Tamara Lich
Tamara Lich spoke 663 times across 2 days of testimony.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Good evening.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I’m going to start with some questions about your background. Can you tell the Commission where you were born?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Medicine Hat, Alberta.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I’ve been primarily oil and gas logistics and administration.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I was.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I was.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Wexit started out as a movement, I guess, based off of the Brexit movement that started in the UK. And we -- I joined that movement. I was very concerned about the things that I was seeing happening to western Canadians in politics and became, I guess, a bit of an advocate. So I got involved in the movement and we morphed into a provincial and a federal party.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It did, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
How that happened was I was sitting on two boards when it first came out, the provincial Wexit Alberta, as well as the Wexit Canada. And during covid, my husband and I relocated to Manitoba for about 19 months during the pandemic. So I left that board right as the merger happened. But I stuck with the Wexit Canada board. And then we renamed ourselves into the Maverick Party.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Basically.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir. At that time, we were dealing with Bill C-69 and Bill C-48 and I was just seeing friends and family that worked in the energy industry in Alberta suffering as a result of some of that legislation. There was job losses and I just saw people losing their jobs and coming into my office, you know, handing me their resume with tears in their eyes asking for a job two weeks before Christmas. And I just felt like I needed to get involved and exercise my democratic rights.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well Bill C-69 was the no more pipelines bill. And I think you can recall at that time there was the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion and other pipelines that they had been discussing or proposing, Energy East, for example. And when all those got cancelled, a lot of people didn’t have any work.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The goal of the Maverick Party was to seek constitutional reform for better equality for Western Canada, or to seek an independence, very much like what Quebec has, being referred to as a nation within a nation.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe one of them was the - - getting more equal seats in the House of Commons. I mean, a big concern for people in the west is that every election, before the polls even close in Alberta, the -- it’s already decided. The elections are already decided. So I think myself and a lot of people in the west just felt like we didn’t really have a voice in the House of Commons.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t necessarily think so.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Correct. Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Never.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, at that point, there had been Yellow-Vest -- I’m sorry, I don’t speak French, I’m not sure of the French term. But there had been similar protests in France and the organization that I joined in Medicine Hat, again, was primarily to deal with the legislation against our energy industry, which is what we were advocating for. And we would have rallies every Saturday from 1:00 to 2:00 in front of the Tim Horton’s and stand there with flags and hold signs. That kind of thing.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I guess inspired maybe, yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was not aware of that. No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I kind of moved into that role as I -- like I said, I was going to the rallies and meeting people and offered to help in any way that I could.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, they did.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I read this morning an article, and I don’t really remember what happened at that time, but I did see in the evidence that I was reviewing last night that there had been death threats against the Prime Minister. So clearly we wanted to distance ourselves from that.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
They -- I don’t really recall that, but I do recall that we did change our name. I’m not sure what the threats were per say, but we did change our name.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, yes. That’s not something that I ever advocated for or anybody that I was associated with in the Medicine Hat movement.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Absolutely.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Absolutely.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I am.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I didn’t have involvement in that convoy, other than maybe connecting people’s phone numbers or getting people connected that were going. At the same time as that United We Roll was starting, there was a lot of, I guess, mini convoys, I would call them, in little communities. And so I was a part of organizing the little one that went through our community.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well just because I’ve moved around a lot, I know a lot of people, and that would have been the extent of my involvement, if someone was looking for a contact number, per say.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s when I first heard of Mr. King.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
He was -- well, I was on social media, so of course, you know, you’re scrolling and you see a video. So that’s how I came to know of him. He had a social media livestream. He was livestreaming it.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I did not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The first time I ever remember communicating with him was after we had started this convoy.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I followed Mr. King until the United We Roll was over, and then I stopped following him at that point.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Because it was over and I really had no further reason to follow him.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I thought he was loud, very boisterous. Other than that I didn’t really know too much about him.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't recall that, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t believe so, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I would have met Mr. Bauder for the first time in person in Ottawa this past winter.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No. Or sorry, when we were organizing; my apologies. Yes, as we organized, he was in the meetings.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
A friend of mine sent me Mr. Barber’s TikTok video where he was calling for a shutdown on the 23rd of January. She sent me that video and I watched it and I texted her back right away. And I said, “Well what do you think about possibly another convoy to Ottawa?” And she kind of laughed and said, “Well, it didn’t really accomplish much. I mean, it was great to see the crowds come together.” But ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Sorry, yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir. And then I had reached out to another friend and I asked him the same thing. And we just sort of came to the same conclusion that we weren’t sure if that was an idea that was -- that would be successful. A friend of mine -- an acquaintance of mine from Red Deer that was involved in the United We Roll gave me Mr. Barber’s phone number and I contacted him on January the 13th and we discussed -- I can’t really remember the details of the conversation. I do remember that I said, “I’m here to help you in any way I can. My background is logistics and organization and administration. And you are going to need social media and you're going to need some funding. And if I can help you at all, I’d be happy to do that.”
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, it was Glen Carritt.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
He did not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Cindy Parker from Medicine Hat. She ended up assisting on the finance committee that I was going to create, and she also assisted with the social media. And Kevin Tchinsky (phonetic). He was a friend of mine that I worked with in Manitoba.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Tchinsky.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, not to my knowledge.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was growing increasingly alarmed with the mandates and the harm that I was seeing, that mandates inflict on Canadians. Sorry, I'm going to get emotional. I’ll try not to. And I just felt like I needed to exercise my democratic rights. I have tried over the years, emailing MPs and just never got a response and I just felt that this was important for Canadians who had been living under lockdowns and restrictions for two years.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe I did once, yes. But I had emailed previously, like I said, in conjunction with Bill C69 and Bill C48 and never felt like anyone was listening to me. And I know it wasn’t me. There was other people that were emailing also. And you just get these “Thanks for contacting our office” blow off emails.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I lost my job. My husband also lost his job on the same day. My parents run a pilot truck business. And a lot of their business was involved crossing the border which they were no longer allowed to do. At the time of the convoy there was rumblings of stopping cross-border -- interprovincial, sorry, travel if you were unvaccinated. My parents live in Saskatchewan and my grandmother is in Saskatchewan and I have a daughter and a granddaughter in Manitoba. So I found that incredibly alarming.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
We were sent home, I guess, in early January because of Omicron variant. And that combined obviously with the downturn in the economy at that time, they closed the shop that I was working at. And the majority of us were laid off.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was for an oil and gas services company.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
We didn’t go out. You know, my husband and I played in a band. We weren’t allowed to even go and play. Everything was shut down. We just -- that’s part of the reason that we went to Manitoba after we both lost our jobs. We went to visit my daughter and realized that the city that we were in was basically a ghost town, and we would prefer to be out on the farm in the country, helping them on the farm and being productive.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was hoping that somebody would come and listen to us and listen to the concerns that we had, essentially, about the mandates in particular.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No. We wanted to be heard. We wanted to have discussions. We wanted to end the mandates.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
For me, I feel if we would have just been able to have a discussion with somebody, that that would have at least opened a dialog. And as the convoy came across Canada, you know, Canadians were telling us, “Don’t stop. Don’t stop until we’re free. Don’t stop until the mandates are lifted.” So honestly, a bit of both.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was much more frustrated over the mandates.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Because I was seeing families torn apart. The suicides in my hometown were so numerous that they stopped reporting them. Elderly people were dying by themselves in long-term care facilities and saying goodbye over iPads. My grandma is 94 years old and she was locked in her little apartment by herself for two years. And now that she can go out and do things she’s not healthy enough. She lost two years of her life. My father is -- I’m so sorry.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
My father is a very social man. He is the coffee row Saskatchewan father and I remember him telling me one day that he went down to the local restaurant that he went to every single day, and these were small towns where everybody knows everybody. And he was asked to leave. And I didn’t want my children and my grandchildren to live in a world like that. I was becoming increasingly alarmed, listening to my Prime Minister call me a racist and say that I shouldn’t be tolerated. I found his rhetoric to be incredible divisive and I’m a believer that if you are a leader of a country, you have to lead all of your people, even if you don’t agree with them. And I just saw so much -- coming across Canada, every day I heard stories. People -- at least three people would tell me they were planning their suicides until we started the Convoy. Or stories of people that we were too late. I heard from families that were living in their vehicles because they lost their jobs. I heard from people that had lost their jobs and lost everything. I have the tears of thousands of Canadians on my shoulder, who everyday told me that we were bringing them hope. I saw little old ladies praying on their knees on the side of the road and I saw little children holding signs saying, “Thank you for giving me back my future.” Sorry.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir, I did.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did. And the Twitter account also.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that was my personal one, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not on that type of platform. Just community, you know, selling chocolate covered almonds or stuff like that.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I did.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, well when we -- when I started the GoFundMe, I had asked, I think it was Mr. Barber, ”What should I set the target for?” And he said “$200,000.” And I said, “No way.” I kind of laughed. I was like, “That sounds greedy and I don’t believe that we’ll ever hit that.” And I said, “Well, how about I set it for $100,000?” And I said, “I feel even funny about doing that.” I was literally expecting maybe $20,000 in donations, which I was prepared to -- I felt I would be able to handle that with my very minimal accounting skills. And I can’t remember what the total was up to on Monday morning, but I realized that I wanted to create a finance committee so that Canadians that were donating this money would rest assured that we were going to be open and transparent and accountable and that they would know exactly what was happening with their donations. I just felt that was so important.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well there was -- in the initial meeting, there was two bookkeepers that had, obviously, accounting experience. Cindy Parker was also on that committee. Noeline Villebrun joined us also. She’s a Clan Mother, a Dene Clan Mother from the Northwest Territories. And we were in consultation with a chartered accountant in Medicine Hat. So we formed the committee. Obviously we had a lot of things to figure out, such as how we were going to pay the costs of the truckers to get to Ottawa. And they came up with some calculations based on distance. I’m not sure if it’s been entered in evidence. It might be. But -- because clearly, if you’re driving from Vancouver, it’s going to be, you know, way more expensive than if you’re coming from some place in Ontario.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Probably. There was a lot going on then, but yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe I -- well, I was blown away. We did not see that coming. Did not expect that we were going to have that level of support. And it was funny, as we were driving across Canada, and the committee member or somebody would call me or text me and say, “You’ve got to bump it up again,” because there was a few days there where Canadians were donating a million dollars a day. And it was very exciting and exhilarating, of course, but at the same time, I would just feel myself almost getting, like, more and more anxiety, because from my view, when you’re talking that kind of money, the lawyers are coming. And here we are today.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It’s a massive responsibility.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, as you heard from Mr. Dichter, I contacted him and I was, for the same reason that we added Chris to the accounts, I didn’t want to be solely responsible. So I added him on to the GoFundMe campaign, just as I had added Chris Barber as a signatory on my accounts.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Probably. Sorry, my mind went blank.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That sounds about right, yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, we opened another -- or I opened a chequing account underneath that account so that we could keep the e-transfers separate from the GoFundMe donations. I don’t know why. I just thought it would be maybe easier that way to keep them distinct. I wasn’t sure, obviously, again, what was going to happen, and I was trying to just make sure that every -- all the boxes were ticked and everything was going to be easily identifiable there. Easy to account for, I guess, is a better way.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Within a few days, sir, or probably, actually, within a couple days of the GoFundMe campaign, we were receiving messages about people that were very hesitant to use the GoFundMe platform and they were requesting an alternative method to donate money. So that’s why we started that.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Mr. Chad Eros and I had gone down to the bank. The lawyers had flown in and we were going to cover the cost of that flight. And so we went down to the TD Bank here in Ottawa and we were going to wire that company. And that’s when we were told, “No, there’s a hold on your account.” The lady was excellent. She said -- she gave me a note and said, “There is a Mr. J. Stein that has left his name on here. If you could contact him?” And then she indicated that he was working with the Fraud Department.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Oh, boy. I’m not sure if at that time we had already had the Board created or not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. Yeah, I don't know if that was created yet. I don’t really remember, honestly. I think it was maybe with me and Chad and Mr. Barber.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t believe I did. I don’t ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- recall.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s okay.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Other than it was very busy and crazy times. It was kind of chaotic at that point, so we recognized that we needed to have legal counsel and legal advice here on the ground. So I guess we felt it was just urgent and so that’s why.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe it was $26,000. So $10,000 of that, if you would like me to break it down for you?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) of that was wired to a bulk fuel supplier; $3,000 was e- transferred to another fuel provider. Chris and I had gone down -- sorry, Mr. Barber and I had gone to the TD and we withdrew 3,000 in cash from one account and 10,000 in cash from -- or sorry, one branch -- and then went to the next branch. And then -- and I remember being very nervous about it because I was very conscious that we needed receipts and we needed to be accountable. And they were, the road captains that went out and bought whatever supplies, fuel, I believe some of that went to fuel, and they were -- when they brought the receipts back, there was actually extra money in the kitty.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe so. I didn’t keep it. I had 10 million problems of my own, so I wasn’t -- I didn’t want to be handling any of the cash. So I think I gave it to Chris and then Chris distributed it to the road captains from there to provide fuel.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe it was a company called Fillerrup.ca.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, that went to Adam something who was with the Quebec part of the convoy. Like, I'm sorry, I can't remember his last name.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The fuel?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That, I left up to the professionals.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I'm assuming with a fuel bulker of some sort or -- I honestly don’t know.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The truck drivers.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
We did have a few volunteers that came on board. There was a gentleman that was there for the first -- I think he was there for the first week -- who looked after that, and then he had to leave and another gentleman stepped in and took it over who was from Alberta, Calgary, I believe. And then another gentleman from Ontario that had assisted.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The first one I believe was Joey Mizu, M-i-z-u; Tehan (phonetic) -- I'm sorry, I don't know his last name -- he was from Calgary; and then John Scubic (phonetic) who was from Ontario.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I have them in an envelope in my room. They were scanned and sent. I believe Eva Chipiuk had scanned them. And there was one of the road captain's uncle was here, so he created a spreadsheet so that we could keep track of all of them also.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t really remember the details. Is it okay if I read it?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Okay.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
So it looks to me they just wanted confirmation on how the -- where the funds were going and how they would be distributed.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do, yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. I believe they were trying to do their due diligence.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I guess what the finance committee, we decided to do was obviously come up with registration forms because we felt that that was really important, and a code of conduct also. And that is based off of the calculations that the finance committee had come up with too to pay them for. So when it was not anticipated how large this was going to grow, I thought e-transfers would be very -- a very easy way disburse the money, and that’s what the registration was for, so that we would have their contact information and their email addresses in order to make that happen.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was. That was the plan.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, we didn’t need to because the funds were frozen and ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I'm sorry?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Oh, that was from the e- transfer money, not the GoFundMe money.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
At that point, I had handed over everything to the finance committee because once Mr. Barber and I got on the road, I was quite busy doing other things. So my communications with them were quite quick, and I trusted them. I trusted that they knew what they were doing and yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, it was incredibly -- again, it was an incredible responsibility and again, my -- I was -- wanted to always be as open and transparent about it as possible, which is why I started doing the lives, so that I could let people know, you know, what was happening, the finance committee has been formulated, and try and do little updates on what we were achieving at that point.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Oh, of course. Yeah, everybody wanted to know about the money.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that’s how I -- I didn't mean they were vultures. I just felt like the vultures or something are circling.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The best I could. I had created a finance committee to ensure that the money that was donated was protected and that I was protected, and we had -- I just wanted -- I don't know. I just put one foot in front of the other, and I would just explain that I was not in a -- like, this was not my money to give out, and that we needed to -- that the money was primarily, like it said in the GoFundMe campaign, primarily for the -- it was for the truckers for -- sorry, fuel, food and lodgings, if needed. And so I couldn't buy hotdogs. I didn't feel like buying a sound system for $150,000 was appropriate when I couldn't get money out to give to the truck drivers. So I had a lot of people coming at me, and my hands were tied. At one point, I had somebody threatening that they were going to get a lawyer to come after me for the money, which was kind of ridiculous because that was really, at that point, just going to tie it up even longer, you know.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
A supporter.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Mr. Barber and Ms. Belton.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I found out -- and I can't recall if it was in my initial discussion with Mr. Barber or the next day. It would have been either the 13th or the 14th that I found out that they were involved, but I don't remember exactly which date.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I came to see myself as part of a team. And maybe it was because of the GoFundMe that my name was on, or maybe it was because of the live videos that I was doing, I was -- I felt I was perceived as that, but I -- all I wanted to do was help.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Obviously, Ms. Belton and Mr. Barber, the road captains, Joe Jensen, Miranda Gasior, Ryan Mihilewicz, Dale Enns, Sean Tiessen. I hope I'm not forgetting anyone.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I guess that's -- yeah, I guess that's what I alluded with my previous answer.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Absolutely not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was. And I think when you have anything -- any type of organization, there's always power struggles involved, and ours was no different.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I saw what I perceived was, you know, people, organizations coming in, perhaps trying to take over or -- I hate to use the word take over, but I believe that they were all there for -- with the same goals that we had. It's just that maybe some had different agendas or were looking to possibly promote their own brand. There was obviously -- I had a lot of people coming up to me, as we were just talking about, you know, telling me what I needed to do with the money, should do with the money, could be doing with the money, what I had to do, and it was very overwhelming.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The first one that I was concerned about was an organization called Taking Back our Freedoms, and I felt, again, that they were there with the right end goal in mind. I remember they showed up with bags of swag. All of a sudden, I was getting pulled into meetings with, I believe it was GiveSendGo, because we were looking at -- there had been obviously problems starting with GoFundMe and we weren't sure what was going to happen, and so I -- I honestly don't -- I remember being in meetings and conference calls, and I really didn't even know what was going on. And I had a discussion with Mr. Eros after one of those, and he was concerned.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Essentially.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not that I can think of offhand, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Absolutely not. I never in a million years saw this coming. I never had an agenda. I literally just wanted to help some truckers drive across Canada and stand in front of Parliament with some signs. That was literally what I had envisioned.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
They flew in on the evening of the 2nd of February, I believe, and it was quite late at night when they arrived. They came to -- I think I was still at the ARC Hotel at that point. And they came up and introduced themselves. There was five lawyers, I believe, that showed up, and that's when I first met them.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I know that there was a doctor that was in Ottawa with us that was quite concerned, I believe, about what he was seeing from these organizations that were coming in. And if I remember correctly, he is the one that set up a call with the JCCF.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Dr. Francis Christian.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I had heard of them before. Never imagined I'd ever need to use them, but the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, so, at that point, I just understood them to be a charitable organisation that assisted with legal cases, helping to fund defendants in legal cases such as this.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I can. Again, there was a lot of pressure that was happening at this time. It was -- Mr. Marazzo and I, I think within the first day or so, I think he saw me running around and people pulling me in all sorts of directions, and he took me into a room, and we sat down, and in his very calm voice, he told me, "You know, you need to take a day off. You need to just take a day and not do anything and just relax." So I decided -- so I thought, okay, well, maybe Thursday I'll just try and sneak away and have a nap or, you know, just relax for a little bit. And so I agreed to it. I was like, “Okay. I’ll try.” And then we had a meeting. I think it was Tuesday evening. It was actually probably Tuesday that day that we had that talk. We had a meeting Tuesday evening which would be the night before they arrived. And one of the gentlemen from Taking Back Our Freedoms told me I was to be at the Marriott Hotel for a press conference the next day at one o'clock.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe that was the 1st, going into the 2nd.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
And I said, “No, I can’t. I can’t. I’m going to get some rest.” And they were quite alarmed that I was turning them down. I have no media experience. I felt -- and I'm not saying that this is what they were doing. But I felt at that point like I was literally being thrown to the wolves. They were going to take me to the Marriott, give me 10 minutes of media training, and then put me in front of the mainstream media. Like, I grew up in Saskatchewan. This is not my world, you know, and so I was -- of course, I had a lot of anxiety. And it was a big responsibility for us here, you know? And to -- I was really concerned about being put in that situation, terribly unprepared.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sorry. I haven’t answered your question.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, I forgot. I still hadn't answered it. So Mr. Wilson and the team came in on Tuesday night. We met with them. He explained to me his reasons for being there, which was out of a concern for his children also. And I immediately liked him. And his team. I told him about this press conference, probably begged him to help me because he’s had experience with this. As someone who is a very trusting person, I was rapidly becoming aware that I needed to be careful who I trusted, if that makes sense. And so I trusted Keith and his team immediately. And he agreed to help me and it was crazy. It was a crazy day. We -- I can’t remember if he drafted the statement I made or perhaps the media committee had -- a communications committee had something to do with that. Anyways, he agreed to help me and they were like knights in shining armour, in my opinion.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, definitely. Before I left Medicine Hat I was feeling overwhelmed.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s fair.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. Because as these groups would come in, I did trust them. Like, if you wanted to help, we need your help. You are welcome here. And in that instance -- if I may back up just a bit. So as we were organizing before we even left, obviously the finance committee was one thing I recognized needed to be created instantaneously or right away. Our Facebook page was being inundated with messages that I was unable to keep up with so I created -- I found volunteers and created a social media committee to have that, or to look after that. I then realized that we needed, I guess, a media team or like a -- yeah, I guess a media team would be the best thing. So there was a little committee made with that which you heard Mr. Dichter allude to today, that he was a part of. And I forget where I was going. Could you ask me the question again, please?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Oh yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. I just can’t remember what my point was with the committees, but anyways. Yeah, I felt at that point like everyone kind of -- not everyone. I felt that some people didn’t see me. They just saw $10 million over my head. And of course, as they would come in -- and these organizations would come in and there were many many wonderful organizations. And obviously we were very grateful for their help. But again, in that case I was feeling as the days went on I was getting more and more uncomfortable with them coming in and taking over the meetings that we were -- like our briefing meetings. I got -- I actually left the ARC Hotel because all of a sudden they were in the room next to me n the 7th floor which I thought was really odd. And one of the road captains made mention to me that -- we had a coffee in my room one morning, the road captains and myself. And they mentioned that when they left, like, they were opening and closing their door to see who was leaving my room.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I’m not sure who the room was, who it belonged it, but Mr. Beyer and Mr. Peloso and their team were in that room.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not that I can recall.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Do you mean why did I trust them?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I felt that they were genuine. As I said, when Mr. Wilson was explaining to me his reasons. He was a lawyer, obviously. He was sent there to help us. But he was also -- had concerns and he was concerned for the future of his children too. And I guess I just had -- I had to trust them. And he gave me no reason not to.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
As I said, I never saw myself in that light. And I still don’t. I feel like I was part of just an amazing team. I would not describe myself as the spark that lit the fire.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I didn’t really think about it, to be honest.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, when I first arrived there I was in and out of a lot of meetings. It is honestly a blur. We had kind of a joke there that one day felt like a week. There was so much going on. But we would have briefing meetings in the morning to lay out, you know, kind of what we anticipated for the day. As I said, when we first saw this taking off our number one priority became safety -- safety for the drivers, safety for the participants, safety for the public. So we had a lot of briefings on making sure that was -- you know, talking about things like keeping the emergency lanes open. I remember -- if I remember correctly, I believe the first weekend we got there we had some problems with, I heard, Antifa, that were spray painting vehicles and breaking windows and putting nails under tires. And so they created block captains that could monitor throughout the evening to ensure that people were going to be safe from -- I guess anti- protesters or whatever they are.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Lots of meetings in the beginning. I was at the Swiss Hotel. There were so many meetings at the beginning, honestly. I tried to get out to see, to talk to people. The first Sunday we were there there was a church service that we attended and I spoke at with the Clan Mothers and Mr. Dichter.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Mother hen. No, I guess when I first got there, there was lots of, obviously, meetings to do with the finances and stuff like that. And as I said, they were -- we ended up setting up a GiveSendGo, so there was conference calls and stuff like that. The details, I couldn’t tell you. But I got out to speak to the crowd and wanted to go see the people. And I went to 88, or Embrun, I believe it was called, saw -- and went to the truckers that were down on Parkway. So I spent some of my time just walking around in the crowd and talking to people.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
He was a godsend. I will be forever grateful. That man dropped everything to come to Ottawa to help us with the accounting portion, and GoFundMe, and work with the legal team. And I thought he was great. He -- I have very basic accounting skills, and so to have him come in was a huge load off my shoulders. He could understand what they were talking about. He knew the big words; right? And I was extremely grateful. We had a great relationship while he was here. Yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe we had stopped in, I want to say, -- we had a stop along the way. Maybe Sioux Ste. Marie. I can’t remember. Anyways. We had a little pit stop, and I believe it was Mr. Barber who introduced me to him.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I’m not sure if they knew each other or if he knew of him. I can’t say.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
He’s a very good man. He was there also to exercise his democratic rights and express his concern for what he believed was happening in our country also. Just a patriotic, good, Christian man.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I knew he had a business in Saskatchewan of a successful farm implement business in Saskatchewan.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I believe he paid for a lot of hotel rooms. He covered, I believe, at least the rental of one of the conference rooms, or maybe a couple of conference rooms there. Obviously when we -- when the lawyers flew in, my husband was on that flight, and I was quite concerned, because I didn’t want the -- nothing -- I mean, when I started GoFundMe, my savings account was 1.13 overdrawn. So I made sure I put the dollar 13 into it, right, so that I never wanted any questions asked. And so Mr. Bourgault actually took my husband and I into his room one day and offered to pay for what would have been, I guess, Dwayne’s portion of that flight.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
In the end, no, because I believe after I was released from prison, I was told that Adopt- a-Trucker covered that flight.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t recall that occurring. No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I knew of him. I think maybe he was livestreaming during the United We Roll Convoy too, or maybe that he was participating or involved somehow. So I knew of him. I did not know him.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Really nothing other than he was a participant in a Convoy, ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- at that point. I think he maybe had a podcast or -- or not a podcast, but a livestream Facebook show.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Briefly. I might have watched a few clips as I was scrolling through Facebook. But I didn’t follow him.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I -- not really, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Like I said, when I spoke with Chris. I can’t be sure if it was the 13th or the 14th.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
But their names have both come up. I wasn’t in -- I talked to Mr. Barber on the 13th, and then I believe they had a meeting that evening over Zoom. And so the 13th or the 14th.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did. I think it was quite a few days after that. And I do recall hearing about it. I never read it. I really didn’t pay any attention to it, to tell you the truth.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Just that there was a memorandum of understanding ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- out there. It was ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Maybe. I honestly don’t recall that.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I ran into him. I didn’t really see him that much once we got to Ottawa. So I think I ran into him maybe a handful of times. And if we spoke, I believe it was just kind of a greeting and small talk. I really didn’t have anything to do with him.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I thought it was 2019, but it could have been 2018.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, we did. Yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I considered him a friend.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I’m not allowed to speak to him anymore.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I absolutely did. I asked him to help me with my Twitter account, actually.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Because I was getting very, very busy. I was getting messages about the Convoy. And I had my hands full with trying to -- or focus on the Facebook page and help the social media committee, as well as preparing for our departure to Ottawa. So I just asked -- I felt like he was excellent on Twitter. And I felt that he could help me with that, just to kind of, I guess, keep getting the message out, or the progress.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was thinking about this last night. I must have met him while we were on our way to Ottawa. But the first time I remember now meeting him was in Winnipeg when we were discussing Benjamin's concerns with the video that he'd seen that morning about bullets flying. I'm sure I met him along the way before then, but I honestly don't recall. But that was definitely -- I remember that -- or being on the side of the road.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe he was helping with some logistics. He was -- I think because of his previous experience with United We Roll, he had a pretty good idea as to the routes that they would be taking. So fuel, helping to try and find fuel, that type of thing.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Oh, yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, while I was in jail for 19 days, and, of course, my phone was inundated with messages, and apparently, I found out after the fact, there's a setting that you can have on your iPhone where you can have them delete -- automatically delete after 30 days, and it was set to that.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, up until the -- and, I mean, I've obviously have followed Pat through the United We Roll convoy, and but I knew him by reputation also. And Pat has a -- Mr. King, sorry, has a lot of people that like him and a lot of people that don't. He's a very controversial figure. So I was getting messages and phone calls from a lot of people that were concerned that he was involved. This frank discussion, I believe, came about because somebody had contacted me and mentioned that Mr. King had lied about being a veteran, and, which is a very serious allegation, and I just felt like we needed to have a discussion with him and, you know, a frank discussion, and I guess find out the details.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, there was people that were not joining the convoy because they were concerned about him and again, because of his reputation. I know he's said a lot of inflammatory things, which I was concerned about. And I'd -- and I was concerned that that would have an impact on what we were trying to achieve. It would take away the focus from what it was we were trying to achieve.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I'm not the type that gets easily offended, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Oh, jeez. I had a conversation with my MP about his involvement. I remember that. He was concerned about it. Cindy Parker had concerns about him also that she'd raised right away, and yeah. I don't know how many messages or -- there was concerns, but there was also people that were there because Pat was involved too. Like I said, he did have his followers also; right?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That was in reference to conversations that we'd had with the road captains. And some of them -- you know, he had been involved from the start and had, you know, made -- I think he looked after the accommodations or something in Sault Ste. Marie because he's from that area. So, yeah, so that wasn't necessarily me saying I felt like he was needed. That -- I was kind of referencing the conversations in general that we were having and some of them felt that they were concerned that if he left, that the people that supported him would leave. My reference to I don't care about his past is that I'm -- I had to believe that everybody that was involved was getting involved for the right reasons. And as I said, when I spoke with Mr. Barber, that -- and I found out that they were involved, I was aware of his reputation. And I just felt that I didn't want to start this off criticizing other people. Again, because I just felt like I had to believe that people that were joining this movement were joining it with the best of intentions, regardless of their past.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe he is a passionate Canadian.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, he's kind of a beast, and he very much speaks his mind. I, again, was just concerned with, you know -- to be frank, he was a bit of a hothead in my opinion, and I was just concerned that he would say things or say controversial things or inflammatory things. And so that's why I added in the, like, we can't even be threatening to throw snowballs at Parliament because that's not what we're here for; right? So ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was in Sudbury.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, we pulled into Sudbury. I believe it was by accident. I think we took a wrong turn, so we ended up in this yard somewhere and we stopped and had a break. And my recollection was Mr. King came over to the truck and he said to me, "I can't go into Ottawa. I'm getting death threats." And I said, "Good, Pat. You shouldn't come into Ottawa." And he made a comment or said something, "Well, I organised this whole thing." And I said, "No, you didn't. We all did." This was -- basically, I'm paraphrasing. "This was a team effort. We all had a part in this." And again, he said something about not going to -- or he organised the whole thing, and I said, "No, you didn't. This movement is not about you. This movement is not about me. You need to check your ego. And if you care about this movement, you will not go to Ottawa."
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did hear that.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I -- maybe he just doesn't recall it.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I had other things to focus on so once we got to Ottawa I think I saw him four or five times, maybe. I believe I’d been there for at least a week. Again, a lot of stuff happened in three weeks. And the first time I ran into him was down at Parkway one night and I was just leaving. And so I didn’t have a lot of interactions with him when we were there.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I heard a lot of rumours. But I heard a lot of rumours. So again, I had other things to worry about. I let the truckers or the road captains kind of handle that aspect.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Sure, yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I am, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It is a code of conduct. We recognized, once the support started coming in, we began growing, that we should have something in place for people to sign saying that they would adhere to a code of conduct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was put on the back side of the registration forms, I believe.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think we -- they could get them by email or get hard copies. I think we had them up on a website.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
We had printed off a lot of copies. We had big hopes when this started and so we had printed off a bunch of copies to have the road captains take to the drivers to sign, thinking that this would be a fairly simple task. But because of the amount of participation that we had, it was crazy. But I actually did receive a lot of them through emails so they did get out.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I'm not sure. A lot.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I believe in being respectful and why -- while I may have been going to Ottawa to - - because of the mandates or the -- yeah, the mandates, I mean, what my reasons were for wanting the mandates to be lifted may not have been the same as somebody else reasons for wanting the mandate lifted.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Other than hearing about the MOU, which as you've heard today, I haven't even read it yet, but other than that, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
What did I hear about it? I had just heard that it was a document that was to be presented to the governor general. I really don’t recall all the details. It was just a general in passing, I guess.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
M'hm.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, no hateful rhetoric. We didn’t want any sort of divisive rhetoric. Just again, it goes back to point 3, be respectful. We didn’t -- I was on lives daily saying that we are going to Ottawa to peacefully protest and exercise our democratic right to assembly. We are not going there to create problems and you know, I said, "If you see anyone that’s acting in a threatening manner or an aggressive manner to get their licence plates, phone the police, and report it or contact us and we could report it." We just didn’t want any of that type of behaviour happening here, because that was never what it was about.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was a concern. Again, I know when we were on our way, at one point -- I believe it was when we got to Thunder Bay -- we were on our way to Thunder Bay, and I can't remember who it was, but somebody had contacted me saying they thought that there was infiltrators, Antifa, that had infiltrated our convoy from Winnipeg that were maybe going to cause some problems for us. So there was always -- that kind of information was always coming to us, right?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not really. Everyone that I talked to and saw and -- were all there for the same reason.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, of course, there was the conversation that Benjamin, when he called me that one morning when we were on our way, I think it was our second day, and here had been a Tweet come out about Mr. King talking about bullets. And so that was obviously concerning. We stopped and we chatted with him on the side of the road about it. He indicated that it had been heavily edited by some media, I'm not sure. But it was obviously concerning.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was the ending in bullets one. I don't remember ever hearing about the one about the prime minister.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I encountered hundreds and hundreds of Ottawa residents when I was here, thanking me, thanking us, saying that we gave them hope. Ottawa residents, and in fact, federal government employees that were taking donations of food to the truckers, blankets, fuel, and yeah, we -- everyone had said the same thing to me, that -- I mean, the word that I heard the most on the way here and when I was here was hope.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I never witnessed it. I never witnessed any of that, any of that type of behaviour. Again, there was always rumours, but I never personally witnessed any behaviour like that whatsoever. I also heard that the Russians were involved. I also heard that we tried to burn a building down. I mean, there was a ton of misinformation out there. I had my family from Edmonton messaging me, texting me, asking if I was okay. And they were really worried about my safety. And I said, “Worried about my safety? Like, this is the biggest love fest I’ve ever participated in.” Right?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe that’s how they felt. Again, I can’t say I never witnessed any of that. Obviously the last thing that we ever wanted to do when we came here was to make the citizens of Ottawa feel that way. And I guess, you know, when -- as we alluded to, even in our letter with the Mayor, like, we never intended for that to happen and we didn’t want to cause that kind of disruption. And we worked really hard. The road captains worked really hard to keep the emergency lanes open and to -- of course, the horn injunction came in and worked really hard to ensure that that was adhered to, because we didn’t -- we definitely never wanted anybody to feel that way.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I did have a view on the honking. As even Mr. Barber said, after a couple days, it was getting to be a bit much for me. I -- you know, trying to walk down the street and have a conversation with somebody was sometimes difficult. But again, I stayed in the Arc Hotel for a few days and then at the Sheraton Hotel for a few days and at least in my room, maybe I was preoccupied, but I didn’t hear a lot of horns. But then we were -- also, we were on, I guess, Slater and Albert.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I felt like I was respected, that my opinion was respected by most of them, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I’d heard that, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
On or about February 4th, I want to say, my Facebook page was disabled, which is how I accessed the Convoy page to do videos. So I couldn’t have, I guess. But I never really considered it because I left that type of stuff up to the captains.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, they already were. So it wasn’t necessary for me to.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t know. I don’t think I instructed them to. I believe we had discussions about the horns though.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, for sure I know Mr. Barber would go out and try and talk to the drivers. And I believe Mr. Marazzo was also out to try and get them to slow or cease, become less frequent, sorry.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It’s okay.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well I wouldn’t say I was comfortable. I was still quite nervous. But Mr. Barber and Mr. Benjamin -- sorry, Mr. Barber and Mr. Dichter were friends of mine. And also we had made the conscious decision at that point to not have the mainstream media there. So I felt like the independent media were not going to be aggressive with me, if that makes sense.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
They were there, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, because I guess right within the first couple days of us starting to organize before we left, I did have politicians reaching out to me that wanted to get up and speak, and I just felt like we had our message, and that’s the message that we needed to stick to, without getting it convoluted with the messages of other politicians. And so by this point, to tell you the truth -- I shouldn’t say that. I’m telling the truth. But it was about three days into organizing the Convoy that I knew that my time with the Maverick Party was done. And the reason I knew that it was done was because I was sitting at my kitchen table, and we had chats with the different road captains in the different areas going on Messenger, and I was chatting with the Quebec team and we were told there was 1,000 truckers ready to come and support us. And I had, I guess, an epiphany moment. There’s me, you know, chatting here, and I’ve got Google translate on the other one, and I’m talking to the Quebecers, me, an Albertan. And I just had this moment where I just thought, “This division has all been a lie. They’re the same as us.” And I knew that I didn’t want to see Canada divided at that point and I resigned from my position with the Maverick Party two or three days after I arrived in Ottawa.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do. As a matter of fact, I’m going to learn French.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Absolutely not. Not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The only person that I saw that came out from there was a gentleman that had ran as a candidate for the Maverick Party who was a friend of mine. His name was Tariq.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not that I can remember. Oh, sorry, my bad. Colin Krieger also showed up for a few days.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Oh, I'm not even sure. We had so much going on here to deal with. I remember hearing about the borders, but I'm not sure when it was. It had already been in the news for a few days, I think.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I -- it's sort of my home area. So I do know two of my friends that were there for sure. But I -- and I probably -- actually, I believe my parents even took food there one day. But other than that, I don't know.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not to my knowledge, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think one of them had sent me a text message just to see how I was doing because he was a friend of mind and mentioned that he was there. But other than that, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Never.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not. I really did not have time to follow what was happening closely. I just knew that they were happening.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think they were there -- I assume they were there for the border mandates.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I had 15,000 emails maybe.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Sure.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't, yeah. I don't have any reason to believe I didn't. There was a lot I didn't get to.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No. Like I said, I had a lot of emails that I never got to, and but I don't recall. I don't recall seeing any.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, we had a meeting with Mr. French. I believe it was February the 11th. At that point, he didn't indicate to me who he was representing. I think he was just trying to open some negotiations, and I think it was maybe the next day or after that then that I found out that it was from the mayor ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- or that he was there on behalf.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think it was a Friday, February the 11th.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It does.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It did, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, as I said, we had a meeting with Mr. French and some of the road captains and other volunteers. And just it happened really quickly because we wanted -- I viewed it as a step, a first step, a step to start, you know, getting the trucks out of the downtown core, so that we could get those areas opened up for the citizens. And they've been saying here shrinking the footprint or whatever. And it did happen really fast. And you have to understand that we had been there now for -- I think that was going into our third week. We were tired. We wanted to go home. So we were looking for ways where we could start forming an exit strategy. And while our concern was obviously never with the City of Ottawa, we felt it was, a) a step one, and number two, finally, someone is willing to sit down and just listen to us and have a dialogue with us.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not really. It was -- everything was very fluid and day by day. I guess my hope was that if we could open communications with the mayor and he could see that we weren't, you know, the types of people that we were being described as in the media, that perhaps that would open the door for talks with someone -- with MPs or someone in the federal government who would take the time to sit down and listen to us.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I heard parts of it, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't recall if he ever did. I don't recall having that conversation. But again, there was lots going on.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, we talked with the road captains before that letter went out and had agreement. We discussed the draft of the letter, I believe, and Mr. Wilson and Mr. Chipiuk drafted it and emailed it to everyone so that they would have a chance to read it also and waited for the approvals to come back in. I don't recall if any of them strongly opposed it, to tell you -- like I'm not sure. I don't believe so.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not that I recall.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think there was some people that felt a little bit confused. I mean, I remember hearing that some people didn't feel -- or felt a little bit confused about what was happening. I remember hearing something to the effect of Tamara's negotiating with the mayor behind our backs, which was not true. But again, it was just all rumour. Like, you know ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I don't recall any specific people telling -- I just remember the gist of some of the things that I was hearing.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
We printed off some information after we discussed it as a group, and went out to speak to the truckers about it to explain to them why we felt this was a really good idea. I'm not sure what the experiences were of the road captains. I know I went out to 88, I believe it was, and had a great conversation with a gentleman that was kind of overseeing out there. And he was in full agreement. I talked to some of the other truckers that were out there and they were in full agreement also. They all thought it was a good idea.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It must have been that same evening. I believe I was at the Swiss Hotel when that came out. And I think it was definitely after the fact that I’d heard about it. And it must have been that same evening, I'm assuming.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was shocked but I knew that Mr. Wilson -- they had seen it right away. I think he saw it come up on his Twitter right away. And I trusted them to look after it, correct it, I should say.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t believe so because so many things happened after that. Monday was the invocation of the Emergencies Act which we found out when we were actually ironically on our way to meet with Mr. Brian Peckford. And I don’t recall having the conversation with him about that, but I could have because it was kind of a big deal.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, it doesn't ring any bells to me.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
In totality was yesterday. I believe I heard about it. Well, I know I heard about it But I believe that yesterday was the first time I watched it, the whole thing. I might have seen bits of it before.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, Mr. King wasn’t in our meetings so I don’t really have a reaction. I mean, he wasn’t attending our meetings. I don’t know if -- like I said, my interactions with him were quite limited. So I don’t know if he had spoken to one of the other road captains or if anybody had told him what was going on.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I guess so. I don’t really know. He kind of does his own thing.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I have never heard him speak from his lips that I could hear racist comments. I've seen the videos that have been, you know, online, that you guys have shown. I personally have never beared witness to that. And I believe that at his core he was here to -- just like the rest of us were, to exercise his democratic rights to a peaceful assembly.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I've thought a lot about that question. And he is a part of the story. And I mean, I can’t really have regrets because it is what it is. Things happened the way that they were supposed to happen and I guess he had a part to play. I don’t know. That’s hindsight is 20/20, right?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, nobody had ever come up to me and told me that we needed to leave.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did, yes. Yeah, I did see those.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did see -- somebody sent me a screen shot of one. I can’t remember if I had an actual copy of it but I had a screen shot of one and I thought it was odd. Now it’s been a while but I think it was because there was spelling mistakes and it wasn’t signed by anyone. I didn’t know -- I guess at this point I was kind of questioning the validity of anything I saw, really. And it was definitely alarming. But again, nobody ever came to us and said, “You guys have to leave right now.” And as far as I was concerned, we were peacefully protesting. We were exercising our democratic rights to be here and to protest.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Again, this is an entirely new world for me. I didn’t know. I remember when I believe the City of Ottawa implemented a state of emergency and then Mr. Ford invoked a provincial state of emergency. And I don’t want to sound flippant but what I saw from those were small groups of police officers standing around to larger groups of police officers standing around. So I didn’t understand fully, I guess, what that meant in terms of what was expected of us. It was really alarming. I remember starting to get quite anxious about what could be coming.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, as I said, we were on the way to meet with Mr. Peckford when we heard that Mr. Trudeau was going to be invoking the Act, or announcing that he was going to be invoking the Act later that day. And Mr. Peckford thought it would be a good idea for us to do a press conference about it also. So we did do a press conference later that day, prior to the Prime Minister’s press conference. And we wanted to continue and peacefully protest. But I knew that people were leaving, which I encouraged. And I believe it was the 16th; it was the day before I was arrested that some of the road captains and friends that were close to our organization started leaving which of course I encouraged. I mean, I was concerned about what could be coming. We had heard that there was quite a police presence coming and obviously I didn’t want to see anyone be hurt. I didn’t want to see anyone get arrested.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was getting close.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I did.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, it was, again, kind of ironic because I went down to the War Memorial that day to attend the service that the vets were having there every day. I spent my afternoon walking the streets with a veteran and my husband and Miranda, one of the road captains, just talking to people. And I was aware the night before -- I'm sure you've saw the video -- that it was most likely coming or that there was a chance that I could be arrested. And we went back to the hotel and within 15 minutes, everybody's phones started blowing up and that Mr. Barber had been arrested. Mr. Bulford and I were at the Swiss Hotel with Mr. Scubic and Mr. Tiessen and we discussed what we should do, what our next steps should be. And we were concerned that if they were starting to arrest the organizers, that they would come to the hotel. And my husband was there, and Mr. Bulford's wife was there. And obviously, that was the last thing that I would ever want my husband to see, was to me be arrested. We definitely didn’t want that sort of activity occurring at the hotel with a woman who had been so kind to us, actually, who was about to lose her business until we showed up. But like I said in my video, I wasn’t afraid. I believe and still believe that we did an excellent job remaining peaceful, advocating for the police, advocating for respecting the police, and so we made the conscious decision to go out and ask the police if they were looking for us. We walked up to the Hill and I believe it was Metcalfe, and we stopped and talked to some officers. I'm not sure what their rank was. There was two Suburbans pointed with their headlights up at the Hill. And we walked up to them and Mr. Bulford identified who we were and asked the gentlemen if we heard that they were looking for organizers. We are the -- we're part of the volunteers, and he indicated to us that he didn’t have information on that. Danny asked him maybe a second time, or he asked him another question, and he rolled his window up, communicated with somebody, rolled his window down, and said, "No." And I remember saying, "Well, if that changes, we're just going to be up at the Hill here." And we went up to the Hill and I think we were there for an hour and a half to two hours, and we decided to go back to our room. We had presented ourself to the police. They indicated that we were not -- they were not looking for us. We walked down to the ARC Hotel and warmed up. It was cold that night. And I believe Sean was staying there. I needed to get something, so we warmed up in there for about 10 minutes, and then started heading back to the Swiss Hotel. As we crossed the street, there had been -- there was construction on my left side of the street in front of the buildings, I remember, so it wasn’t very well lit. And as we were walking, I met another couple coming towards us, and the lady hugged me and thanked me and Danny and she was crying. And we were standing there talking to this couple and all of a sudden, three Suburbans just went -- police Suburbans -- I think that’s what they are -- went flying down the street past us, and then a fourth one came and pulled over. And so at that point, I was pretty sure that I was about to be arrested.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I've lost my job. I've lost my freedom of speech. I've lost my freedom to communicate with my friends, which was quite traumatizing because we just experienced something huge, and we didn’t get any time to even sit down as a group and just talk about it and talk about our experience. We didn’t have that opportunity. That was taken away from me. I have to be very careful about every move that I make. As you know, I was arrested on an alleged breach charge for attending a dinner in Toronto. I had the police show up at the place that I'm staying last weekend because somebody saw me outside smoking a cigarette. I have a daughter that I don’t want her to be seen with me because I'm worried. I'm so sorry.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I have yet to see the particulars of the mischief that I am alleged to have committed. I just -- it's definitely affected my life. It's something that I have never been arrested before. I -- the process, the legal process, I find extremely frustrating. My trial's not til next year. I have to live under these conditions for a year. But I will -- I'll make it work. I'll manage. And I did everything I felt that I could do in my power through the lives that I was doing, and I believe it worked, as I was advocating again for peaceful protest, respect the police, please respect other people. That was a big part of the reason I did that live the last night. I saw a lot of those flags, and while I support anyone's freedom of speech, it's not something that resonated with me. I saw and heard of people that were upset with some mainstream media, and I just wanted to -- I did my video because regardless of how angry we are with the lack or the leadership that we've seen, the divisive rhetoric, the division between the vaccinated and unvaccinated that I've seen come from elected officials, civil servants towards their own people. And I saw those flags one day, and I kept thinking, I got to get to the stage and make a speech. Like, I felt that I needed to get there and I needed to just say, you know, Mr. Trudeau has three children, and I have three children. And my kids have to wake up and see the stuff on social media too. Actually, when I was arrested, my 19-year-old daughter woke up to read an article that I hung myself in jail. She's 19.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t believe I am, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Absolutely, yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I -- yes, essentially. I had no idea that it was going to become what it evolved into, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe that everyone that was involved and that joined was in it to be listened to, to have their voices heard, as far as the mandates and the restrictions and the lockdowns went.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The donations that came into GoFundMe, as we specified in the description, was for fuel to get them to Ottawa and home.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
So...
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I guess that’s fair.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I am.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I can tell you what I remember, which obviously isn’t much. Gridlock is not a term that I would normally use, so -- and as the text message clearly states, that was not up to me, that was not -- never something that we advocated for.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
So -- and you have to understand that there was lots of times where we would have meetings, but we’d go in there and have a meeting about something totally different.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No. No, we never wanted to gridlock the city. It was always, as I said -- especially as we saw the momentum growing and the support that we were getting, safety became my number one priority. And as you heard Mr. Marazzo testify, that was especially important to him, having a son that made frequent ambulance trips to the hospital.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
At times, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
M'hm.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I think that's taken out of context. Are you referring to the video that I made?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah. And I believe I said it was music to my ears. That was within a couple of days of getting there, and there was a lot of excitement and it was a very jovial atmosphere.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
As I said yesterday, when I was in my hotel room I didn't really notice it, the horns honking, and I was right downtown.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, Mr. Champ, my ex-husband was a tool push on a drilling rig, and I have spent many days on the site of a drilling rig, and there is a lot of diesel fumes and there is a lot of noise.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It is what it is.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not when you're living onsite, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I had never opposed the injunction.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, once it was imposed, of course we weren't going to go against the injunction.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't recall that, but if you say so, then...
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
If you say so. I have sworn a lot of affidavits, so if you say so.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
There was a lot going on.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I guess that's fair to say.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was probably there, but as I said, I was in and out of a lot of meetings ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- so I don't recall that specifically.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, the truck captains did for sure, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't believe I did, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
My Facebook page was deleted about the first week we were here.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I did not, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't believe so, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't believe so.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
He may have. Again, it was very chaotic times.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was a blur, yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The fundraiser.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I didn't have a lot of time to read the news, to tell you the truth.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That was probably around that same time, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
You could say that I guess, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
We had been in talks about that shortly after the legal team arrived, actually.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not to my knowledge. As I said yesterday, we were waiting to be acknowledged by somebody in the Federal Government who was willing to come and listen to what we had to say.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't know. That's really hard to say.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
There might have been. I know, again to reiterate, we were very focussed on being heard and having our concerns listened to.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not specifically the date, but I don't recall that happening, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, we had a message too.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
After the stories that I heard coming across Canada that were absolutely heartbreaking after two years of lockdowns and restrictions, yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
13th, I think.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I do.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Absolutely, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, as I said, we didn't want to create a big disruption to them. We wanted to be respectful to the citizens of Ottawa, for sure.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, what I will say is that I was approached by hundreds of Ottawa citizens who had come out to support. I was approached by federal government employees who were donating items to the protesters. We had a lot of support in Ottawa from the Ottawa citizens.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I guess, yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
He wasn't, and I give him great credit for being willing to sit and talk to us.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, primarily our people from our team also.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I -- obviously, I didn't.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that's true.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Everybody has a cell phone these days.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. Well, one of the road captains that I was with said it and I repeated it back to him, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, you know, that's a matter of perspective. My perspective on hold the line means stay true to your values in the face of diversity.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I can't speak for what -- how - - what other people think.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, again, it comes down to how you define the term, I suppose.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do, yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I did.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Again, I was repeating what one of the road captains had said to me.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe so, yes. All under the Criminal Code.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Mischief, counselling mischief, intimidation, counselling intimidation and a few more.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Perhaps.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I'm not sure.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you, Mr. Champ.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Good morning.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, ma'am.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe so, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was, yes. I didn't have a truck here to sleep in.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Very much so.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, ma'am.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It did take some time, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, there was, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Canadians.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, there was times when it was definitely very chaotic and very crazy.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, ma'am.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do recall that, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, there was times when I felt that way.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. Yes, there was.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
In the beginning, in the early days, no. But as the days wore on, I was able to get out and to the crowds more ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- more and get out and talk to the truckers and stuff like that also.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I'll take your word for it. I don't know the streets ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- here that well yet.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I believe so.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, ma'am.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I'm not sure of the addresses, but there was some out of town, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think it's by Embrum (ph)?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Embrun? Sorry.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, I believe that's the one, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I visited them. I visited them but, yeah, not as much as I wanted to.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, ma’am.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I didn’t know he was receiving threats.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I learned of that the other day, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I didn’t know that. I was also receiving death threats.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did hear something about Coutts, but again, I didn’t follow those stories that closely; I had -- I was too busy here.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
There -- as far as I know there’s no weapons-related.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. I don’t -- I don’t recall hearing about weapons, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That is new information for me, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Correct. Which is why I continually was online advocating for peace; to remain peaceful, to abide by the law, and to respect our law enforcement.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, ma’am.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was President of the Board of Directors at that time.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, we needed to go out and speak to them and talk to them about -- about what we felt was going to be a good idea, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was a step one.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s how I viewed it. It was progress, it was the -- more progress than we’d seen since we arrived.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Sorry; can you repeat that?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Sorry; can you repeat that again, please?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, that would have been something that we would’ve had to talk about, that’s a what if.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, we definitely would’ve loved to have stayed and continued to peace -- protest peacefully.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Good morning.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did none of those things.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, they were excellent to deal with right from the start.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
If we would have been told that we couldn’t have driven up here, I don’t believe that we would have. We would have found alternative places, I guess.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t know how to even answer that question. I guess if there was barricades in place, how could we have done that?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not to my knowledge.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I have, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I would agree with that.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
There was some residential streets that had lots of trucks on them. Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
A lot of them did want to be closer, but there was also trucks that were out there too in those locations, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. No, we didn’t. They’re all human beings. I don’t control anyone, sir. I open up a dialogue with them and ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I didn’t control anyone.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not control anyone.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The meeting -- oh, yeah, sorry, the initial meeting was, I believe, Friday. And so yes, correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe so. The 12th.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I believe.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I wasn’t at that meeting.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct I believe, yeah.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, they are.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I guess so.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
We didn’t have control, but no, but we worked very hard and very diligently with the gentlemen and women that were down there to open up a dialogue and assist them in opening up that intersection.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was down there also. Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I didn’t feel like it was dangerous. There was a large crowd presence there and they were -- I think they were feeling that they had been lied to by the police. There was a lot of mistrust there. And they were down there singing Oh Canada and chanting “Freedom.”
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
There was a lot of people there, yes. yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Which -- what are you referring to?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I’ve never been told to leave.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I am now.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Sure.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Sure. Let’s do that. Take me to portions, please.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I wasn’t there, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I have no reason to.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was not there. As a matter of fact, by the 19th, I was already in jail.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was arrested that day, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
From SJAM?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, not necessarily.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was not present there, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
If you say so.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was never told I needed to leave.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I remember when they came in and we had the discussion, and I, as it says, became very upset. I believe I said something to the effect of "I cannot believe that you're about to do this to your own people." We were there protesting peacefully, and I -- the rest of that interaction, I was upset and I was crying and I ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- don't recall the rest of it.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was upset and I was crying because of what they were proposing to do to Canadian citizens.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't recall them telling me to message that to others or that I was -- that I needed to leave.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was suggested.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I am not an intelligence expert, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Such as?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Could you ask me the question again, sir?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I don't.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I've seen it since in these hearings.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not receive this email, and I don't recall. As I've said, there was a lot of chaos, we had a lot of conversations, I can't recall.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't. I don't believe I've seen it before.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Of course not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I have.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
If you say so. Again, I'm -- this is a new world to me.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I am not familiar with the system.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Absolutely.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I never witnessed that, but I would be concerned.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t control anyone, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Good morning, Mr. Curry.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t recall seeing this attachment; no, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t believe so, no. It does not look familiar.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that is correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Redcliff, Alberta, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
We got in to Arnprior the evening of the 28th, I believe; the Friday evening.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe that was the 28th.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I’m sorry; could you repeat that?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t believe so. I know the road captains were in constant communication with law enforcement.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
We tried every day to get solid numbers, and, like, with people joining and leaving, you know, some people would travel with us for 200 kilometres; some people would travel across the province and turn around. It was -- it was very challenging, as much as we tried to get a count, it was next to impossible.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think it was the 30th or the 31st, but it was right around there, yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It was sitting out on my kitchen table when we were organizing and -- because I had messages coming in and emails coming in and phone calls, and it was -- it was very busy times.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Very busy times.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
There were times when it was chaotic. As you referred to, there was a lot of people here. When we got into town, I just saw a lot of smiles and a lot of flags, and people hugging each other. But there was -- yeah. So I don’t necessarily mean chaotic all the time as a negative term, but it was, you know, a mixture of both.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Again, that’s kind of a what if question that I can’t really speak to. Yeah, I don’t know.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Good morning.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think we were all quite shocked about that, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do, and I remember -- I remember saying, I think it was maybe to Mr. Wilson, that it wasn’t even about the money; it was about the statement behind the money.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Very briefly. I did scroll through some, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I would. And encouragement and support. I think as it grew, people wanted to be a part of it in any way that they could show support, and that was one way that people that couldn’t attend or be on an overpass or drive to the side of the highway were able to support.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. Yes, it was.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe somebody had mentioned that.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not to my knowledge, but I haven’t also looked any up.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Forty-nine (49) days in total.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Good morning.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I would have, obviously, followed the injunction. I never intended or came here to break the law. I would have asked if there was a way that we could remain -- if there was anything that we could work out so that we could remain and continue our protest.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I heard some of it, yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe he -- he was obviously not able to attend because he was in a cast, but I believe we had dialed him in on the phone to be present at that meeting.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe that was the deal with the Mayor.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t recall anybody objecting to it.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That was news to me.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
My understanding was that so long as we remained peaceful and complied with the order we were permitted to stay.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I’m sorry. What -- I didn’t hear all that. Sorry.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe so, and I think it was February 16th, but I’m not sure.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Since we've been -- since the convoy.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The only thing that I've seen and heard was not violence on the behalf of protesters. It was the video footage that I saw when the crackdown came.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I can't speak to other places. I know that we printed off that letter and I went out to 88 and spoke with the gentleman that owned the property out there and some of the truckers that were there. Their response was very positive. I think that everyone felt that, as I stated earlier, this was a step one.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't remember.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I didn't witness any negative responses, no.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Can you repeat that, please?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, well, that was obviously our goal, and again, to get the trucks off the residential streets. We were hoping to find a way that the trucks that did have to move their vehicles out of the city would have -- be able to come back in and continue the protest. And again, we felt it was a step in the right direction and meeting with the mayor was not one of my goals, but I thought, again, it was a way to open some dialogue with somebody in a position of authority.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
M'hm.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't think so.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Okay.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Correct.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe there's -- it's blocked off.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think that would be a good idea. I think Canadians have a right to exercise their democratic rights, and they have a right to have their voices heard.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I know -- well, I heard when I was at the ARC that the ARC was receiving death threats against me, which is one of the reasons why -- one of the reasons why I left that location. I have messages on my phone from an Instagram account from a young man that wanted to -- not just shoot me, but also shoot the rest of the protesters -- or the convoy organizers. I know that my criminal lawyer has received some very nasty emails. I believe Mr. Wilson has received death threats and threatening emails.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's fair.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Of course not.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, it's been very hard to hear because there's a lot of construction. I just hear her shouting my name a lot. I heard her say something I think just now about she can't wait until I go back to jail. But other than that, I haven't really ---
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe that's right on her sign.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It says, "go home terrorists".
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
With violent offences?
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I wouldn't know -- I have no -- no, I don't. Not that I can recall anyways.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do not, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you, sir.
-
Tamara Lich (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you.