The wheels are coming off the so-called “Election Convoy” one day ahead of planned “slow rolls” to create nation-wide traffic jams with the goal of forcing Justin Trudeau to end the prorogation of parliament and call an early election.

On Friday, Election Convoy organizers announced one top leader had quit and tried to cancel their planned “slow roll” into Ottawa. This development comes only the morning after the Ontario Provincial Police issued a public statement warning that “slow-rolling traffic” on highways is illegal.

Meanwhile, confused convoy supporters are wondering what is going on with this convoy — and could they have all been duped by a “psyop”?

Election Convoy leader quits, supporters told to ‘slow roll’ on their own

In a statement posted entirely in capslock, an admin on the Election Convoy’s Facebook Group announced that Qweenie, leader of the convoy’s “slow roll” into Ottawa, had “left as an organizer”:

“Head organizer has tried to cancel this slow roll and has left as organizer.

It’s not cancelled, if you start something you can’t just walk away from it.”

Given the “confusion,” convoy participants were advised to “please lead a slow roll from Arnprior to the destination of your choice”:

If you are attending tomorrow, please lead a slow roll from Arnprior to the destination of your choice. Sorry for the confusion!”

Qweenie did not reply to a request from ConvoyWatch to clarify the accuracy of the statement, but the convoy organizer did announce her departure from the convoy during an earlier hour-long livestream:

“I’m going to be stepping back from the convoy and what’s going on there.”

Speaking into her cell phone while seated in her car as the song “Still D.R.E.” by Dr. Dre is heard in the background, Qweenie explained:

“We now have come to the conclusion that maybe my purpose here wasn’t to come and do the convoy. My purpose here was for them to find me, to take my part with bringing the east and the west together.”

Qweenie had previously given out instructions, illustrated on a 1960s map, directing vehicles to “slow roll” at 60 km/h down Ottawa’s Queensway before exiting at Kent Street and looping up to Parliament Hill.

Ontario Provincial Police: Slow Rolls are Illegal

Another issue complicating the Election Convoy’s planned “slow roll” is that it is quite likely illegal.

The OPP, which has jurisdiction over Ontario provincial highways, confirmed to ConvoyWatch that it is monitoring the Election Convoy and “reached out to organizers” about the “dangers posed by such an event”:

“The OPP is aware of the potential for some type of rolling demonstration on Saturday, January 25^th on highways in the Ottawa area.

The OPP fully respects the rights of Canadians to participate in safe, peaceful and lawful demonstrations, but slow-moving traffic on a major highway can result in serious collisions and is a danger to the public.

Members of the OPP Provincial Liaison Team have reached out to organizers to ensure they are aware of the dangers posed by such an event and the legal implications of doing so. The Criminal Code includes a section {423(1)(g)} that states “no one has the right to block or disrupt traffic on public highways.” The Highway Traffic Act (section 132) also prohibits dangerously or unnecessarily slow driving. Even if someone isn’t charged during a protest, charges can be laid later.”

The OPP issued a public statement Thursday directed Election Convoy participants warning them that “slow-rolling traffic” is illegal:

Is the Election Convoy a ‘psyop’?

The sense of disarray and disorganization around the Election Convoy is also leaving many of the convoy’s own supporters scratching their heads.

Almost the entirey of the Election Convoy has been organized on Facebook using Facebook Groups and private group chats, connecting hundreds of people who do not know one another in real life and, in some cases, do not even use their real names.

In one private group chat for the Halifax slow roll, participants expressed frustration over the lack of organization and clarity over who the organizers even are, prompting one to wonder if the whole thing is “some type of psyop”:

“At this point, I gather this is some type of psyop, there’s no organizer, no plan, no route … there’s nothing. I’ve spent two weeks trying to get someone to answer questions or identify themselves as an organizer to no avail.”

The Election Convoy has been publicly disavowed by multiple leaders of the original Freedom Convoy, including Chris Barber and Tom Quiggin.

The so-called “Election Convoy,” which is plotting nation-wide traffic jams in an effort to pressure Justin Trudeau to end the prorogation of parliament and call an early election, has hit a slight bump in the road.

A strategy session for the Election Convoy’s upcoming “slow roll” into Ottawa was cancelled last minute this week after a truck stop in Arnprior, Ontario told organizers they’re not allowed to plan convoys on their property.

According to convoy organizers, the strategy session was forced to relocate to a public parking lot on the other side of Arnprior.

Arnprior “meet and greet” cancelled:

In an update this week, “Qweenie,” a lead organizer of the Election Convoy, informed supporters that a “meet and greet” scheduled to take place at the Antrim Truck Stop in Arnprior was cancelled after the owner approached her and said the convoy isn’t welcome on his property:

“I’m here at the truck stop and the owner came to my table to chat and tell me that he’s had a real hard time with what is going on and isn’t allowing the meeting to happen here.”

Qweenie directed convoy supporters to a “new spot” at 348 Keatly Road in Arnprior, which, in case you’re curious, is a park and ride owned and operated by Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation.

Truck stop wants no involvement with convoy

Kim Orr, a co-owner of the Antrim Truck Stop in Arnprior, told ConvoyWatch her business is not involved with the Election Convoy and has been in contact with local police about the matter:

“We have met with local police to minimize any involvements. Our private business cannot be involved in any convoys / protests, etc.

Our address should not be used for any convoy.”

Located 40 minutes west of Ottawa, the Antrim Truck Stop has been used as a staging area by convoy groups multiple times in the past:

• In 2019, 85 vehicles with the Yellow Vest “United We Roll Convoy” reportedly spent the night at the truck stop before driving into Ottawa.

• In 2021, 25 vehicles associated with James Bauder’s “Convoy for Freedom,” a precursor to the “Freedom Convoy,” reportedly used the truck stop as a staging area. Bauder’s group was “asked to vacate” the truck stop after they were found using barbecues, setting up tents and holding an unauthorized event on the truck stop’s property.

• A few months later in 2022, the first wave of Freedom Convoy vehicles spent the night at the truck stop before heading into Ottawa. Following the invocation of the Emergency Act, convoy leader Pat King called on the Freedom Convoy to “retreat and regroup” at the Antrim Truck Stop in Arnprior: “You are to pull into the Antrim Truck Stop and await orders.”

The truck stop’s owners have previously insisted they are politically “neutral,” but emphasized they’ll serve any customer so long as they “follow the rules.”

Election Convoy organizers vow to use truck stop as a staging area anyway

Despite the Antrim Truck Stop giving clear notice that convoys are not welcome on their property, Election Convoy organizers are telling supporters to gather at the truck stop anyway before a planned “slow roll” to Ottawa this weekend:

“We are still meeting at Arnprior truck stop the owner is not very happy but if he doesn’t allow us to park there then we park on the shoulder of the road by the truck stop.”

According to a map distributed by Qweenie, the Election Convoy plans to drive east down Ottawa’s Queensway, exit at Kent Street, then drive several blocks north to Parliament Hill on Wellington Street, before looping back up to the Queensway via O’Connor and exiting the city heading west back into the Ottawa Valley.

Organizers plan to maintain speeds of 60 km/h throughout the “slow roll”:

“What it does is it slows down the rest of the traffic so they wonder ‘what the hell is going on?’ … It’s to slow down the traffic to bring awareness to what we’re doing.”

The map itself appears to date from around the 1960s, making reference to the “Royal Ottawa Sanatorium” (former name of the Royal Ottawa Hospital which has not been used since 1969) and the long closed Champlain High School in Westboro (which first opened in 1963).

One of the lead organizers of the so-called ‘Election Convoy’ says their group plans to create traffic jams on roadways across Canada until Justin Trudeau gives up and calls a snap election.

Shana Lee, who also goes by the name “Qweenie” online, is one of several organizers behind the Election Convoy and calls herself “the lead” for a convoy specifically heading to Ottawa.

I talked to Qweenie on the phone this week while she was in the middle of getting a “Freedom Convoy” tattoo on her arm in Regina. Here’s what Qweenie told me about the Election Convoy’s plans.

Nation-wide 60 km/h ‘Slow Roll’ Protests

Qweenie told me the Election Convoy is planning “slow rolls” in cities across Canada to pressure Justin Trudeau into calling an election.

“The only thing that’s in stone is that we’re doing the slow rolls in all the cities,” Qweenie said, with the main “slow roll” happening in Ottawa. “We’re gonna have a convoy of trucks and cars and stuff that will drive 60 on that main highway, 417, and around into Wellington Street a couple of times.”

“What it does is it slows down the rest of the traffic so they wonder ‘what the hell is going on?’,” Qweenie explained. “It’s to slow down the traffic to bring awareness to what we’re doing.”

“We know we can't stay because they put in a bunch of laws in Ottawa where you can’t idle for more than 10 minutes,” referring to a City of Ottawa by-law prohibiting vehicles from idling more than 10 minutes in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to Ottawa, slow rolls are planned in Toronto, Montréal, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Kingston, Windsor and Thunder Bay. These slow rolls are organized in private Facebook Group chats each with 50 to 100 members.

The Election Convoy has previously issued a statement clarifying that this new convoy will “not involve blockades or any form of obstruction to public infrastructure or essential services.”

Qweenie confirmed her convoy has so far had no contact with Ottawa Police: “I haven’t had talks with police at all.”

‘Sick and Tired’ of Waiting for an Election

What does the Election Convoy want? Qweenie says they oppose Trudeau’s decision to prorogue parliament because they simply don’t want to wait two or three months for the next federal election.

“People are sick and tired of this waiting around business. It doesn’t fly with us. We wanted him out so long ago and then to sit there and play us and make us look like silly citizens by sitting here waiting for him.”

“Something doesn’t smell right about them putting off Justin Trudeau out of parliament until March.”

“There’s something not right and that’s what I think Canadians are feeling right now is that we need to find out what’s smelling like fish over there.”

Qweenie speculates the decision to prorogue parliament may be connected to Trudeau’s pension: “I don’t know if it has something to do with his pension, which we are highly suspective of … I got to do a little more digging into it.”

(Canadian MPs are eligible to receive pensions after six years of service. Trudeau, who was first elected as an MP in 2008, became eligible to receive a pension in 2014. Prime ministers are eligible to receive an additional retirement allowance after holding office for four years.)

Rejects Freedom Convoy Leaders’ Disavowals

Qweenie also responded to a recent report from ConvoyWatch noting many original Freedom Convoy leaders are publicly disavowing the Election Convoy and telling their followers not to get involved.

“My take on that is I know a lot more about those people than the public knows,” Qweenie said, adding that in her opinion, Chris Barber and Tamara Lich’s roles in the original Freedom Convoy have been exaggerated.

Qweenie noted she first “started with the Yellow Vest in Alberta,” participated in the Freedom Convoy’s “Zello” chats and also “funded and was a pioneer of the Save the Children Convoy that fell apart last summer.”

“A lot of people know me, a lot of people trust me. I’ve done convoys before. My best friend is Pat King.”

How the Election Convoy Started

Qweenie says the Election Convoy first began when someone named “John” started a Facebook Group on January 7. Although she’s one of the lead organizers, Qweenie clarified that she does not actually know who John is, but she thinks he lives in Nova Scotia.

“They just started a page and then reached out to some of us and I reached out to them, sent them an email, told them: ‘Look I’m willing to do whatever you need me to do because I believe in my country and I’m ready to die for this shit if that’s what has to happen’.”

Qweenie emphasizes that the Election Convoy is “very organic” – “it’s completely organic right now, Luke.”

“All of a sudden, just one day, this protest came up and I emailed and it just shot out – we’ve only been seven days since they even announced this.”

“It’s going viral.”

Leaders of the original 2022 Freedom Convoy are scrambling to pour cold water on plans for a so-called ‘Election Convoy’.

The proposed ‘Election Convoy’, which is being planned to coincide with the Freedom Convoy’s 3-year anniversary, is pitching itself as a protest against Justin Trudeau’s prorogation of parliament to force a snap election.

Organized largely in far-right Facebook Groups, the 2025 ‘Election Convoy’ is being spearheaded by figures previously associated with the anti-LGBTQ+ “million march for children” protests and the “Save the Children Convoy,” a conspiratorial group that aspired to arrest political leaders.

#Convoy2025 trended in recent days on Elon Musk’s X.com.

Barber and Quiggin out

Among the most prominent voices speaking out against the planned ‘Election Convoy’ are Chris Barber and Tom Quiggin, two people with leadership roles in the 2022 Freedom Convoy.

Barber is a founding organizer of the 2022 Freedom Convoy while Quiggin, a former RCMP intelligence officer, advised the convoy’s leadership team by producing “daily intel reports.”

“This is a bad idea on so many different levels,” Quiggin said of the planned ‘Election Convoy’ Friday on X. “I will be staying as far away as possible from this event should it get going.”

“Agreed, innocent people will get hurt again,” Barber replied.

Activists and influencers give ‘Election Convoy’ the cold shoulder

Other activists and influencers linked to convoy and convoy-adjacent groups are also telling followers they’re steering clear of the ‘Election Convoy’:

• Eddie Cornell (co-founder of convoy spinoff group Veterans 4 Freedom): “I too do not support this idea.”

• Jeff Evely (V4F leader and PPC candidate): “I wonder if Convoy 2.0 will result in the ‘emergency’ the Liberals need for them to continue cleaving to power until the fall of 2026.”

• Yukon Strong (convoy influencer): “Meh, sorry guys, don’t think I’m on board this time around, it just seems kind of redundant to me.”

• The Pleb: (convoy influencer and Pierre Poilievre admirer): “This convoy is completely pointless.”

• Gordon Berry (Save the Children Convoy leader): “The admins, the mods on that page, all bullshit, nobody knows who they are. Nobody knows who these people are. So boom, that’s controlled opposition movement.”

• Patriot Smoothie (“Wellington Street Regulars” livestreamer): “A lot of these people I'm not sure if they were even in Ottawa for Freedom Convoy 2022, if they sacrificed anything at all. A lot of them are anonymous accounts … A lot of them are pushing narratives like we need to separate, we need to join the United States.”

Something’s off: ‘Election Convoy’ responds to Freedom Convoy leaders

“It’s funny how the head organizers of the original convoy are going against this one,” ‘Election Convoy’ organizers said in a statement Saturday. “Something seems off.”

‘Election Convoy’ walks back plans to obstruct highways

Although the ‘Election Convoy’ explicitly bills itself as “Convoy 2.0,” the group issued a public statement Friday insisting they do not condone “blockades” or any “obstruction to public infrastructure or essential services”:

“We are aware of the public’s concerns regarding the upcoming protest scheduled to begin on January 22. To clarify, this event is not a recreation of the original Freedom Convoy and will not involve blockades or any form of obstruction to public infrastructure or essential services.”

Despite this claim, the group has, in fact, advocated obstructing highways.

Who is behind the ‘Election Convoy’?

Chatter about reunion convoys marking the anniversary of the Freedom Convoy often pop up at this time of year, but Trudeau’s resignation and prorogation of parliament adds new urgency to that chatter.

The official ‘Election Convoy’ Facebook Group first appeared on January 7, the same day Derek Fildebrandt, Publisher of the Western Standard, published an op-ed advocating a “new convoy” to force Trudeau to call an election. Though the Facebook Group has shared Fildebrandt’s op-ed, there’s no indication the Western Standard and the Facebook Group have deeper links.

The convoy’s spokesperson, Freek Schep, graduated high school in 2022 and now runs a business importing Canadian maple syrup to the Netherlands. Schep was previously “head Halifax organizer” of the anti-LGBTQ+ “one million march for children” rally in 2023 and says he has also attended Dutch farmers’ protests in the Netherlands.

“I’m doing a lot of the media stuff for this convoy, for this ‘Election Now Convoy’,” Schep says in one video to convoy supporters. “We have a lot of people behind the scenes to make this happen.”

One ‘Election Convoy’ organizer working behind the scenes is a convoy livestreamer named “Qweenie ShanaLee.” Qweenie was a participant in the 2022 Freedom Convoy and was present at the Save the Children Convoy’s base camp near Casselman, Ontario in 2023.

Qweenie has also voiced views echoing sovereign citizen ideology. In a 2023 livestream video depicting her arrest, she told a police officer: “You have no rights over me, I live by common law — I’m sovereign.”

The person who confronted Justin Trudeau during a family ski vacation is a vocal anti-LGBTQ+ activist who was recently subject to a peace bond and ordered to stay away from an elementary school.

The expletive-laden encounter went viral over the weekend after far-right influencers and right-wing alternative media sources began sharing the video, suggesting ordinary Canadians are rising up against the prime minister.

In fact, Emily Duggan, the person who takes credit for swearing at Trudeau in front of his children at a BC ski resort, is actually a twice failed school trustee who runs an anti-LGBTQ+ group called “Moms Against the Norm.”

Duggan refused to answer questions from ConvoyWatch about her video or a recent peace bond banning her from contacting local school officials.

Far-right influencers and media sources promote viral video of Justin Trudeau being told to “get the f—k out of BC”

Justin Trudeau, who is currently facing internal pressure to step down amid the resignation of his finance minister and calls from dozens of Liberal MPs for new leadership, is contemplating his future during a family vacation to Red Mountain — a ski resort built at an old gold mine in British Columbia’s mountainous West Kootenays region.

Video from the ski hill shows someone following Trudeau and his children through a snowy parking lot while struggling to catch their breath.

“Mr. Prime Minister?” they ask in the cell phone video.

“Yes!” Trudeau replies, extending his arm for a hand shake.

“Please get the f—k out of BC,” they tell him.

“Haha,” Trudeau replies sarcastically. “Have a wonderful day ma’am.”

“You suck,” the person responds as the video ends.

It is unclear when the video was filmed and published, but it appears it began to be shared widely after it was posted December 27 by convoy livestreamer Chris Dacey, a member of the so-called “Wellington Street Regulars.”

Within 15 minutes, the video was ripped and shared by two other convoy influencers. The video has since been repackaged by dozens of far-right influencers and alternative media outlets in Canada and around the world.

The video was later picked-up by Toronto Sun columnist Joe Warmington, who suggested the video “appears to be an orchestrated gotcha moment rather than an authentic interaction.”

According to postings on Dacey’s Facebook page, an individual named Emily Duggan took credit for filming the Trudeau vacation ambush video.

Duggan, who refuses to comment on the video, did not deny being the voice in the video when explicitly asked by ConvoyWatch.

Emily Duggan: Anti-LGBTQ+ activist and twice failed school trustee candidate

Although most right-wing influencers and media sources sharing the video identified Duggan only as a generic “local BC resident” or “Canadian woman,” Duggan has a long and well-documented history of anti-LGBTQ+ activism.

Duggan runs a group called “Moms Against the Norm,” which has been active in protesting SOGI 123 educational resources and drag story time events — one event in 2023 that Duggan’s group was involved with reportedly led to multiple police investigations into suspected “hate-motivated incidents.”

Duggan is also connected to online far-right networks, appearing regularly on podcasts with influencers associated with the Freedom Convoy, anti-LGBTQ+ activism, Christian nationalist groups and other far-right figures.

After running a failed campaign for school trustee in Nelson, BC in 2022, Duggan failed a second time during school board elections in Castlegar, BC earlier this year.

During that campaign, Duggan spoke at an event organized by the far-right group Action4Canada and made an appearance on Rebel Media.

Duggan also responded to a questionnaire on issues for “2SLGBTQIA+ voters and parents of 2SLGBTQIA+ students” prepared by Advocacy Canada which offer futher insights into her beliefs.

“Gender diversity is an ideology,” Duggan told the 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy group. “I find it highly inappropriate that LGBT people of any age are constantly being singled out and over represented in our society … consistently cherry pick(ing) different demographics and hold(ing) them on a pedestal only creates division.”

Another question asked: “If elected, how will you combat homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in SD 20?” Duggan replied:

“If elected, I would combat the issues of Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia by encouraging educators to stop giving these students and staff special treatment. I believe that it is the special treatment provided to these groups that has created resentment in not only our hallways at school, but throughout our community.”

On social media, Duggan also claimed BC schools are promoting pedophilia:

“They are making pedophila a sexual orientation and normalizing it.”

Emily Duggan was subject to peace bond banning contact with school officials

Duggan’s behaviour is perhaps more troubling given that she has, by her own account, a history of public confrontations.

In a video from a “meet and greet” advertised on her own school trustee campaign website, Duggan explains her side of the story about an incident at an elementary school that led to her entering into a peace bond in 2023.

“It’s true,” Duggan says in the video. “I’m currently in a peace bond with three employees of School District 8.”

According to Duggan, she was involved in an incident that saw her storm into an elementary school resulting in a physical altercation with a receptionist, then proceeded to give the superindendant a “tongue lashing.” Duggan says police later came to her house and arrested her on her front lawn.

In Duggan’s telling of the story, she was motivated by grievances over water quality and school lunches, she insists the receptionist was the aggressor in the situation and actually made physical contact with her. She suggests the entire incident was politically-motivated.

“The mistake that I made was I went there upset,” Duggan later conceded.

When presented by ConvoyWatch with a copy of a peace bond published earlier this year by a website called Anti-Gender Watch, Duggan did not dispute the authenticity of the document.

The court document indicates Duggan was ordered by Justice Craig Sicotte to have no contact with three named school board employees and banned from entering an elementary school where the employees work.

The court document indicates Duggan acknowledged the peace bond in court and that it was in effect for 12 months beginning May 24, 2023.

One of the experts on Republican Senator Ron Johnson’s recent panel looking into the US government’s COVID-19 response is a promoter of conspiracies with antisemitic themes about a Moloch-worshipping “child sacrifice cult.”

Jason Christoff, a former Cornwall, Ontario gym owner turned self-help guru, appeared as a “mind control” expert in Washington, DC last week alongside former Ontario MPP Randy Hillier, a delegation of far-right European parliamentarians and several prominent anti-vaxxers.

During Christoff’s testimony, the self-help guru asserted that a “small group hiding inside government and business” were behind the COVID-19 pandemic but declined to explain further when questioned by Sen. Johnson.

‘Small group’ planned COVID-19 pandemic, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson told

Christoff, who also presented at CPAC and spoke at the Romanian Parliament in December, was introduced on Capitol Hill as a “mind control” expert, despite no academic or professional qualifications on the topic.

During testimony, Christoff claimed the COVID-19 pandemic was “executed to precision by a small group hiding inside government and big business.”

“Who do you think those small group of people are?” Sen. Johnson asked, to which Christoff replied: “That’s hard to say, Senator.”

“But somebody or some organizations are pulling the strings on this,” Sen. Johnson asked again. “Do you have any idea whatsoever?”

“I couldn’t say for sure,” Christoff answered. “They’re well above government.”

Following his testimony, Christoff posted a video expressing regret that he “side-stepped” the question because he “didn’t have enough time” to explain “without coming across as someone who’s mentally unstable”:

“The question was: ‘Who’s organizing all this?’ Who’s behind the censorship? Who’s behind all these odd policies and odd procedures and who’s in this full spectrum control where whatever group we’re talking about can control the banking system and can control what you see on the news and can control what the governments do and they can do it all at once, it doesn’t matter if you’re in Europe or in Mexico or in Canada, I mean, who is the group that’s pulling all the strings simultaneously?”

Christoff went on to share cryptic details about the “power group,” whom he claims has been controlling the world for “many, many generations”:

“If someone really wanted to know who is this group, well they leave their fingerprints everywhere, but they talk in this language that not many people talk in today, they talk in symbols, and even the word ‘symbol’ means ‘similar to the bull’, and when you hear the word ‘bull’ this is always referring to one of this group’s primary symbols — it’s a bull, it’s a deity.”

At one point, Christoff suggested the Washington Monument was erected as a 500 foot tribute to the penis of the male cow that is worshipped by the cult:

“One of their symbols is an obelisk. So, as we were in the Senate hearing, I don’t know how many miles away this obelisk is, it’s an Egyptian obelisk, the obelisk is not hidden in regard to what it’s meant to represent, it’s meant to represent a bull’s penis, and there’s one in Washington DC that’s 555 feet tall and 55 inches and the number 5 is basically a representation of what’s called the ‘fifth element’, there are four earth elements and one sort of invisible, magical element that is known to work invisibly in this realm, and basically in the realm of this old group, this old cult, this old organization of ruling families...”

Moloch-worshipping child sacrifice cult, explained

On his blog, Christoff writes extensively about his belief that the world is run by a “child sacrifice cult” that worships the “ancient god called Moloch.”

Moloch is popularly imagined as a demonic minotaur-like creature associated with pagan child sacrifice in the Old Testament, though the actual history behind this mythology is likely more convoluted.

In 2021, Christoff claimed that this Moloch-worshipping cult’s latest effort to “sacrifice” children was by “poisoning” them with COVID-19 vaccines:

“Could you be living right in the middle of a child sacrifice cult and not know it? … This ancient group is still here and they’re disguised as government, medicine, science and media. They’re coming hard at the children this fall. Be ready. They’re going to tie schooling to sacrificing your children via medical poisoning. Get ready to step between evil and your children. Protect your children as the creator intended.”

Christoff claims this Moloch-worshipping cult not only wants to murder children with vaccines, but it’s also using LGBTQ+ inclusive school curricula to groom them for “ancient sexualization rituals”:

“As this article is written, the government is now trying to vaccinate the children … Child sacrifice again and not just with poisoning the children, also with sexualizing them and using children in bizarre ancient sexualization rituals.”

Other blog posts allege the government runs a pedophile ring where elites “have sex with children, as well as sacrifice them in satanic ceremony”:

“The people at the top of the ruling pyramid are from ancient families who believe in pedophilia, child sacrifice, black magic and the abuse of children.”

Christoff also explicitly links this cult to Jews.

In his confused writings, Christoff claims the cult is run by the descendents of “ancient Egyptian black magicians” that trace their lineage to the Pharaohs, but have since “hid themselves inside the Jewish communities.”

“This mentally defective group of psychopathic murderers know how to dress their ancient evil up in modern disguises, in order to fool the goyim over and over again throughout the ages,” Christoff wrote, also suggesting the “ancient Kabbalah” advocated sacrificing “slaves” who are “goyim or gentiles.”

Christoff also attributes modern geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East to his theory that the British Royal Family traces its lineage to “ancient Egyptian royal Pharaonic bloodlines,” emphasizing their “bloodline is Hebrew in origin.”

He also claims the cult has the ability to control global events through its use of “black magic” and “mind control” techniques.

“I am not antisemitic”

Despite writing that “Egyptian black magicians” have disguised themselves as Jewish people to “fool the goyim,” Sen. Johnson’s COVID-19 pandemic expert insists he is not antisemitic.

“I am not antisemitic or anti-anything,” Christoff told ConvoyWatch. “I have Jewish friends and respect all people.” He added:

“I am (for the record) anti-child abuse and that includes all forms of child poisoning, child rape, child trafficking and child ritual murder …

If there is a small group of bad people ruling the world, who want to stay hidden, they have nothing to do with the good people of any nation, who are purposely kept in the dark.”

Christoff declined multiple opportunities to explain the antisemitic themes in his writings, indicating he instead wished to rebut ConvoyWatch on his blog where “inquiring minds” would be presented with the uncensored truth.

While Christoff’s confusing theories seem largely cut-and-paste from his own independent research, antisemitic conspiracies about “child sacrifice” and “Moloch” have a long history within the anti-abortion movement and have more recently metastasized in QAnon and anti-vaccine circles.

The Anti-Defamation League has flagged it as one of the recurring “antisemitic conspiracies” in these online spaces:

“A central conspiracy theory is the claim that biblical Jews sacrificed their children to Moloch – a Canaanite deity associated with child sacrifice in the Old Testament – and therefore, modern Judaism promotes baby killing (Note: According to religious texts, Jews were, in fact, forbidden from worshipping Moloch).”

Jason Christoff connected to Randy Hillier and his ‘No More Lockdowns’ Group

Christoff had some company on his journey from Cornwall, Ontario to Washington, DC — former Ontario PC MPP Randy Hillier also testified at Sen. Johnson’s COVID-19 panel on Capitol Hill.

Hillier, who was expelled from Doug Ford’s caucus in 2019, founded the group “No More Lockdowns” in opposition to COVID-19 public health restrictions and later helped organize the 2022 Freedom Convoy occupation of Ottawa.

Christoff has appeared with Hillier at numerous No More Lockdown events. In 2021, Christoff stood beside Hillier during an anti-vaccine speech with an oversized novelty copy of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“Randy is a true hero,” Christoff said. “He’s an alpha male.”

Former Ontario PC MPP Randy Hillier joined US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, far-right European parliamentarians and several prominent anti-vaxxers for a Republican senator’s conspiratorial COVID-19 panel.

The roundtable discussion, led by Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, was titled: “Federal Health Agencies and the COVID Cartel: What Are They Hiding?”

Sen. Johnson railed against “global elites” and “the overhyped fear over a virus they helped create in order to push a profitable gene therapy platform and gain greater control over our lives,” before introducing Hillier and other panelists as “dissident voices” who had “paid a heavy price for exercising their right to free speech.”

Hillier has been dealing with nine convoy-related criminal charges, including assaulting a police officer, mischief, counselling others to commit mischief and resisting or obstructing a police officer. Hillier has stated he intends to self-represent himself as his own lawyer at his upcoming trial.

Wisconsin Senator’s COVID conspiracy panel

Held in a congressional building on Washington D.C.’s Constitution Avenue, a media advisory billed the “panel discussion about the COVID Cartel coverup” as a “roundtable discussion” with “advocates, whistleblowers” and “experts”:

“Sen. Johnson and a panel of experts will expose the truth about how the COVID Cartel – federal health agencies, Big Pharma, legacy media, and Big Tech – engaged in censorship and coverups. This discussion will also shine a light on the failures and corruption of the global elite...”

Sen. Johnson is an ally of former President Donald Trump and has promoted a wide-range of conspiracies relating to COVID-19, climate change and the January 6 insurrection.

Other members of the panel of experts included:

• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a controversial GOP congressperson known for her past involvement in QAnon conspiracies.

• Sorin-Titus Muncaciu, a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies who is an outspoken critic of COVID-19 vaccines.

• Rob Roos, a far-right Dutch Member of the European Parliament who has a history promoting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

• Robert Malone, an anti-vaccine doctor who regularly appears on US right-wing media and has been flagged as a spreader of misinformation about vaccines and the COVID-19 virus.

• Harvey Risch, a controversial Yale academic criticized in an open letter by fellow faculty for promoting hydroxychloroquine.

• Jason Christoff, a Newfoundland-born podcaster and self-help guru who purports to be an expert on “brainwashing” and “mind control.”

• Lara Logan, a former media personality “dumped” by FOX News who now embraces far-right conspiracies; Logan is also on the board of a group chaired by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Randy Hillier claims government is hunting and punishing convoy supporters

Hillier’s testimony repeatedly and inaccurately portrayed himself and other convoy participants as victims of government tyranny.

During questions, Sen. Johnson asked about the government’s “persecutions of the truckers,” lamenting they had been “treated savagely.” Hillier replied by suggesting convoy participants are being “hunted down” by police and being subjected to malicious forms of legal “punishment” for speaking out:

Sen Johnson: “Can you describe some of the persecutions of the truckers? Because I thought that was, it was very difficult to watch, they inspired a trucker movement here in the United States as well, but it was really the Canadian truckers that had the courage to step forward and protest and they were treated savagely, weren’t they?

Hillier: “Oh absolutely. There was trucks vandalized by the authorities, there was physical abuse and violence, but then there was the lawfare that was applied and as the Chief of Police in Ottawa said, he said: ‘We are going to hunt all of you down’. During the convoy. And they have. There is people here this weekend that were hunted down and charged a year later who had trucks in Ottawa.”

Sen. Johnson: “Charged with what?”

Hillier: “Charged with mischief, obstruction, generally very trivial, catch-all criminal charges, but as we know senator, when you use the law with malice, you can make due process do punishment very quickly and that is what our authorities are doing in Ottawa, they’re not using the justice as a shield to protect individual freedoms and liberties, they are using it as a weapon to destroy people’s liberties.”

Neither former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly nor Acting Chief Steve Bell ever said they planned to “hunt” convoy participants, although they did note police would investigate and identify those engaging in criminal activity.

Convoy was happiest time in Ottawa’s history

Hillier, who delivered a speech on Parliament Hill during the Freedom Convoy comparing it to the Battle of Vimy Ridge before declaring “this is the hill we die on,” told the panel that the convoy was a “joyful” and “most happy time”:

“There was never a threat to the security of the nation during the trucker’s convoy, because indeed, it was the most joyful, most family-friendly, most exuberant, most happy time that the City of Ottawa has ever seen in its history.”

Canadians are world leaders in resistance against public health, Randy Hillier says

In an email to supporters of his “No More Lockdowns” group this week, Hillier said his presentation in Washington shows “Canadian voices are being heard around the world”:

“Although our Canadian politicians and media are still playing ostrich, the rest of the world is awakening and taking notice.”

Hillier also revealed that he plans to submit a “factum of evidence” at the end of March to the judge in his criminal trial which he believes will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the “convoy was a necessary response to oppose the deadly and harmful mRNA jabs.”

Ottawa’s Police Services Board says it has requested Ottawa Police conduct an operational review of its response to an illegal convoy fireworks display after becoming aware of a possible “discrepancy” in information presented by Ottawa Police at a board meeting this week.

As first reported by ConvoyWatch, a group of convoy supporters launched multiple rounds of fireworks on February 17 after a hostile confrontation with police that ended with no arrests and officers pulled from the scene.

In response to questions from ConvoyWatch about information presented at its February 26 board meeting, Ottawa’s Police Services Board acknowledged a possible “discrepancy” in information presented by Ottawa Police:

“The Ottawa Police Services Board has been made aware that there may be a discrepancy between information provided to the Board at its public meeting on February 26th, 2024, and information circulating on social media with respect to the fireworks incident on February 17, 2024.

Continuing to rebuild public trust and confidence with the community is a priority for the Board.

Further to a clarification sought by the Board, the Ottawa Police Service will be undertaking an operational review to determine what transpired during the fireworks incident on February 17, 2024.”

Ottawa police chief falsely claimed fireworks not deployed while police were on scene

During the police board meeting, Ottawa Police leadership suggested that the reason no one was arrested during the illegal fireworks display was because officers “did not observe any fireworks”:

“Upon attendance, there were no fireworks being deployed and thus no charges were issued.”

However, video recorded by ConvoyWatch contradicts information presented to the board by Ottawa’s Police Chief — in fact, it actually shows officers were on the scene watching the fireworks but took no action:

In his version of events, Chief Stubbs also suggested police spoke with convoy supporters and the activity stopped with no further fireworks that night:

“The remaining OPS officers ensured demonstrators understood the boundaries of lawful behaviour and they stopped this activity. While there were reports of some noise after officers left, there were no significant events that night. However, By-law does inform that they have an open investigation into the fireworks incident.”

Incident commander falsely claimed officers “did not observe any fireworks”

Chief Stubbs’ narrative was echoed by Acting Inspector Julie Mann, identified as the incident commander that evening.

Mann told the police board that officers responded to a “disturbance” at the intersection of Kent and Queen Street just after 6:00 PM.

Claiming police “received information regarding fireworks being deployed at that location” and reminded “convoy folks” to keep the “noise down” and not shoot fireworks, the commander emphasized officers “did not observe any fireworks deployed when they were present”:

“Shortly thereafter, just after 6:00 PM, the Ottawa Police received a call for service regarding a disturbance at the intersection of Kent and Queen Street, which is the parking lot located immediately beside the Red Pepper on Queen Street. Officers also received information regarding fireworks being deployed at that location. Ottawa Police responded, our frontline officers attended and spoke to the protesters, the convoy folks that were there on scene, and did not observe any fireworks deployed when they were present, however, they did have conversations with the protesters regarding keeping the noise down as well as reminding them regarding the fireworks, the use of the fireworks.”

Time stamps contradict Ottawa Police presentation to police board

The version of events presented by Stubbs and senior officers suggests that the fireworks were set-off before officers arrived and stopped after police intervened and told convoy supporters to knock it off.

Videos recorded by ConvoyWatch, as well as livestream videos posted by convoy supporters, show definitively this is not true.

Before 7:00 and 7:30 PM, at least four Ottawa Police cruisers were present at the scene dealing with angry crowds before the fireworks incident.

Shortly before 7:30 PM, multiple police cruisers left the scene, leaving only one police cruiser behind to deal with the crowd.

Time stamps on videos show:

• One police officer was on scene and watched the first round of fireworks from the roadside.

• The lone police cruiser left the scene 20 minutes later.

• With no police presence whatsoever, convoy supporters spent the next half-hour randomly lobbing objects resembling cherry bombs into the air and set-off a second round of fireworks.

Community group says police board needs to hold police chief accountable

Sam Hersh, a director of the local community group Horizon Ottawa and a plaintiff in a constitutional challenge against the police board, said he was pleasantly surprised by the police board’s response, but stressed the board needs to go further and hold Chief Stubbs accountable:

“I'm glad that the Police Board followed-up. Seeing them being willing to be held accountable is a rare occurrence.

I am quite concerned however about the conduct of the Chief during this meeting. Giving wrong information to the public that clearly contradicts public information about police presence during the fireworks is troubling and he needs to be held accountable.”

Hersh added that inaccurate information presented to the police board is frustrating, but also not surprising:

“I am frustrated but not surprised because this is what we have come to expect of the OPS.

Their frequent attempts to either skew narratives in their favour or at the very best, be willfully ignorant, instead of changing their ways and being more accountable should tell us all we need to know about how much the OPS value public feedback and care about ‘regaining public trust’.”

One of the spokespersons at a bizarro convoy press conference last week got into the House of Commons despite recently being denied entry to the House of Commons gallery by the Parliamentary Security Service.

Chris Dacey, a livestreamer regularly seen loitering on Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill, raised eyebrows when he walked up to the podium at the House of Commons’ 135-B Press Conference Room.

Dacey and Lynne Brooks, another member of the entourage that showed up at Room 135-B, have histories of confronting politicians in public and are both banned from attending House of Commons proceedings.

“I’ve been told I’ve been banned for a year”

Dacey and Brooks have extensively chronicled their experiences being denied entry to the House of Commons on livestreams — even in the last few weeks.

On January 29, a few weeks before the February 16 press conference, Dacey posted a video claiming “I’ve been told I’ve been banned for a year”:

“I just gone through security, I was on my way to sit in the gallery, where I was stopped by two PPS people who asked me my name and told me I am banned, I am trespassed and banned from the House of Commons.”

On February 15, only a day before the convoy press conference, Brooks said in a livestream that the PPS kicked her out of the House of Commons:

“When I went to the doors … the welcome centre to go into the gallery, I was stopped by two PPS who said I was not allowed in — not even in the doors.”

Brooks has been playing cat-and-mouse games with parliamentary security attempting to get into the House of Commons for much of the last year.

In October, PressProgress reported Brooks and a dozen guests linked to the “Save the Children Convoy” invited by Conservative MP Arnold Viersen were bounced from the House of Commons over their association with Brooks.

One thing that may put Brooks on the radar of security are her numerous livestream videos following Justin Trudeau to events around Ontario. Last summer, Brooks was part of a group that swarmed Trudeau in Belleville.

“Chris Dacey and I are on the list of ‘no go into the House’ people,” Brooks has claimed. Dacey himself has also alleged that the PPS keeps a secret “list of people who are not allowed in the House of Commons.”

Sources confirmed to ConvoyWatch that Dacey and Brooks are both banned from entering the House of Commons gallery to watch proceedings, though that ban does not technically extend to other areas of the building.

Convoy leader says Parliamentary Press Gallery let them in

Derek Noonan, the main convoy press conference organizer, said the process for booking the House of Commons press conference was smooth and easy.

“I just booked it as a normal citizen would book it because I was part of the freedom rally,” Noonan told ConvoyWatch. “Any organization could get it I think as long as media is willing to attend.”

Room 135-B is booked through the Parliamentary Press Gallery. Noonan said he simply called the Press Gallery on the phone to book it.

Noonan said he was disappointed rival convoy organizers are now claiming his press conference is proof he’s a “government operative.”

“Unfortunately within the Freedom Movement, there’s all kinds of conspiracy theories and this and that, they’re wondering, ‘well, how the hell were you able to book a press room?’” Noonan said. “Anyone could book a press room. That one was the one that they gave me.”

Noonan said he invited Dacey and Brooks with two of seven guest passes.

He said Jim Kerr, who drives a psychedelic Burning Man-inspired school bus called the “Church of Bubbles,” and Maggie Hope Braun, who is involved in a group setting-up a “parallel” shadow government, also planned to speak at the press conference but couldn’t make it due to “inclement weather.”

The convoy leader confirmed Dacey and Brooks are banned from the gallery and added he’s not entirely clear why security let them in, but speculated it was because “the House wasn’t sitting.”

“When they go to try to watch Parliament, they’re not allowed in,” Noonan said. “I presume that’s the reason why they were allowed in, because we’re not actually going in to watch them.”

Noonan recalled PPS shadowed them closely while inside the building.

“I will say, we obviously got a lot more security attention than the average person that was going in to do a historical tour of the place.”

Noonan described security as “rigid” and said that when the press conference was finished, they were “escorted out” — “they toured us through from the press room right up to where we left parliament.”

Press gallery doesn’t screen press conference speakers

Press conferences booked through the Parliamentary Press Gallery carry few restrictions, other than limits on time or number of speakers on stage.

While activists and advocacy groups of many stripes hold press conferences at the House of Commons to raise attention for important issues with real public interest value, it is unusual to see press conferences held by people previously bounced by parliamentary security.

In a statement to ConvoyWatch, Parliamentary Press Gallery president Mia Rabson emphasized that screening for security would be handled by others:

“The press gallery does not decide who is and is not eligible to hold a press conference on Parliament Hill. Individual agencies and bureaus can and do decide for themselves which press conferences they will and will not cover. Normal security procedures apply for all persons accessing either Room 135-B in West Block or the National Press Theatre, including the screening of individuals by the Parliamentary Protective Service.”

PPS says it doesn’t screen press conference speakers either

It’s unclear what screening, if any, took place — but it wasn’t by the PPS.

A spokesperson for the Parliamentary Protective Service said “granting or vetting access” to the House of Commons falls outside its mandate:

“The Parliamentary Protective Service’s mandate is to ensure physical security on the grounds of Parliament Hill and within Parliamentary Precinct buildings. Granting or vetting access to Parliamentary Precinct guests falls outside of our jurisdiction.”

House of Commons can’t get into details about what happened

Another possibility could be that Dacey and Brooks were screened by the Sergeant-at-Arms or House of Commons corporate security.

Responding to questions about why people banned for security reasons from the House of Commons gallery are allowed to hold press conferences in the same building, a House of Commons spokesperson told ConvoyWatch:

“Visitors may access Parliament buildings as long as their movements do not occur within an area that is restricted to them. All visitors must be scanned prior to entry into any of the Parliament buildings. For security reasons, we cannot provide additional details.”

No one was arrested or ticketed this weekend after a rowdy parking lot party celebrating the two-year anniversary of the Freedom Convoy and invocation of the Emergencies Act ended quite literally in fireworks.

City of Ottawa By-law and Ottawa Police confirm no charges or fines were issued Saturday night, despite an incident at the corner of Queen and Kent where a few dozen convoy supporters aggressively confronted police.

After being told to “get the fuck out of here,” ConvoyWatch observed several police vehicles leave the scene. Convoy supporters then set off dozens of rounds of fireworks next to office buildings and hotels.

City of Ottawa confirms no fines issued, despite fireworks:

City of Ottawa By-law said it issued no fines Saturday night but has opened an investigation into the illegal fireworks first reported by ConvoyWatch.

Roger Chapman, the City of Ottawa’s Director of By-law and Regulatory Services, provided the following statement to ConvoyWatch:

“Before and during demonstrations in Ottawa, By-law and Regulatory Services (BLRS) works with organizers and participants to educate them on the City’s by-laws and find resolutions to any issues that may arise.

During the protests that occurred this past weekend, BLRS did not issue any fines, however an investigation into the illegal discharge of fireworks downtown remains open. As the investigation is still underway, the City cannot provide any additional information at this time.”

Ottawa Police also laid no charges, despite ‘pulling back’ from aggressive convoy supporters:

In its own statement to ConvoyWatch, the Ottawa Police Service likewise said no charges were laid by police during the encounter at Queen and Kent:

“Both the Ottawa Police and City By-law attended on Saturday evening; and no charges were laid by police. Demonstrators were warned and there were no further disturbance incidents to note that evening.”

Livestreams showed an aggressive and emboldened crowd chanting “shame” and yelling at police to “get the fuck out of here.”

“They were met with chants of ‘arrest Trudeau’ and it looks like they have changed their minds and are bailing out,” convoy spokesperson Chris Dacey boasted on a livestream video.

An Ottawa Police spokesperson suggested one reason police officers may have pulled back from the scene was for their own safety:

“It should be noted that police officers pulling back from an active scene could be related to the participants, responders and officers safety.”

Local elected officials speak out against ‘double-standard’:

Ottawa’s uneven enforcement of laws has been a subject of criticism in recent months after a union leader was arrested at a protest for striking workers and fines issued for using megaphones at Palestinian anti-war protests.

The convoy’s comparatively gentle treatment by law enforcement prompted a number of local elected officials to speak out against the growing perception of a “double-standard” in how laws are being enforced in Ottawa.

Downtown Ottawa city councillor Ariel Troster issued a statement Tuesday noting constituents have told her the police and by-law response to convoy supporters’ behaviour over the weekend appeared “hypocritical”:

“A number of residents wrote to me this weekend with concerns about what seemed to them as uneven enforcement of noise bylaws, particularly with the demonstrations associated with the two-year anniversary of the convoy.

Many pointed out that it seemed hypocritical that participants in recent anti-war and pro-LGTBQ rallies were given tickets, while it appeared that convoy folks were allowed to act with impunity.

The issue of who is getting ticketed and why is a hot issue amongst my council colleagues and something that we are actively investigating. We are looking for a solution — whether it is some sort of agreement around guidelines for enforcement or a potential amendment to the bylaw to allow for some lower-volume amplified sound during political demonstrations.

Setting off illegal fireworks and leaning on air horns is disruptive to downtown residents and also triggering for people who lived through the convoy occupation.

I have written to the Chief of Police and the Chief of Bylaw Services to find out how many tickets were handed out and what charges were issued this weekend.”

Likewise, Nepean-area councillor Sean Devine also suggested there has been a lack of consistency in how laws are being enforced:

“If we’re issuing fines for the use of megaphones during some protests, surely these acts merit punitive measures as well.”

Ottawa-Centre MPP Joel Harden also noted the response by law enforcement to the convoy’s urban fireworks display represented a “double-standard”:

“Neighbours peaceully demanding #CeasefireNOW and justice for Palestinian siblings are given $500 tickets, but convoy supporters lighting fireworks and loudly honking are ignored. The double-standard continues to be disappointing and cannot be ignored.”

Arrests after violent altercation on Parliament Hill:

In a separate incident Sunday, Claude Comtois, a regular convoy protester known for wearing a hat made of tinfoil, was handcuffed by the Parliamentary Protective Service after grabbing and tackling a local counterprotester.

Video posted on social media showed multiple convoy protesters bumping and placing hands on combative local activist Deana Sherif in an incident that took place on Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill.

During the melee, Comtois, also known as ‘tinfoil hat guy’, is seen grabbing Sherif from behind, hauling her onto Parliament Hill, then tackling her and sitting on top of her while attempting to present her to the PPS.

The PPS subsequently handcuffed Sherif as well and issued her a ticket for trespassing after she was ordered to leave Parliament Hill for yelling at a convoy supporter wearing yellow pajamas, a top hat and a cape.

Sherif told ConvoyWatch she plans to contest the trespassing ticket and will file a formal complaint against the PPS. Sherif said she is also looking into pressing charges against Comtois.

Ottawa Police were treated to a dazzling urban fireworks display celebrating the two-year anniversary of the invocation of the Emergencies Act.

Colourful explosions illuminated downtown Ottawa office buildings as convoy revellers gathered in a parking lot around a giant inflatable sheep fastened to a pick-up truck, heckling police and chanting: “Arrest Trudeau.”

Ottawa Police were spotted observing the fireworks display, before departing from the scene and leaving the area without police presence for hours.

Dystopian Canada Day celebration:

The illegal fireworks display, which took place in a paid parking lot operated by Impark located at the corner of Kent and Queen, involved two or three dozen people who had participated in Freedom Convoy anniversary events earlier in the day.

The rowdy and belligerent group were observed lining the Queen Street sidewalk heckling and swearing at police around 7:00 PM.

Nearly half-an-hour later, after a vehicle was towed and several police cruisers left the scene, convoy supporters unloaded a truck and began launching a volley of fireworks from the middle of the parking lot.

Over the course of the next hour, convoy supporters fired off dozens of rounds of fireworks, which could be heard loudly echoing off the sides of office buildings, condos and hotels through downtown Ottawa.

The blasts, approximately 20 to 30 metres in the air, sparkled and showered onto the streets and sidewalks below.

Tourists in Ottawa for Winterlude, including families with small children, were seen at various points crossing the intersection, which is adjacent to a large hotel and a light rail station.

In the City of Ottawa, fireworks may only be used on private property and under strict conditions on Canada Day and Victoria Day.

According to Ottawa By-law Services, “minimum safety distances … must be maintained from spectators, buildings and vehicles” and “the fireworks display must not cause danger or nuisance to any person or property.”

In addition to the urban fireworks display, some convoy supporters were also seen randomly lobbing cherry bombs into the air.

‘Get the fuck out of here’:

The explosive celebration followed an aggressive encounter between police and convoy supporters on Queen Street.

According to Chris Dacey, a lead convoy organizer who a day earlier spoke on behalf of the convoy at a press conference on Parliament Hill, a group of convoy supporters became agitated after someone was pulled over by police.

Dacey alleged that Ottawa Police retreated from the scene after the convoy group aggressively confronted police.

“They were met with chants of ‘arrest Trudeau’ and it looks like they have changed their minds and are bailing out,” Dacey claimed.

Video shows the emotional and hostile crowd chanting “shame” and offering suggestions as to what the police should do rather than enforce the law.

“Get the fuck out of here,” one convoy supporter named Dean yelled.

Other videos show convoy supporters citing a recent federal court ruling on the Emergencies Act to suggest they are on the right side of the law.

“You seen the Emergencies Act thing? We’re innocent,” a YouTuber named Kotab123 told Ottawa Police.

“You guys were in the wrong, bro,” Kotab added. “You guys were in the wrong.”

Other videos livestreamed by convoy participants show that Ottawa Police eventually returned after 11 PM.

In a noisy back-and-forth, nearly a dozen Ottawa Police officers informed the group that they had received reports of “public drinking” and “fireworks.”

“A couple of hours ago, there were multiple fireworks going off,” one officer is heard telling convoy organizer Chris Dacey, adding that they are on the scene “making sure there’s no fireworks.”

“Nobody has a comment on any political affiliation,” another officer said. “We’re here to maintain the public peace and maintain city ordinances such as noise by-laws against loud speakers, fireworks and horn honking.”

Ottawa Police unavailable for comment:

It is unclear if Ottawa Police made any arrests or issued any fines in relation to the encounters between police and convoy supporters Saturday night.

In an automated email to ConvoyWatch, the Ottawa Police Service indicated it was unavailable to respond to media requests as its office is closed due to the Family Day long weekend.

In 2023, the Emergencies Act Inquiry attributed a major reason for invoking the Emergencies Act to numerous “failures” and a “general breakdown” within the Ottawa Police Service.

An arrest warrant has been issued for an outspoken “parental rights” activist with links to a far-right pseudolegal convoy group on child abduction charges.

Astryd Schiller, age 54 of Clarington, Ontario, is wanted on three counts of abduction by a parent and one count of disobeying a court order.

According to a January 24 media release from Durham Regional Police:

“In December 2023 investigators from East Division began a complex investigation regarding the whereabouts of three children and their mother.  Throughout the investigation there has been no safety concerns for the children and numerous processes have taken place between the courts and the Children’s Aid Society. Investigators have been in contact with the mother, however have been unable to locate her or the children and she is no longer cooperating with police.”

Durham Regional Police are requesting anyone with information about the incident or their whereabouts to call 905-579-1520 or submit anonymous tips through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Links to conspiratorial, pseudoloegal convoy group ‘Stand4Thee’

Schiller is listed as a member of a Facebook group called “Stand4Thee” and has participated in the group’s Zoom meetings.

Schiller has also appeared on a number of Stand4Thee Zoom calls to discuss strategies to oppose SOGI-123 inclusive educational content.

Stand4Thee is a far-right group that creates pseudolegal documents relating to conspiracies about public health measures, vaccines and education.

The group first popped up during the pandemic and its group’s members have since been involved with the 2022 Freedom Convoy, last year’s “Save the Children Convoy” and an upcoming plan to occupy police stations.

Notice of Liability to Schools

In October 2023, Schiller appeared on a Stand4Thee Zoom call where one of the group’s leaders, Rebecca Sheppard, accidentally posted a “notice of liability” that had been put together for one of Schiller’s children.

“Whoops, there’s his last name, dammit, stop screenshare,” Sheppard gasps during the call. “Okay, I’ll cut that out later.”

The “Notice of Liability” puts Schiller’s school on notice that her child “will not engage in any discussions regard(ing) sexual orientation or gender ideolgy” and will “not answer any questions regarding his gender nor his sexual identity to anyone at any time with no exceptions.”

The Notice blames school programs promoting “gender ideology” on an initiative backed by the United Nations. It concludes by informing the school it could be liable to pay the parent penalties of up to $25,000.

Sheppard later invited Schiller to speak on the call, telling viewers that “this is the NOL that we put together for her.”

Schiller revealed she has had multiple confrontations with her children’s elementary school principal, something prompted after a teacher asked her child to fill out a “questionnaire” about themself in early September.

“The principal told me that this questionnaire is now in the file of my son, in the school file, and I thought: ‘Excuse me?’ This is nothing official, I did not give my consent, how do you dare. What?”

A template of the Notice uploaded to Stand4Thee’s website replaces Schiller’s child’s name with a space for parents to add their own child’s name, but some of the examples and dates echo grievances Schiller herself cited on the call.

Other grievances include the raising of a “Pride flag on the school’s flagpole,” the school designating a bathroom as “gender neutral,” the school allowing an 2SLGBTQ+ group to hand out leaflets, and the school allowing students to get vaccinated during the school day.

During another Stand4Thee “Parents Info” Zoom webinar promoting the Notice of Liability, Sheppard and Schiller linked their opposition to inclusive educational content with a “demonic war” on Christian values:

“This whole nonsense of not being Christian and it’s not okay, I’ll tell you something, that’s what they want you to believe, and what they’ve done by doing so, is they’ve actually created a renaissance in Christianity and God. And this is a demonic war, this is Satan’s playground, and the only way that we can win that is by having God in our heart and you know what, we can’t worry about what other people think of us.”

Schiller agreed, suggesting those who “read the Bible” and “have the faith and the Holy Spirit” will be protected by an “army of angels.”

She added that now is the time to “stand up” because what is happening now is what was described “in the Book of Revelations”:

“This is why I believe that it’s now the time and it’s in the Book of Revelation guys, go in and read it, it is now the time to stand up.”

Last week, ConvoyWatch documented some of the bizarre happenings taking place at Ottawa’s courthouse involving convoy characters.

From a QAnon figure applying for intervenor status in the Tamara Lich trial to former MPP Randy Hillier’s announcement that he plans to act as his own lawyer at his upcoming criminal trial.

I also have audio from Hillier’s two-hour long group chat sharing details about his legal strategy — he says he’s going to subpoena journalists and politicians to prove the “real crime” was committed by the government.

Best of luck, Randy!

- Luke

PS: If you’d like to support my work, please forward this email to your friends and ask them to sign-up for this free newsletter.

Randy Hillier Will Act As His Own Lawyer At His Upcoming Criminal Trial

Randy Hillier told an Ottawa court he has parted ways with his lawyer and will be self-representing himself at his upcoming criminal trial.

[Read more]

Randy Hillier Vows to Prosecute the Government At His Upcoming Criminal Trial

During a group chat, Randy Hillier shared details about his legal strategy in his upcoming self-represented criminal trial.

[Read more]

QAnon Figure Applies for Intervenor Status in Tamara Lich Criminal Trial

A Canadian sovereign citizen is applying for “intervenor status” in the criminal trial of Freedom Convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.

[Read more]

Randy Hillier has a fool-proof legal strategy for winning his criminal trial.

After recently disclosing he has parted ways with his lawyer and plans to self-represent himself in court, the former Ontario PC MPP shared insights into his legal strategy during a Twitter Spaces group chat Friday night.

Hillier says he will attempt to persuade an Ottawa judge that the “real crime” has been perpetrated by the government, not by him.

$100,000 legal fees, and counting: Hillier disclosed he “alleviated my counsel of his legal obligations” after spending “just shy of $100,000 in legal expenses.”

“Not to disparage my previous legal counsel in any way, he is part of this monster that we have created and the only thing that feeds this monster is … our prosperity and our wealth,” Hillier explained.

“My wife and I would be homeless if I continued on that path. That’s the only thing that was absolutely certain, regardless of innocence or guilt.”

Prosecute the government: Hillier also revealed his legal strategy will revolve around turning the tables on the Crown and proceed as if the government is on trial, rather than himself.

“The real crime that has been committed has been by our government,” Hillier explained. “We must put them on trial”:

Randy Hillier: “I've already spent just shy of a $100,000 in legal expenses and the only thing that I was certain that would happen if I continued on that path is that I would lose my home, that I would be in poverty, my wife and I would be homeless if I continued on that path. That's the only thing that was absolutely certain, regardless of innocence or guilt.

And I don't want people to spend money to feed the monster.

And I don't want to feed the monster.

And I want to do battle with this monster.

And I want to fight this monster.

And I want to wrestle this monster down to the ground and defeat him.

And I can't do that if the person fighting for me is also co-opted and part of the monster in the machine.

But in addition to this, it's not just the charges against me. The real crime that has been committed has been by our government. It's not been by the Freedom Convoy people. It's not been by the No More Lockdown people. That's not where the crime has been committed.

The crime is how our government has treated us. And and we must put them on trial.”

Subpoenas for journalists and politicians: Hillier also reiterated that his legal strategy involves issuing subpoenas to “culpable” journalists, politicians and police whose testimony, he believes, will prove that the official narrative about the Freedom Convoy was not “truthful.”

Hillier declined to “release names and whatnot,” but indicated “people within the mainstream media” and “retired cabinet ministers” would be among those who will be unable to “evade the cross examination”:

“Randy Hillier: I want everybody, like, there are people that I know who are culpable and, as I mentioned in my commentary today, I know that there are people within the mainstream media who have shared with me how they were pressured not to be truthful.

I know that there are people in most senior offices within the government, in the bureaucracy, who know what they did was wrong. I know of law enforcement, senior positions, who know that what was done was wrong. But for people to understand, it is very difficult to compel an elected member of the parliament or the legislature to court.

So I will be subpoening retired cabinet ministers or elected people who are no longer in offices, who no longer enjoy that privilege that they can escape and evade the cross-examination.

Amanda Purdy: that's a very good strategy in a very good point because then they don't have parliamentary privilege. Is there anybody provincial?

Randy Hillier: Oh, yes. Very much so. I'm not going to release names and whatnot.”

Hillier is facing nine criminal charges, including assaulting a police officer, mischief, counselling others to commit mischief and resisting or obstructing a police officer.

During the group chat, Hillier noted one of the central issues in his charges relate to allegations he hit a police officer with a steel barricade, something he insists is “a total fabrication, a total falsehood.”

Randy Hillier is flying solo.

During a court appearance Friday, the ultra-libertarian former Ontario PC MPP disclosed to an Ottawa judge that he had parted ways with his lawyer, David Anber, following a breakdown in the solicitor-client relationship.

Hillier says he will self-represent himself in his upcoming trial on criminal charges stemming from his role in the 2022 Freedom Convoy.

Speaking to livestreamers as he left court, Hillier confirmed he would be acting as his own lawyer in his criminal trial.

“I have now elected to represent myself in the court of law,” Hillier said.

Hillier added that he intends to subpoena journalists and politicians to testify at his trial about their complicity in anti-lockdown measures:

“When my trial goes forward, there will be members of the media called as witnesses in my defence. These measures have to be, what actually happened has to be underestood. And I will be calling senior members of the government, senior law enforcement officers, senior but retired members of the parliament to be here and to give testimony to why and how we allowed so much harm and injury to be done and how they sat back and allowed our shield of justice to be weaponized against us.”

Hillier declined a request for comment from ConvoyWatch.

Hillier, a former Ontario PC leadership candidate, was expelled from Doug Ford’s Ontario PC caucus in 2019 after insulting the parent of a child with autism.

During the pandemic, Hillier and his family created a group called “No More Lockdowns” to protest Covid-19 public health rules and later went on to become a key organizer of the Freedom Convoy.

Court Cat, an account that regularly monitors convoy court proceedings, was an observer at Hillier’s hearing Friday morning and provided ConvoyWatch with the following update:

“Hillier requested modifications to his bail conditions to facilitate his self-representation, as they currently restricted him from being in Ottawa without legal counsel. He also asked for the transfer of disclosure responsibilities from Mr. Anber to himself. The judge noted the removal of Mr. Anber as counsel of record, confirming Hillier’s self-representation status.”

In September, Hillier lost his bid to change the venue of his criminal trial from Ottawa to another city in Ontario after unsuccessfully arguing to a judge that he could not have a fair trial in Ottawa.

Hillier’s former lawyer had argued a change of venue was required because Hillier faced too much prejudice within the City of Ottawa, citing the fact that the hashtag “Arrest Randy Hillier” trended on Twitter.

The judge disagreed, ruling that “whatever prejudice was generated against Mr. Hillier could be overcome.”

In the September 25 ruling rejecting Hillier’s change of venue application, Justice Anne London-Weinstein noted it is a “well-established-principle that criminal trials should be held in the venue in which the alleged crime took place,” adding that “this principle serves both the interests of the community and those of the accused.”

Hillier is facing nine criminal charges, including assaulting a police officer, mischief, counselling others to commit mischief and resisting or obstructing a police officer.

[h/t Court Cat]

Update: This post has been updated to include comments Hillier made outside court that were included in a video released after publication.

A Canadian sovereign citizen is applying for “intervenor status” in the criminal trial of Freedom Convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.

According to papers filed November 6 at the Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa, Norman Traversy is asking Judge Heather Perkins-McVety to give him standing in the trial so that he may present “new evidence.”

Traversy’s application accuses Justin Trudeau of “terrorism” and “war crimes.”

Recommended by “Q”: Traversy is best known for a leading a mob of far-right figures and anti-vaxxers to the US Embassy in Ottawa on Canada Day 2020 to serve sovereign citizen-style documents requesting Donald Trump and the Mexican government open a joint investigation into Justin Trudeau.

Video from the event, in which Traversy led hundreds of people in chanting the QAnon slogan “Where We Go One We Go All,” was subsequently shared by the figure known as “Q,” leading Traversy to become a kind of folk hero among Canada’s QAnon movement.

“Kabuki theatre”: While the application does not specify any “new evidence,” it does denounce the entire criminal trial as a diversionary tactic:

“The case of R vs Lich is Kabuki Theatre; a fishing expedition and a distraction meant to divert attention from the real criminals — Justin Trudeau and his Privy Council … We are askng for status in this proceeding. In so doing with this fresh evidence, we will shine a light on the dark deeds that our ‘leaders’ have committed.”

Ukrainian cavalrymen: Among the more eyebrow raising allegations detailed in the application is Traversy’s assertion that Justin Trudeau imported units of Ukrainian mercenaries into Canada to end the Freedom Convoy.

“The forces deployed against the Freedom Convoy were neither Canadian Armed Forces, nor any Canadian Police Force,” the application states. “Many witnesses clearly heard them speaking Ukraininan.”

"These mercenaries were seen, photographed, and recorded being flown in by UN jets to airports in Sudbury and North Bay."

The application alleges that a group of police horses deployed to clear convoy occupiers were not with the Toronto Police Service, as indicated by police, but were, in fact, “foreign horsemen” — specifically “Ukrainian mercenaries who had only learned to ride in the very recent past.”

Don’t blame horses for war crimes: The application goes on to accuse ​Trudeau and his “foreign mercenaries” of violating “the Law of War, an international treaty that prohibits targeting civilians.”

One alleged war crime detailed in the application involves an incident where Ukrainian cavalrymen purportedly murdered a convoy supporter, a claim that is unsupported by any evidence nor were any deaths ever reported:

​“One man was knocked to the ground and his head was trampled by a horse. He was swiftly dragged behind the mercenaries' line. A witness stated that his skull was caved in and he died.”

Traversy is careful not to blame the horses themselves, explaining that they were “draught horses, not horses trained to be ridden” and “neither the riders nor the horses knew what they were doing.”

“This is why they trampled the protesters, something that a horse would never purposely do.”

Here is a full copy of Norman Traversy’s application for intervenor status:

I’ve reported on and written about right-wing politics for over a decade, particularly in my day job as Editor of PressProgress.

The thing is, in covering this stuff, there’s a lot of odds and ends that don’t make it past the final draft. Sometimes it’s too obscure or sometimes it just doesn’t fit with the most important points of a news story.

That’s why I launched ConvoyWatch — it’s a free pop-up newsletter focused on taking a closer look at convoy and right-wing activities in Canada.

Each week, I’ll share the latest convoy drama and other details about right-wing happenings in Canada that aren’t being reported elsewhere to give you a better understanding of these right-wing movements and actors.

Hope you find this newsletter interesting and insightful.

- Luke

PS: If you’d like to support my work, please forward this email to your friends and ask them to sign-up for this free newsletter.

‘Save the Children Convoy’ Celebrates Week 5 With Arrival of Back-Up Convoy

The ‘Save the Children Convoy’ welcomed 44 vehicles to their base camp located on an Eastern Ontario farm last weekend.

[Read more]

‘Save the Children Convoy’ Promotes Plan to Create ‘Parallel’ Shadow Governments

A ‘Save the Children Convoy’ march through downtown Ottawa was led by a group that wants to establish “parallel” shadow governments across Canada.

[Read more]

Convoy Supporter Threatens Lawsuit Against Critics of Coutts Legal Defence Fundraiser

The crowdfunding initiative to raise money for the four defendants in the Coutts border blockade is devolving into finger-pointing and denials.

[Read more]

‘Save the Children Convoy’ Drops Brand New Hip-Hop Track

Convoy in-fighting has inspired a new rap song.

[Read more]

Maxime Bernier Attacks Judges After Vaccine Mandate Lawsuit Gets Shot Down – Again

Maxime Bernier lost his appeal in his lawsuit against the federal government for bringing in vaccine mandates for air and rail travel.

[Read more]

People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier and a group of convoy figures have lost the appeal in their lawsuit against travel vaccine mandates.

In a decision handed down Friday, Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal ruled it found “no error” in a judge’s earlier ruling last year dismissing Bernier et al.’s lawsuit challenging federal vaccine mandates for air and rail travel.

“I see no reviewable error that would permit this Court to intervene,” the appeals court concluded.

“Moot” point: The Federal Court’s October 2022 ruling dismissed the lawsuit, finding the matter “moot” given vaccine mandates had already been lifted.

“The air and rail passenger vaccine mandates were repealed, as have other related public health measures,” the Federal Court stated. “The Applicants have substantially received the remedies sought and as such, there is no live controversy to adjudicate.”

The Court of Appeals rejected several arguments raised by applicants arguing that the court needed to intervene and establish “jurisprudence” on the question of vaccine mandates:

“The Federal Court was clearly concerned that a decision in the appellants’ applications would not be of sufficient value to the public in future circumstances to justify the significant resources that would be required to hear and decide them.”

PPC leader denounces appeals court judges: “These judges are enabling totalitarianism,” Bernier said in a statement Friday.

“I told you immediately after our hearing that I was not confident based on the body language of the judges and the slanted questions they asked us versus what they asked of the government lawyers.”

In an earlier statement on October 12, Bernier questioned if the appeals court was able to “view our case in an unbiased manner.”

“The judges were all appointed by the Trudeau Government,” Bernier stated, adding that “the judges refuse to speak out for the unvaccinated, because they are not unvaccinated.”

Maxime Bernier can’t stop losing: In 2021, Maxime Bernier lost a defamation lawsuit he launched against political operative Warren Kinsella for calling him “racist” after the courts dismissed it as a SLAPP lawsuit.

The court awarded Kinsella $132,000 in costs. Bernier was represented by lawyers Mark Bourrie and Andre Marin.

Other applicants in the failed vaccine mandate lawsuit:

• Brian Peckford: Former Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador who played a major behind-the-scenes role in the Freedom Convoy and chaired the convoy group Taking Back Our Freedoms.

• Shaun Rickard: Freedom Convoy supporter from Pickering, Ontario who also runs a fishing channel on YouTube. According to a sworn affidavit, Rickard said the federal vaccine mandate caused him to postpone “several trips planned to the Caribbean” and “Oman” to film fishing videos. Rickard says he chose not to get vaccinated after doing independent research into the pandemic and feeling that “some things did not add up.”

• Karl Harrison: Wealthy West Vancouver businessman who serves as the director of the Institute of Freedom and Justice, a registered charity that sponsors “selective litigation.” In a sworn affidavit, Harrison complained he had sunk “many thousands of dollars” into the lawsuit and that it had taken a “toll on my business, personal time and mental health.” Harrison is a Freedom Convoy supporter and describes himself as a 60-year-old Conservative voter.

• Nabil Ben-Naoum: Unvaccinated Québec lawyer who attended and participated in the Freedom Convoy. Ben-Naoum told the appeals court that the vaccine mandate was “totalitarianism”: “In 2022, this sub-class of citizens, the non-vaccinated, found themselves assimilated to Cubans under Fidel Castro's regime.”

In-fighting within the “Save the Children Convoy” is inspiring music.

Andy Claude Ladouceur, who also goes by the name “ACL Freedom,” is not only an original member of the “Save the Children Convoy” base camp near Casselman, Ontario — he’s also an aspiring hip-hop artist.

Ladouceur has been releasing self-recorded songs on YouTube and Spotify over the last year or so on themes loosely related to the Freedom Convoy.

While the struggles of protest movements have long-inspired counterculture music and art, the Gatineau-based hip-hop artist’s latest track appears to be inspired by chronic in-fighting inside the “Save the Children Convoy.”

Sharing a sneak peek of a song titled “Without Unity,” Ladouceur raps about “egos” sowing divisions and derailing efforts to “Save the Children”:

“Without unity there’s no way we could fight back,
So put your egos aside and think about that,
Without unity we’d all be caught up in their mousetrap.

It’s time to Save the Children from this whole mass invasion,
Blood money is running through your veins from all their vaccinations…”

The Save the Children Convoy has been mired by in-fighting since day one, following an incident where a man was thrown from the hood of a moving car while attempting to punch in its windshield.

Later, an original convoy leader was banned from the base camp for speaking with CBC News, prompting more fighting between convoy leaders.

Musical performances have been part of the STC Convoy’s evening rituals at its rural base camp over the last several weeks.

One video posted by a base camp member shows Ladouceur rapping about police surveillance and the dangers of loose OpSec:

“Forget the fires you’re promoting up on Instagram,
You’re making it too easy for the cops to come and spoil our plans,
Forget the Lives and the Messenger groups,
Don’t base your trust on Freedom Fighter pictures as proof,
Some of them are infiltrators just to know where to bomb next…”

Ladouceur could not be reached for comment by ConvoyWatch.

A supporter who is raising money on behalf of four men standing trial for their roles in the 2022 convoy blockade at Coutts, Alberta is denying allegations that crowdfunding money has been mishandled.

Margaret Mackay says she is exploring the option of a “defamation lawsuit” to respond to critics, whom she compares to “rabid wolves.”

Over the weekend, a number of convoy influencers began raising questions about how funds raised for a Coutts legal defence is being managed and disbursed to four men accused of conspiring to murder RCMP officers.

In a Facebook video posted Monday, Mackay responded to her critics.

“Oh my gosh, the chatter going on out there is just ridiculous,” Mackay said. “Nothing to hide, it all went into one bank account, it’s all wrote down.”

Mackay revealed she is considering a “defamation lawsuit” to clear her name and issued a “plea to the public”:

“Me and the men need some help right now to put these evil entities — and I do call them evil entities — back into their corners.

I may need a lawyer. I may need to go after these people with a — what’s it called? — a defamation lawsuit. I talked to an ex-RCMP officer yesterday looking for some advice on how to deal with this. This is not my life. I don’t know how to deal with people like this. And they’re coming out of the sewers, let me tell ya. So if anybody out there can help me, point me in the right direction, maybe there’s a lawyer out there that would go pro bono, I don’t have money for a lawyer and we all see how much lawyer’s cost from the four men, so if anybody can help me, please do.”

In her video, Mackay said she has raised “around $77,460” to date.

“34 transactions, 34 e-transfers, 34 times they’ve been transferred money and they’ve been given to the three men’s parents and a wife.”

One small detail: Mackay’s website indicates she has raised over $200,000 through fundraisers, while a GiveSendGo in her name lists $56,125.

In a clarification to ConvoyWatch, Mackay explained the discrepancy by noting she meant $77,460 was raised for each of the four men individually.

Mackay confirmed the total amount raised was therefore four times higher — $309,840, not $77,460.

“No use of the money was used inappropriately,” Mackay told ConvoyWatch. “100% of all donations goes to the men.”

“All four men and the families are coming forward to defend me,” Mackay said, adding she intends to release “all the breakdowns.”

“I talk to Chris, Jerry, Tony, Chris every day or every second day. Plus regular contact with the families.”

In a posting in a Facebook group, Mackay suggested she communicated with one of the men in jail Monday morning and claimed he told her “he wants everyone to stop attacking me”:

“He trusts me and wants me to show a couple friends of his the account and all the paperwork/numbers. We have a plan.”

Mackay’s response was prompted by questions and unverified allegations coming from a number of convoy influencers.

Over the weekend, Donald Best, a convoy livestreamer and former police officer, announced on Twitter he plans to publish a detailed report titled: “Questions, Doubts, Lack of Accountability Undermine Coutts Fundraising.”

“In short... Your money didn't go where you thought it did - or where some of the family members thought it would or should go.”

In a livestream Sunday night, Best hinted at a number of unsubstantiated allegations about “several people involved in the fundraising for the Coutts 4, primary among them is Margaret Mackay.”

Best, however, also provided some heavily-qualified clarifications:

“Nobody should ever infer from anything that I say that I have substantiated criminal crimes regarding this fundraising, either now or in the past, should never think that I’ve substantiated that, but there are significant red flags, and I call them to be kind red flags, if we were sitting in the fraud office at 52 Division right now, we’d call them badges of fraud — doesn’t mean fraud happened, there’s a lot of reasons why it could happen. But I want to say is Margaret Mackay, she deserves this, what I’m about to say is that if it were not for her efforts, for her tireless work to represent these four accused and bring their stories to Canada and the world, I wouldn’t be here … So there’s that. But my report is titled “Questions, Doubts, Lack of Accountability Undermine Coutts Fundraising.” And in short, and this is two paragraphs from my report: One, your money didn’t go where you thought it did or where some of the family members thought it would or should or hoped it would go. The current accounting records are, to be polite, incomplete and they are probably incapable of being audited with any confidence.”

Best said his “mission” is to “restore public confidence,” explaining:

“Now there are also some, I’m going to say pieces of evidence, and I’m not going to get into them here, people have been asking me to detail them, why I came to my opinion — no, I’m not going to do that, I’m going to do it in writing, that’s only fair to everybody. People have been talking to me, witnesses have been talking to me, family members have been talking to me, so this is, as far as I’m concerned, I’m doing the best I can to do write a report that does justice to the oath that I took when I was a police officer and my duty to my fellow Canadians now as I act as a journalist, but here I am back with my investigator shoes on. So, there are problems, they can be fixed, they need to be fixed right away — a new start needs to happen and that needs to happen soon.”

Best also noted:

“I can tell you that these funds were not distributed as the people who gave the funds intended. So look, we’ve all seen hockey fundraisers or bingo at the church go sideways. We’ve all seen that and things happen and that’s the way it is. But there are rules. There are standards. And often times when people come forward with good intent, they want to organize something to help that man who was hit in a car accident and can’t walk and he’s got a mortgage, whatever happened, someone got burned, we want to help people, but unless the infrastructure is already in place, professional, independent oversight, receipts, transparency, all the things which by the way in Alberta are mandated, its mandated for fundraising efforts, all those things have to be in place it can get away, even with the best of intentions.”

Best says he plans to publish his report “on, or before next weekend Sunday November 12.”