Describing his approach during the police crackdown, McAllister recalled, “I wanted to be the first one that they arrested, and I wanted to do it in the most peaceful way possible with the least resistance, and that was to simply just lay on the ground.” His peaceful stance did not spare him from a harsh arrest, however.

McAllister recounted being “jumped on by about five cops,” taken into custody, and placed in a paddy wagon “no bigger than about two by two with a single bench.” There, he said, he endured six hours of confinement in extreme heat, with “no washroom, no food, no nothing.”

After his release, McAllister faced additional difficulties, as police officers dropped him off at a remote gas station outside Ottawa with a “dead cell phone” and no access to his truck, which had been left on Wellington Street. Stranded and without his bank account access due to a freeze initiated by the government, he managed to contact a friend who eventually came to his aid.

McAllister faced charges including mischief, resisting arrest, and disturbing the peace. Although he was initially offered a plea deal, he declined because it imposed restrictions on his right to gather in groups of more than 25 people. “That’s an absolute charter violation,” he said. Eventually, McAllister accepted a peace bond with no restrictions, which required him to write a 100-word essay explaining the difference between protest and mischief.

McAllister criticized what he described as excessive government action, noting that his charges were eventually withdrawn. “I feel it was a massive overreach, a massive exaggeration by the government,” he argued, suggesting that the large number of charges brought against protesters like himself amounted to a “power grab.”

His experiences led him to join a class-action lawsuit against the government, the police, and banks for freezing bank accounts. The lawsuit, he explained, includes only claimants affected by the account freezes. “They also froze my family’s bank accounts, which led to mortgages being missed,” he said, emphasizing the impact on family members who were not involved in the protests.

Please donate to help pay Tamara Lich's legal bills

The Democracy Fund, a Canadian charity, is supporting Tamara Lich by crowdfunding her legal bills. The cost of Tamara's expert legal representation is almost half a million dollars, which Tamara, an ordinary mom and grandma from Medicine Hat, Alberta, cannot afford. But we have a secret weapon: Lawrence Greenspon, one of Ottawa's top lawyers, is on Tamara's side. Lawrence is accustomed to handling complex and serious cases, but his team is expensive — and they are worth every penny. If you can, please chip in to help cover Tamara's legal fees. All donations to The Democracy Fund are eligible for a charitable tax receipt.

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