The Ontario government and a Canadian bank have set in motion efforts to handcuff the ongoing trucker protests.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency on Friday and demanded that protesters "go home."
"We’re now two weeks into the siege of the city of Ottawa," Ford said at a press conference. "I call it a siege because that’s what it is. It’s an illegal occupation."
"Your right to make a political statement does not outweigh the right of thousands of workers to make a living," Ford added.
Ford threatened, "There will be consequences for these actions, and they will be severe."
The premier's office added that the province will provide additional authority "to consider taking away the personal and commercial licenses of anyone who doesn’t comply."
Also on Friday, Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz of the Ontario Superior Court ordered demonstrators against vaccine mandates to cease their protest at the Ambassador bridge, which links Ontario and Michigan. The order went into effect at 7 p.m. on Friday.
The judge's decision was made after a four-hour virtual court hearing, where the city of Windsor and auto parts manufacturers argued that the Ambassador Bridge blockade was causing economic harm to the region.
The order stated: "Defendants and any persons having notice of this Order are hereby restrained and enjoined from impeding or blocking access to the Ambassador Bridge and indirect or direct approaching roadways and access points for ten days from the date of this Order."
Windsor Police said in a statement on Friday, "We are providing notice that anyone blocking streets or assisting others in the blocking of streets may be committing a criminal offense and must immediately cease further unlawful activity or you may face charges. You could be arrested if you are a party to the offense or assisting others in the direct or indirect commission of this offense."
BBC reported, "The order increases the penalty for blocking crucial infrastructure, making an offense punishable by up to a year in jail and C$100,000 in fines."
An hour after the order went into effect, there were more protesters at the bridge "than at any other point this week," according to CityNews Toronto reporter Adrian Ghobrial.
Just after 8 a.m. on Saturday, the Windsor Police in Ontario announced: "The Windsor Police & its policing partners have commenced enforcement at and near the Ambassador Bridge. We urge all demonstrators to act lawfully & peacefully. Commuters are still being asked to avoid the areas affected by the demonstrations at this time."
Around 10 a.m., members of the Ontario Provincial Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police moved into the Ambassador Bridge area, according to CBC News reporter Thomas Daigle and Global News investigative reporter Sean O'Shea. Authorities warned protesters that they face being arrested for mischief if they continue to block the bridge.
Meanwhile in Ottawa, the Freedom Convoy protesters were dealt a huge financial blow on Friday. Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank is attempting to take nearly $1.4 million in donations that was given to the Freedom Convoy group and hand it over to an Ontario court.
“TD has asked the court to accept the funds, which were raised through crowdfunding and deposited into personal accounts at TD, so they may be managed and distributed in accordance with the intentions of the donors, and/or to be returned to the donors who have requested refunds but whose entitlement to a refund cannot be determined by TD,” TD Bank spokesperson Carla Hindman told CTV.
The bank will reportedly "surrender to an Ontario court the money that had not been refunded by GoFundMe, totaling about $1 million, as well as some $400,000 the group had accepted through direct donations."
Freedom Convoy lawyer Keith Wilson said, "We will be taking expedited legal steps to have the restrictions on the donated funds lifted as soon as possible."
The "Freedom Convoy 2022" crowdfunding campaign raised more than $10 million on GoFundMe before it was shut down and refunded by the fundraising platform.
The Freedom Convoy has pivoted to raising money through a cryptocurrency fundraiser and has already raised nearly $1 million worth of bitcoin.
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