Freedom Convoy 2.0 Cancelled Until Further Notice Due to Security Concerns, Says Organizer

Trucks participating in the "Freedom Convoy" depart from an area south of Montreal on Jan. 28, 2021. Noé Chartier/The Epoch Times

The second iteration of the Freedom Convoy, which had been planned to take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in February, has been cancelled due to security concerns and “personal character attacks,” an organizer has announced.

“The main reason for canceling the Freedom Convoy 2.0 is, since I made the official announcing plans to bring the Official Freedom Convoy 2.0 back to Ottawa Area for a 4-day reunion, I have had several security breaches, and personal character attacks made against me and others on Team Canada Unity,” wrote organizer James Bauder, the founder of Canada Unity Foundation, in a press release on Dec. 31, 2022.

“As a result of these security breaches that are beyond our control, I cannot in good conscience guarantee Public Safety as I promised,” he said, adding that the event is cancelled “until further notice.”

The demonstration, which was also called the “World Unity Convoy,” had been scheduled to take place between Feb. 17 and Feb. 20 and was meant to commemorate demonstrators who supported the original Freedom Convoy movement against federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in Ottawa last winter.

Winnipeg was chosen as the destination because it was deemed “the middle point in Canada” most accessible for Canadians coast-to-coast, according to one of the organizers during a Facebook livestream on Dec. 25.

“We are going to be inviting groups from all over the nation to join us in unity for a better future for solutions for the children across the world and within Canada,” said the organizer, who went by the nickname “Bigbear.”

Bauder said in his cancellation announcement that the “Official Canada Unity Freedom Convoy” will not be involved “in any capacity with any other organizers of any similar ‘convoy-themed’ events” anywhere in Canada going forward because of security breaches.

Event Plans

Freedom Convoy 2.0 organizer Ron Clark said during the Christmas Day Facebook livestream that there were going to be individual convoys converging upon Winnipeg “from the north and the south,” and also separate convoy supporters gathering in cities in other countries.

Bauder made clear during the livestream that the main convoy planned to drive past Ottawa, but not stop there.

“We’re going to come with our convoy, coming right by Ottawa, and we’re going to invite Ottawa residents to, for the first time, get in on a convoy,” he said.

Ottawa Police Service (OPS) Chief Eric Stubbs told CTV News on Dec. 19 that they were planning for the Freedom Convoy to possibly stop in Ottawa by purchasing additional equipment.

“How we’re going to approach a Convoy 2.0 is to ensure that the downtown core is safe and that vehicle-based protests don’t occur,” he said.

With the event now cancelled, Bauder is asking would-be supporters to instead focus on the lawsuits that some Freedom Convoy organizers are currently involved in.

Convoy organizers Tamara Lich, Chris Barber, and Benjamin Dichter are named as defendants in a lawsuit filed on behalf of public servant and Ottawa resident Zexi Li, along with other  “downtown residents, businesses and workers,” who are seeking $306 million in damages from the organizers.

“The legal battle to free my fellow Convoy Brothers and Sisters that are hurting still to this day is going to be a TOP Priority for myself and Team Canada Unity for 2023,” Bauder wrote.

Isaac Teo contributed to this report.