“Freedom Convoy” organizer Tamara Lich insisted she was never told to leave Ottawa directly during last winter’s protests, when hundreds of vehicles blocked roads around Parliament Hill as Lich and others called for an end to the orders for COVID-19, even after the Emergency Act. is invoked. During the confrontation at the Public Order Emergency Committee on Friday, Leach said that when police told protesters at a meeting in mid-February to leave, she took that as a suggestion. She and other organizers testified Thursday that police did not tell them to leave the city. Ottawa police lawyer David Migikowski showed Leach a police log entry from that Feb. 16 meeting on Friday, when officers wrote that she was told to “go away and send it to others.” They later noted that, “All parties were upset and the Lich was crying.” Lich said she remembers getting emotional. “I think I said something to the effect of, ‘I can’t believe you’re going to do this to your own people.’ He told the committee he still believed those instructions were simply a motion to leave. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency legislation for the first time in Canadian history on Feb. 14, arguing that his temporary and emergency powers were needed to end blockades in Ottawa and at border crossings. That decision came after weeks of what Trudeau called an “illegal occupation” of downtown Ottawa. Paul Champ, a lawyer representing Ottawa residents and businesses, reminded the committee that the protest was deemed an illegal occupation, the city and province declared a state of emergency, local residents sued the organizers and the court ordered it to stop. protesters from honking trucks at night. “Wasn’t that a signal that maybe it was time for me to go?” Champ asked. “We had a message too,” Lich replied, adding that after hearing “heartbreaking” stories during the pandemic, she felt the protesters’ message was more important. She said she would have left if the court had ordered her to. “My understanding was that as long as we were peaceful and obeyed the order, we were allowed to stay,” he said. The committee also heard from two protesters on Friday who asked to join the protest after invoking the Emergency Act. “I rushed back to Ottawa to do what I could to protect the peaceful citizens of the protests,” Chris Dearing, a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, testified Friday. He said he believed he still had a right to be in downtown Ottawa, even though he knew police were warning people to leave. “I’m a free citizen of this country. I’m a taxpayer. I’m a veteran. I’m a good person. And I felt I had a right to be there with my fellow Canadians to try to protect them,” he said. Deering was arrested using force near the National War Memorial during a massive police operation on February 18. He was later released without charge. Maggie Hope Braun also returned to Ottawa after February 14 and was also arrested but not charged. “I don’t believe that if a government passes a law, it means we have to go against what we believe is right,” he testified. “We still have the right to peacefully protest and assemble.” Both protesters talked about how positive and peaceful their experience in Ottawa was before they were arrested. In response, Emilie Taman, a lawyer representing Ottawa residents and businesses, played a 10-minute video compilation of honking horns, blocked roads, open fires, large collections of fuel cans and other scenes from the convoy’s protest. Supporters in the hearing room gallery could be heard laughing softly during the video and one man made a honking gesture with his hand. Friday’s hearings also included Diagolon founder Jeremy McKenzie, who participated in the Freedom Parade and testified from a Saskatchewan correctional facility, where he is being held on charges unrelated to the protests. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino labeled MacKenzie a national security risk in February, saying the people at the Coutts, Alta., border crossing blockade had “strong ties” to Diagolon, which he described as “a far-right extremist organization.” In intelligence reports released to the public inquiry, the RCMP described Diagolon as a “militia-like network with members who are armed and prepared for violence” and have “speed-up-like” supporters who wanted to overthrow the government. McKenzie said many of his supporters are gun enthusiasts, but argued that police forces are relying on unreliable information provided by the Canadian Network Against Hate. “There’s certainly nothing that looks like a militia or anything to that extent,” he said. He said he knew one of the people charged in connection with the Coutts protests, but otherwise had nothing to do with the Alberta blockades and had little interaction with the march organizers in Ottawa. MacKenzie’s attorney unsuccessfully petitioned the committee earlier this week to allow him to testify in private or under a publication ban, citing upcoming court cases. McKenzie faces assault and weapons charges in Saskatchewan and was charged with firearms offenses in Nova Scotia in January. He was also charged with harassment and intimidation in March after an anti-mask protest outside the home of Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre asked the RCMP to investigate MacKenzie after he spoke about sexually assaulting Poilievre’s wife, Anaida, during a live stream in September. The public inquiry, which is required under the Emergency Act, will hold hearings in Ottawa until Nov. 25. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 4, 2022.
