsensical decisions,” Cameron added. “And now the people are making their voices heard in peaceful but firm protest against their abusers. They are saying: ‘enough’.”

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/canadian-style-trucker-protests-spread-world

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