Peterborough woman testifies at Emergencies Act hearing
Peterborough resident Maggie Hope Braun testified Friday at the Public Order Emergency Commission hearings in Ottawa, explaining how she disagreed with the federal government’s COVID-19 mandates and the use of the Emergencies Act in February to end the “Freedom Convoy” protests in Ottawa.
“I felt a duty to testify when summoned to the commission and a lot of raw anxiety when speaking to the COVID mandates and the Emergencies Act’s effect on me,” Hope Braun told The Examiner.
Hope Braun was among the protesters in Ottawa and was arrested
at one point but was not charged and released.
In her testimony, Hope Braun explained she started losing faith in the Canadian government and felt isolated as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions, especially since most of her support network is in British Columbia and she couldn’t travel there.
“I just felt since I’m three hours away from Ottawa, I have a duty to go as well, and not just represent myself but the many Canadians who could not come,” she said.
In her statement to the commission, Hope Braun said the whole experience was peaceful and that she did not witness any acts of hate.
“I did not see any hateful flags, I only felt and saw an outpouring of love and Canadian spirit,” she stated. “I mainly saw flags representative of Canada, Every Child Matters and LGBTQ. I saw people with masks who were curious and who approached, and I welcomed them to the space.”
Hope Braun explained that as a result of donating $20 to the convoy, her information was released to the public following GiveSendGo being hacked.
“Once I was at the protest, I started pulling out cash from the ATM as I was concerned that my bank account was going to be frozen due to my donating or participating in the protest,” she stated. “It was so out of the ordinary to be concerned about such a thing in Canada.”
Hope Braun ran in the 2011 federal election for the Canadian Action Party in a British Columbia riding. She said that like her experience at the protest, it deepened her understanding of corruption within the political system.
“I now suffer from PTSD and still suffer from pain in my back after being stomped on,” Hope Braun also stated. “I require ongoing treatment from a chiropractor, osteopath and physiotherapist and attend psychotherapy almost weekly.”
Hope Braun testified she believes the commission will rule the protest as peaceful.
“I have not heard any hard evidence in the inquiry that leads me to believe the Emergencies Act was justified,” she said. “I believe the only tool the Emergencies Act gave the police was a false sense that civil liberties were temporarily suspended.”
She was also joined by Chris Deering, a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2008. He currently resides in Hanwell, N.B.
“It really wasn’t that I wanted to come to Ottawa, it was that I felt it was my duty and I had no choice but to be there,” he said.
Deering was at the protests on two weekends and explained he did so because he disagreed with the mandates put in place by the federal government.
“I couldn’t grieve for my comrades in Nova Scotia,” he said. “Because I wasn’t allowed to cross the border in my own vehicle by myself to a cemetery where no one was living and lay my flowers for my mental health.”
Both Hope Braun and Deering were arrested at the protest but were not charged and instead released outside of Ottawa. They both explained excessive force was used in their arrests. “I consider this inhumane, cruel, degrading treatment, excessive and unlawful use of force and torture,” Deering stated.