The latest on protests against COVID-19 measures in Ottawa and beyond

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This article was published 22/02/2022 (1686 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA – The latest developments on ongoing protests against COVID-19 restrictions and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, in Ottawa and various locations across Canada, on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022. All times eastern:

2:45 p.m.

Isabelle Jacques, an assistant deputy minister at the federal Department of Finance, says people whose bank accounts were frozen in the last week for supporting or participating in the blockades in Ottawa or at border crossings are starting to have their accounts unfrozen.

Jacques says at a meeting of the House of Commons finance committee that no more accounts are being frozen and the RCMP on Monday shared a list of people with the banks whose accounts should be reopened.

Conservative MP Philip Lawrence says “Canadians are afraid” that even a small donation to the convoy could ruin them financially.

Jacques says if that donation happened after Feb. 15 it is possible but unlikely a small donation would lead to a frozen account.

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1:25 p.m.

Convoy organizer Patrick King is in court for a bail hearing where a woman who acknowledges she only met him four weeks ago is offering a surety of half the value of her Alberta home to guarantee his bail.

In the prisoner’s box, King is wearing a grey hoodie emblazoned with the word Odin and had to be reminded by the judge to keep a mask on due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Alberta resident Kerry Komix says she would ensure King followed any bail conditions and attended future court dates, or she would risk forfeiting a $50,000 bond.

The Crown played videos of King making derogatory statements about different races and appearing pleased that a court order had been required earlier this month to quell the honking of protest trucks.

Komix says the King she knows loves every race.

King, 44, was arrested on Friday and faces charges of mischief, counselling to commit mischief, counselling to commit the offence of disobeying a court order and counselling to obstruct police.

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1:15 p.m.

Ottawa’s largest mall has been evacuated and a suspect has been arrested, on the first day the shopping centre has been open since protests forced stores to shut down late last month.

Police told people to avoid the area near the Rideau Centre just before 1 p.m. today “due to an ongoing police operation.”

They say they were responding to a call for shoplifting with a possible weapon.

On Twitter, the police wrote one person has been arrested and there is no outstanding suspect or threat to public safety.

The mall was forced to close when a convoy of protesters rolled into the city at the end of January, after the managers of the property called the situation downtown “untenable.”

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12:15 p.m.

Conservative senators speaking in a heated debate about the Emergencies Act are accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of stoking the flames of division.

Tory Sen. Leo Housakos accuses Trudeau of not speaking to protesters but speaking down to them and characterizing them as Nazis.

Some protesters were seen flying swastika and Confederate flags and some organizers have been known to promote racist conspiracy theories online.

Housakos also questions provisions in the Emergencies Act that allow banks to freeze protesters’ accounts, saying a court order is needed even to freeze the bank account of a member of the mafia.

Marc Gold, the government’s representative in the Senate, says he does not recognize the Tory senator’s characterization of Trudeau’s actions and comments.

He says the Emergencies Act is justified because of the gravity of the protests, adding that everyone could resolve to listen more and listen better.

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12 p.m.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says over the weekend, the illegal blockade that occupied Ottawa ended and the remaining protesters were cleared out.

He says the blockade was a nightmare for the people of Ottawa.

He is thanking the Ottawa police, Ontario Provincial Police, RCMP and all police services across the country for their role in bringing the protest to an end.

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10 a.m.

Ottawa’s largest shopping mall confirmed it would reopen today for the first time in more than three weeks.

The Rideau Centre shut down when a convoy of protesters first rolled into the capital at the end of January, calling the situation downtown “untenable.”

Now that police have declared downtown safe for business to resume, the mall intends to open as normal today.

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9:45 a.m.

Tamara Lich, one of the leading organizers behind protests against COVID-19 restrictions and the Liberal government near Parliament Hill, has been denied bail.

An Ontario court judge issued the decision in Ottawa this morning, saying she believed there was a substantial likelihood Lich would reoffend if released.

Justice Julie Bourgeois says the convoy’s effect on the community was immense and she felt Lich was obstinate and disingenuous in her responses to the court during her bail hearing on Saturday.

A separate bail hearing is scheduled this morning for fellow protest organizer Patrick King, who has been known to promote racist conspiracy theories online.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2022.