The bright red banners hanging from St Brigid’s Church on St Patrick’s Street are almost impossible to miss; the white signs of a tree decorated with maple leaves give neighbors no indication of who is behind the new developments in the unconsecrated church.
The group is known as the United People of Canada, a self-described federally registered “not-for-profit social organization.”
Corporate filings show three members of the group’s board of directors: Kimberly Ward, William Comer and Diane Nolan.
Posts on social media indicate that all three have close ties to the Freedom Convoy occupation.
Ward previously told CTV News that he was an adviser to Tamara Leach and gave interviews to multiple media outlets in March when Leach was initially released on bail, saying at the time that “she’s happy. everybody’s happy, we made it.”
Ward and Comer can be seen in numerous photos on social media with Leach’s husband, Dwayne Leach, who also posted significantly about the new organization as early as this spring.
For his part, Nolan participated in the occupation, broadcasting live from the city center several times.
In a live broadcast on January 30, Nolan appeared on Parliament Hill and could be heard saying: “Wow, it really is. That’s enough, we stand for freedom, we stand for what God intended for this country from the beginning.”
Lowertown residents say they are concerned about the group’s appearance at the church and plan to create what TUPC calls “The Embassy;” a downtown location described by the organization’s social media as “a people’s forum where all voices have the opportunity to be heard, no matter how niche the thought, opinion, expression or belief.”
“I’ve heard it’s a headquarters, an embassy, an office, and things like that. That’s the part that makes me a little insecure,” said Mohamed Elmeki.
City officials and community organizations in the area say they have been inundated with residents concerned about the use of the space.
“We’ve looked online at who the group is, we’ve tried to find out what their goals are, so we’re concerned, not horrified, but right now we’re on a fact-finding mission, just trying to get a little bit more information,” said Sylvie Bingras, president of the Lower Town Community Association.
The heritage-listed building is privately owned and is currently listed for sale at $5.95 million.
In an email, Comer told CTV News that the group plans to “rehabilitate and adaptively reuse excess and underutilized institutional properties into vibrant public spaces.”
CTV News reached out to the property owner to inquire about the potential sale, but did not hear back by deadline.
Sources tell CTV News there is interest from TUPC in the property.
Neighbors say they worry the groups’ ties to the freedom movement could bring back tensions from the convoy occupation.
“It’s not a good feeling or good memories. It was really horrible for a lot of people,” said Liz Letelier, who passes by the church almost every day.
“We’re still very fragile from the point of view that we went through a very difficult time last February, a lot of our residents went through a really difficult time — I have sons who live in Lower Town who were harassed, intimidated,” Bingras said.
“I’m in a very challenging position saying this is private property, but we’re here from a city perspective, we have to maintain public safety and we have to be accountable and responsive to the concerns of the residents,” Councilor Rideau-Vanier – said Mathieu Fleury.
CTV News reached out to each of the directors of The United People of Canada for an interview, but did not hear back by deadline.
In an email, Comer wrote: “It is unfortunate that our social enterprise organization … has been the subject of such hateful, false and defamatory statements that have been circulating on social media recently.”
Comer did not elaborate on what claims about the group he believed to be false.
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