A judge from the Ontario Court of Justice has ordered the RCMP and TD Bank to produce records relating to the freezing of a man’s bank account during the 2022 Freedom Convoy, according to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) which is involved in the case.
Evan Blackman was arrested in Ottawa during the protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions on Feb. 18, 2022, and charged with mischief and obstruction, but was acquitted of the charges in October 2023. However, the Crown appealed the acquittal in 2024 and a new trial is set to begin on Aug. 14, 2025.
As part of the invocation of the Emergencies Act by the federal government, Blackman also had his bank account frozen for over a week. The federal government invoked the Act on Feb. 14 to give law enforcement expanded powers to arrest demonstrators, freeze the bank accounts of some protesters, and require towing companies to remove protesters’ vehicles from Ottawa’s downtown core….