If successful, the legal maneuver could make the owners of some 400 trucks and tens of thousands of donors financially responsible for a share of the $300 million in damages the lawsuit is seeking. Lawyer Paul Champ first filed the lawsuit in February, naming civil servant Zexi Li, who lives in downtown Ottawa, as the representative of a class of residents who claim they have suffered from the noise and disturbance caused by hundreds of trucks parked in the city streets for three. weeks. Champ later added representative plaintiffs of two Ottawa businesses and employees of other downtown businesses as additional classes of plaintiffs — meaning they could share in the damages if the court certifies the charges and the appeal succeeds. The lawsuit initially named Tamara Lich, Tom Marazzo, Chris Barber and other convoy organizers as defendants, along with unnamed truck drivers and donors “John Doe” and “Jane Doe.” Now Champ has filed an unusual motion to add two classes of defendants to the trial, potentially making liable anyone who brought their truck to the Ottawa protest or contributed financially through crowdfunding sites like GiveSendGo or GoFundMe. In an application filed in Ontario Superior Court, Champ names the operator of an Ontario trucking company and a New Brunswick businessman as the representatives of the two classes of defendants. The motion names Brad Howland, of Kars, NB, as a representative defendant of a potential donor class. He owns Easy Kleen Pressure Systems Ltd., which donated “US$75,000 on or about February 9, 2022, to GiveSendGo to support, encourage and facilitate” the protest, according to the motion. Howland confirmed to CTV News that his company had donated the convoy, but says he’s not sure where it ended up. “The money was to support and pay for the expenses for the people who gave so much time to put their voices forward and their time to explain how we want freedom in the country,” he said. Howland said he had heard rumors that he could be dragged into the lawsuit, but wasn’t sure until he contacted CTV News. The motion also seeks to add Harold Jonker of Caistor Centre, Ont., as a representative defendant. He claims his company, Jonker Trucking, “had at least 11 semi-tractor trucks that were driven into Ottawa and used to participate in the Freedom Convoy protest torts.” Jonker was not immediately available for comment Wednesday. Many of the convoy’s defendants in the suit are testifying before the Public Order Emergency Commission which is currently studying the federal government’s use of the Emergency Act to end the protests. Champ is also appearing in the inquiry on behalf of a coalition of downtown Ottawa residents and businesses. Lee testified during the first week of the inquiry’s hearings. None of the defendants named in the lawsuit have yet filed statements of defense and none of the allegations have been proven in court. Champ and other lawyers working on the case have successfully frozen millions of dollars donated through crowdfunding sites. The money is being held in escrow pending resolution of the case. Champ also used Li’s lawsuit to successfully obtain an injunction to stop truckers from honking truck and train horns. The plaintiffs still face major legal hurdles, certifying about 24,000 inner-city residents as a class and now, certifying the additional classes of defendants. Even if plaintiffs ultimately win a judgment in court, in order to collect damages, they will have to prove that the individuals fall within the defendants’ categories. Prosecutors are expected to rely on the vast number of photos and videos posted on social media to identify individual truckers involved in the protests. They could also use donor records from crowdsourcing platforms to identify members of the accused donor class.
