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Freedom Convoy organizer Benjamin Dichter has said he is concerned that the majority of witnesses appearing before an upcoming public inquiry into the federal government’s use of the emergency law are in government.
“You have 65 witnesses. If my count is correct, [50] of 65 jobs for government. Right away, it’s a problem,” Dichter, who was a spokesperson for Freedom Convoy, told the Epoch Times.
“I am very concerned that you have [50] Many of the people here risk their careers if they don’t follow the party’s cause. “
On February 14, the liberal government invoked the Emergency Act in response to the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa, giving the police extraordinary powers to sweep protesters from the city’s downtown core, while banks were forced to take action. It also allowed the accounts of motorcade protesters and their supporters to be frozen.
After the law was invoked, protesters in Ottawa faced a large police presence, including riot police wielding batons and tear gas. In one incident, mounted police advanced toward a crowd of demonstrators and he knocked down at least two people, one of whom needed hospital treatment.
The law was revoked on February 23rd.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as required by law announced In April, it established a Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) to “investigate the circumstances under which the declaration was issued and the measures taken in response to the emergency.” Trudeau appointed Ontario Court of Appeals Judge Paul S. Rouleaux as commissioner of his POEC.
On October 11th, the POEC released a list of 65 witnesses scheduled to attend the six-week hearings from October 13th to November 25th. You are employed by a local government or in the federal or state public sector, such as an RCMP or OPP employee.
Eight liberal ministers were cited as witnesses, including Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister Cristia Freeland and Minister of Public Security Marco Mendicino.
freedom convoy organizer
In addition to Dichter, 8 people protestor Witnesses who were in Ottawa during Freedom Convoy, including organizer Tamara Rich, are also listed as witnesses, but Dichter notes that not all those listed were part of Freedom Convoy’s organizing team. It has said.
Dichter said Freedom Convoy cut ties with protester Patrick King, whom the commission cited as a witness, in its first GoFundMe page update.
“Pat King is not an advocate [the Freedom Convoy] & only represents himself,” Dichter said on Twitter, citing a now-deleted Freedom Convoy page on crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.
“Never heard [King] Until the convoy has already departed,” Dichter told The Epoch Times.
When Mr. Dichter realized King was participating in a convoy protest in late January, he immediately contacted Rich and informed him that Freedom Convoy had cut ties with King and sent him to protest. He said he agreed to ask him to leave.
and video King reportedly posted online on December 16, 2021, in which King said, “The only way to solve this is with bullets,” but what “this” refers to. It was unclear whether He also spoke of a “massive, massive revolution.”
King, who was indicted in connection with the protests, was released on bail in July.
Dichter noted that there was also a prominent Freedom Convoy organizer the commission did not name as a witness: Chris Gala.
“[Garrah] I was on site for a week before the truck arrived, sorting everything out, staging it, and setting it up. Ottawa police gave him a map of where the trucker needed to park,” Dichter said.
He argues that Galar was heavily involved in organizing the convoy, so he should have been listed as a witness by the commission.
“We’ll have to talk about that in testimony,” Dichter said.
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Peter Wilson is a reporter based in Ontario, Canada.
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