Bail hearing for Quebec man charged after Ottawa 'Freedom Convoy' postponed to Wednesday

Steeve Charland, 48, is scheduled to resume his bail hearing at the Ottawa courthouse on March 9, 2022. (Source: Screenshot/Noovo Info)

A Quebec man arrested in connection with the weeks-long "Freedom Convoy" occupation that paralyzed downtown Ottawa is set to appear in court Wednesday as he seeks to be released from custody.

Ontario Provincial Police arrested Steeve Charland, 48, of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Que., on Feb. 27 in Vankleek Hill, just outside Ottawa.

Ottawa police charged him with mischief and counselling to commit mischief.

Charland is one of the leaders of Les Farfadaas, a Quebec-based group formed mainly to protest public health measures related to COVID-19. The group had temporarily set up a base camp in a parking lot at the Zibi complex across the river in downtown Gatineau during the protests, but a court injunction forced them to leave by Feb. 18.

The group had later moved to a site in Vankleek Hill, an eastern Ontario town about an hour's drive from Ottawa.

Charland's bail hearing was scheduled to resume Tuesday morning at the Ottawa courthouse, but his defence lawyer and the Crown agreed to postpone the case to Wendesday. 

He was one of several high-profile figures who were arrested during the occupation that brought much of downtown Ottawa to a standstill for more than three weeks and was brought to an end after the federal government invoked the never-before-used Emergencies Act.

On Monday, the court granted bail for Tamara Lich — who spearheaded the protesters' multimillion-dollar fundraising efforts — after ruling a justice of the peace who had denied her release from custody made an error in law.

Other key figures, however, remain in jail after their bail was denied in recent weeks, including Pat King, who was ordered on Feb. 25 to remain in custody after a justice of the peace ruled he was likely to reoffend. Another man, Tyson Billings, was also denied bail on Feb. 28.

The court granted bail for Chris Barber, another key organizer, on Feb. 18.