Lawsuit Alleges Police Brutality

Diverse group of Canadians behind court action.

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This past Valentine’s Day, exactly two years after Justin Trudeau unlawfully invoked the Emergencies Act against peaceful protesters, 19 individuals plus Jonker Trucking Inc. filed a lawsuit for damages (see my previous post). Most of the defendants – including Cabinet ministers, police forces, and individual police officers – are based in Ontario. Which means they were required to file responding paperwork with the court within 20 days. That 20 days ended yesterday.

Three defendants – two credit unions in Manitoba, and one in British Columbia – have an additional 20 days to respond. Their deadline is March 25.

The individuals filing the lawsuit are a diverse group. Paragraph 55 describes them as “Indigenous peoples, senior citizens, retired police officers, decorated military veterans, minorities, minors and people with disabilities.”

Eleven plaintiffs reside in Ontario and three reside in Alberta. There are also two each from British Columbia, Manitoba, and New Brunswick.  

I’m familiar with one of the married couples involved. They both turn 80 this year. He’s a retired truck driver who protested on Wellington Street for three weeks, sleeping in his car throughout. His wife didn’t set foot in the nation’s capital, but her credit card got frozen anyway.   

The lawsuit alleges that, when financial institutions seized bank accounts at the behest of the government, they violated the Bank Act. It alleges that some of the plaintiffs were pepper sprayed, tear gassed, punched, and kicked by law enforcement. It also alleges that police “unlawfully entered into the trailer of an Indigenous Plaintiff while conducting a warrantless search and physically beat and assaulted this Plaintiff.”

None of these allegations have yet been proven in court. They are, however, serious matters the public has a right to know about. The only mainstream media coverage I’ve been able to find – at the Toronto Star - doesn't mention the alleged police violence. Where did media concern about police brutality go all of a sudden?

The lawsuit seeks punitive damages of $1 million per plaintiff and up to $750,000 per plaintiff in assorted other damages – along with interest, court costs, and HST.

You can read all 28 pages of the lawsuit here. [backup link here]