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A leader of the Freedom Convoy to Ottawa told the European Parliament that the Canadian government has treated her and fellow protesters with an unduly heavy hand.
Tamara Lich addressed the parliament in Strasbourg, France at the invitation of MEP Christine Anderson the right-leaning Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group.
“As the rest of the world was beginning to open up and ease the restrictions, our prime minister started to double down. We were not allowed to leave the country. They were actually talking at that time about ceasing even interprovincial travel in Canada,” Lich said.
Lich recalled the convoy began on January 14, 2022 and got to Ottawa ten days later, having inspired an unexpectedly large number of people.
“We never could have imagined the support that we were going to receive,” Lich told the EU on Tuesday. “But what we saw, as you guys obviously did too, on the sides of the roads and on the overpasses, was an overwhelming number of Canadians out there to support us who finally felt hope for the first time in years, who finally felt proud to be Canadian for the first time in years.”
The Trudeau Liberal government authorized the Emergencies Act to end the protest which had dominated downtown Ottawa for more than two weeks.
“The takedown of the convoy was something that I never could have imagined that I would see in my country. I grew up watching that stuff happen in Third World countries. On the sixth of February, there was a raid at one of our outposts where we kept our supplies, and they had snipers on the roof pointed at hardworking, peaceful Canadians. They stole our fuel, they took our food.”
Lich recalled how the convoy drew thousands of people and attracted millions of dollars of donations, much of it later seized.
“How they treated those donations and how they treated us is how we would treat a drug cartel in Canada. Unprecedented,” she said.
“We had politicians calling us terrorists, domestic terrorists, racists, even accusing us of trying to burn down apartment buildings and insinuating that the truckers were rapists,” Lich recalled.
Democracy has failed, according to Lich.
“This is not the Canada that I grew up in. What’s happening now is unprecedented. Canada, in my opinion, used to be a very free country,” Lich said.
“Our prime minister ran away and hid and refused to even send anyone else to talk to us…That is his job and he failed us. They all failed us. We tried to speak to lots of the MPs, and they all said no.”
Lich said she was put in a “dungeon” of solitary confinement on February 17, 2022 on a charge of counselling others to commit mischief. She spent 18 days in jail. She was initially denied bail then secured it after great effort.
“Murderers and rapists make bail. Most bail hearings last about 15 minutes. Mine lasted two days,” she said.
Lich received an award at a Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms event and where she was photographed with fellow protest leader Tom Marazzo. This was considered a breach of bail conditions and led to another 30 days in jail.
Lich said she and co-accused trucker Chris Barber “are still going through the longest mischief trial in history,” as they await their verdict expected March 12, 2025.
“The Crown prosecutor in our case is seeking ten years in prison for mischief, which would be akin to spray painting the side of a building in most places. In the meantime, there are people getting out on bail all the time. There’s a catch and release in Canada,” Lich said.
“It was the most peaceful and polite protest of all time. There was no violence. The streets of Ottawa were cleaner than they’d ever been. We were feeding the homeless, we were clearing snow, we were cleaning up garbage, and this is how they treated us, because we did not agree with our Prime Minister’s point of view.”