Horn-honking court injunction extended 60 days

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An injunction ordering “Freedom Convoy” truckers to stop blowing their air horns has been extended for 60 days.

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At a hearing Wednesday morning, Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean said the protesters’ right to be heard didn’t trump the public’s right to peace and safety.

“What the protesters must understand is that they can convince people to do other things, but they cannot use force of one kind or another, or pain or anything else that’s disruptive,” McLean said in making his ruling.

“In other words, keeping people from going to work, keeping people from sleeping. They can’t use that to put their beliefs on other members of the public.

“In this circumstance, the public’s rights are far superior to the protesters’ rights,” McLean said.

The hearing came as an interim 10-day injunction to silence the horns was about to expire. The injunction was brought by a private citizen, 21-year-old Zexi Li, who said the sound of constantly blaring horns was unbearable.

Initially, the injunction worked with the truck horns falling silent soon after the court order was issued. Within days, however, the horns started up again. Lawyer Paul Champ, who represented Li at the hearing, promised to take additional steps to ensure the order was enforced. Anyone who violates the injunction can be charged with contempt of court, a criminal charge with the potential for heavy fines and even jail time. But police and by-law officers have been reluctant to enforce the order.

Champ presented links to a Facebook Live broadcast by Pat King, a convoy organizer and one of four people named in injunction.

King initially told his followers they had to stop blowing their horns, but in the Feb. 8 livestream encouraged the horn-blowing to begin again.

“It’s game on, boys. Blow those horns. Let them go. Let them fire as loud as you can,” King said.

“It’s regrettable that we have evidence that your previous order was violated and I can assure the court as an officer of the court I’ll take steps if we see further breaches of your order through appropriate contempt proceedings,” Champ told the judge during Wednesday’s virtual hearing.

But the judge balked at a provision in the injunction ordering the Sheriff of the City of Ottawa to enforce the order.

“If I issue an order to the sheriff and the sheriff doesn’t comply, then the sheriff has a problem,” McLean says. “That is a very blunt instrument to the sheriff and I have no idea if the sheriff has the capability or even the capacity to assist in this.”

In Ontario, sheriffs are the court officers who serve legal documents such as eviction orders and execute civil judgments.

In addition to King, the injunction names three other organizers of the convoy — Chris Barber of Swift Current, Sask., Benjamin Dichter of Toronto and Tamara Lich of Medicine Hat, Alta. It also names 60 “John Does” — unidentified truckers at the protest.

Lawyer Keith Wilson represented Barber, Dichter and Lich at the hearing, but did not oppose the 60-day extension.

On Monday, the City of Ottawa obtained a similar injunction to add muscle to its own bylaws about noise, parking and other violations.

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