Tamara Lich
Birth placeSaskatoon, Saskatchewan
OccupationAdministrator, musician
Known forCanada convoy protest leadership
ConvictionMischief
AccomplicesChris Barber
Conviction penaltyawaiting sentencing
PartyMaverick Party
SpouseDwayne Lich
Websitetwitter.com/LichTamara

Tamara Lich is a Canadian activist who has organised for the right-wing Maverick Party, the far-right Yellow Vest protests, and the Canada convoy protest in Ottawa.

Lich was among the organizers of yellow vest protests in Alberta in late 2018 and early 2019. Based in Alberta, Lich was also an early leader in the Western Canada secession Wexit movement, which later became the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta. In 2022, she was one of three organisers of the Canada convoy protests in Ottawa. She was arrested in Ottawa on February 17, 2022, and initially denied bail. She was released upon appeal, then re-arrested and denied bail again. Another appeal in July 2022 led to her re-release. In April 2025, she was convicted of mischief for her leadership role in the protest.

Early life and career

Lich was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.[1][2] Lich has predominately worked in logistics in the energy field,[2] including as a base administrator for STEP Energy Services, and also as a fitness instructor. She is a guitarist and lead vocalist in the Alberta-based band Blind Monday.[3][4][5]

Activism and politics

Yellow vest movement

Lich was an organizer for the far-right[6][7][8][9] yellow vest protests in Medicine Hat in late December 2018 and early 2019. Following death threats made towards Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Lich debated a name change for the group to distance their aims from those promoting violence.[10]

Western Canada secessionism

She opposed the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act and Bill-69 that regulated the oil industry in Canada.[3] Lich advocates against legislation that does not take regional differences into account. In 2020, she opined that there are different needs for legislation on gun control in downtown Toronto compared to rural Alberta.[3] As a leader[5] of the Maverick Party, she advocated for a unified voice of people in western Canada to push for constitutional reform as a first priority and secession as the second.[3] She resigned from the board of directors of the Maverick Party in early 2022.[5][11]

Lich was a leader in the Wexit movement which later became the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta.[3][12] Lich left the Wildrose party to join the separatist Maverick Party where she served as a member of its first governing council.[3][1] In 2022, she was the secretary of the Maverick Party's Western Canadian Governing Council.[13]

Lich was involved in the 2018 United We Roll protest convoy.[3]

COVID-19 pandemic

Speaking at a news conference on February 3, 2022, Lich called on all levels of government in Canada to put an end to COVID-19 public health measures.[14] The next day, she praised Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe for ending provincial COVID-19 restrictions.[15]

Lich was a primary organizer of the 2022 Canada convoy protest in Ottawa,[16][14][17] as well as a spokesperson and an organizer of the fundraising of the protest.[3][18] She led negotiations on behalf of the convoy movement with Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.[19][20]

Lich spoke publicly about how she felt offended that the protesters were being portrayed in the media as racist and sexist.[16] Lich has been outspoken against forms of extremism at the protests.[21]

Arrest and trial

Lich was arrested in Ottawa on February 17, 2022, accused of counselling to commit mischief,[22][23] and held in the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre.[5] Justice Julie Bourgeois denied her application for bail on February 22, 2022.[24][1] Diane Magas, defence lawyer for Lich, expressed concern about the neutrality of Justice Bourgeois on the basis that she ran for a federal Liberal Party seat in 2011.[25] Her denial of bail was protested in Ottawa.[26] On March 7, 2022, the bail denial was overturned, and Lich was granted bail on the conditions that she refrain from use of social media, refrain from contact with other protest organizers, that she leave Ottawa within 24 hours and the province of Ontario within 72 hours, and to only return to the province for court-related reasons.[26][27]

On March 24, 2022, an additional six charges were laid against Lich: counselling mischief, mischief, counselling to obstruct police, obstructing police, counselling intimidation, and intimidation by blocking and obstructing one or more highways.[28]

On April 26, 2022, Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) announced that Lich will be awarded The George Jonas Freedom Award for her work during the Canada convoy protest.[29] JCCF was one of the lead supporters of the convoy protest and provided its legal support.[30][31] On June 27, 2022, Lich was re-arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta for allegedly breaching her bail conditions. Lich attended a JCCF award ceremony on June 17 and met convoy organizer Tom Marazzo, with whom she had been ordered to have no contact.[32][33] On July 8, Lich's bail application was denied,[34] although that decision was overturned on July 26.[35] Lich's trial began September 5, 2023[36][37] and lasted 45 days.[38] She was represented by lawyer Lawrence Greenspon.[39]

When Lich visited the spectator's gallery of the Alberta Legislature in late February 2023, she was applauded by sitting politicians, after she was introduced as "a grandma, a musician, and a true leader within the freedom movement" by independent politician Drew Barnes.[40]

In March 2023, government prosecutors were accused of malice after phone records between Chris Barber and Lich were briefly released online. Content included personal details and business communications unconnected to the convoy protest. Barber's legal team, with support from the Crown, secured a publication ban to protect his and Lich's privacy. The Crown stated that the data release was an oversight. Barber's defence also briefly released the same records.[41]

On April 3, 2025, Lich and Barber were convicted of mischief. The judge found that the two had regularly encouraged others to join and remain in the convoy despite the negative effects on downtown Ottawa. Lich and Barber were both acquitted of intimidation and counselling intimidation, with the judge holding that their repeated calls to remain peaceful was fatal to those charges because they negated the necessary menace or violence. The pair was also acquitted of obstructing police and counselling someone to obstruct police. A charge of counselling someone to commit mischief was dropped by prosecutors against both Barber and Lich as unnecessary after the mischief conviction. Sentencing was scheduled for April 16.[42]

Personal life

Lich lives in Medicine Hat, Alberta.[5] She is married to Dwayne Lich,[43] and is both a mother and a grandmother;[3] one of her daughters[5] was born premature.[4] One of her daughters works as a nurse.[5] She has claimed Métis heritage.[3][16]

Works

  • Hold the Line: My Story From the Heart of the Freedom Convoy ISBN 978-1990583032

See also

References

  1. ^ Kirkup, Kristy (2022-03-02). "Ottawa convoy protest organizer Tamara Lich takes issue with political background of judge who denied her bail". The Globe and Mail. Archived March 6, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  2. ^ "Tamara Lich: Full testimony at Emergencies Act inquiry", CTV News, November 4, 2022, archived November 4, 2022 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2022-11-04, – via YouTube
  3. ^ Crawford, Blair (February 4, 2022). "Who is Tamara Lich — the 'spark that lit the fire'". ottawacitizen. Archived February 26, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  4. ^ Lefebvre, Charles (January 20, 2019). "STEP Energy Services donates $22,571 to Ronald McDonald House". CHAT News Today. Archived February 19, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  5. ^ Kennedy-Glans, Donna (26 February 2023). "Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich on what comes next: 'It's just going to get fun now'". National Post. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  6. ^ Mussett, Ben (8 May 2019). "What It's Like Monitoring Canada's Yellow Vest Movement Every Day". Vice. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  7. ^ Crosbie, David (28 January 2019). "The Far-Right Grassroots Movement Taking Over Canada". Canadaland. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  8. ^ Orr, Caroline (11 June 2019). "Hate groups mix with yellow vests on 'front line' of extremism in Canada". National Observer. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Factcheck: CBC misrepresents Yellow Vests Canada movement, makes no mention of death threats". Canadian Anti-Hate Network. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Following death-threats to Trudeau, Yellow-Vest Medicine Hat looks to change their name". CHAT News Today. Archived February 19, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  11. ^ Fisher, Max (7 February 2022). "A Moment for Canada's Far Right, Still Struggling for Support". The New York Times
  12. ^ McCuaig, Alex (November 10, 2019). "Warm Hat crowd greets Wexit Alberta leader". CHAT News Today. Archived February 22, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  13. ^ Climenhaga, David J. (January 26, 2022). "Maverick Party trucking along with press secretary despite role in anti-vaccine mandate truck convoy protest". rabble.ca. Archived March 1, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  14. ^ Freeze, Colin (February 3, 2022). "MPs call on GoFundMe staff to testify about efforts to screen out hate campaigns". The Globe and Mail. Archived March 1, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  15. ^ "Ottawa convoy protest organizer praises Scott Moe's 'leadership'". Saskatoon. February 4, 2022. Archived March 1, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  16. ^ Lefebvre, Charles (February 4, 2022). "Indigenous groups condemn truck protests and symbols". CTV News Winnipeg. Archived March 1, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  17. ^ Crawford, Blair (February 4, 2022). "Organizers of convoy protest: 'We have no intentions of staying one day longer than necessary'". ottawacitizen. Archived February 24, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  18. ^ McKeen, Alex (January 27, 2022). "'Freedom Rally' convoy has withdrawn $1 million from once-frozen viral fundraiser: GoFundMe". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Archived March 1, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  19. ^ Clark, Campbell (2022-08-12). "The convoy wasn't leaving town – but that's not the Emergencies Act question". The Globe and Mail. Archived August 14, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
  20. ^ Holder, Gord & Miller, Jacquie (27 Jan 2023). "Where are they now? Fourteen public figures a year after the convoy protest". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  21. ^ Zimonjic, Peter (January 25, 2022). "Organizer behind anti-vaccine mandate convoy says it won't tolerate extremists as online rhetoric heats up". CBC. Archived March 2, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  22. ^ Dickson, Janice; Walsh, Marieke; Carbert, Michelle; Fife, Robert (2022-02-17). "Police arrest convoy organizers Tamara Lich, Chris Barber in Ottawa as protesters ignore orders to leave". The Globe and Mail. Archived March 6, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  23. ^ Coletta, Amanda; Fernández Simon, Maite; Francis, Ellen; Berger, Miriam (17 Feb 2022). "Ottawa arrests two 'Freedom Convoy' protest organizers as police chief vows to 'take back' city". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived February 25, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  24. ^ "Ottawa convoy protest organizer Tamara Lich denied bail". Radio-Canada.ca. CBC News. February 22, 2022. Archived March 6, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  25. ^ Ballingall, Alex (2022-03-02). "'Freedom Convoy' organizer Tamara Lich raises concerns about judge who denied her bail". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Archived March 6, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  26. ^ "'Freedom Convoy' leader Tamara Lich released from custody". Ottawa. 2022-03-07. Archived March 14, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  27. ^ Ballingall, Alex (2022-03-07). "Tamara Lich, co-organizer of Ottawa protests, released on bail to await trial". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Archived March 8, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  28. ^ Priscilla Ki Sun Hwang & Trevor Pritchard (24 Mar 2022). "'Freedom Convoy' leaders face new criminal charges". CBC. Archived March 25, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  29. ^ "Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich to get award". Toronto Sun. Archived April 27, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  30. ^ "Justice Centre representing 2022 Truckers' Freedom Convoy". Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  31. ^ Bradley, Jonathan (2022-02-03). "Justice Centre lawyers in Ottawa representing Freedom Convoy truckers". True North News. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  32. ^ Grant, Meghan (2022-06-27). "Freedom convoy leader Tamara Lich arrested in Alberta, accused of breaching bail conditions". CBC News. Archived June 28, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  33. ^ Osman, Laura (2022-07-26). "'Freedom Convoy' organizer Tamara Lich released on bail, again". CP24. Archived July 28, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
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  35. ^ Osman, Laura (2022-07-26). "'Freedom Convoy' organizer Tamara Lich freed on bail for second time". CTVNews. Archived July 27, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  36. ^ Osman, Laura (30 Aug 2022). "Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber to face trial in September 2023". CityNews Ottawa. Archived August 30, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  37. ^ Fraser, David (September 5, 2023). "Trial for convoy leaders Lich and Barber starts with police witness". CBC News. Retrieved April 18, 2025.
  38. ^ "Yearlong criminal trial of 'Freedom Convoy' organizers comes to an end". CBC News. The Canadian Press. September 13, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2025.
  39. ^ "Tamara Lich case not a trial of the 'Freedom Convoy,' says defence lawyer". CTVNews. 2023-07-18. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  40. ^ Melgar, Alejandro & Downton, Shipla (1 March 2023). "Alberta legislature gives 'Freedom Convoy' organizer a hero's welcome". CityNews. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  41. ^ Ballingall, Alex (2023-03-08). "'Freedom Convoy' leader's phone records were released accidentally, Crown lawyer says". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  42. ^ "'Freedom Convoy' organizers Lich, Barber found guilty of mischief". CTV News. The Canadian Press. April 3, 2025. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  43. ^ Taekema, Dan (19 July 2022). "Questions swirl about group that's set up 'embassy' at St. Brigid's in Lowertown". CBC. Archived July 22, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 22, 2022.