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The organizer of the ‘Freedom Convoy’ is once again able to enter Ontario, but the use of social media is still restricted.
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May 25, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 4 minutes of reading A judge’s ruling upheld Tamara Lich’s ban on using social media while awaiting trial. Photo by Errol McGihon / Postmedia
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Tamara Lich will not be sent back to jail because a judge lifted her ban on entering Ontario, but decided to strengthen her social media ban in a bail review decision Wednesday.
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“The courts are not a thoughtful police force,” High Court Judge Kevin Phillips said while dismissing the Crown’s arguments that Lich should revoke his bail for alleged breaches of his conditions of release.
“We only seek to control conduct to the extent that a certain conduct infringes, or is likely to lead to, a violation of the law,” the judge continued. “Here, the goal was to prevent a very problematic street protest from being revived or re-occurring … No court would ever try to control possession or the manifestation of political views.”
The Crown had argued that Lich had violated the condition that prevents him from supporting “anything related” to the “Convoy of Freedom” when he accepted the 2022 George Jonas “Freedom Award,” which he will receive at a gala. on June 16 in Toronto. by the Center for Justice for Constitutional Freedoms.
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Lawrence Greenspon, Lich’s attorney, said the judge’s decision would allow his client to travel to Toronto to accept the award in person, and confirmed that he also intended to attend similar gala events in Calgary and Vancouver. , where VIP tickets cost $ 500.
In a telephone interview following the decision, Greenspon applauded the judge for “outright rejecting” the Crown’s efforts to send Lich back to prison.
From our perspective, this was a clear rejection of the Crown’s attempt to re-incarcerate Mrs Lich to agree to accept a “freedom award”, and in light of this decision, she will be able to go to Toronto. and accept this award without fear of re-incarceration.
“That’s a big relief for her,” Greenspon said. “This effort to re-imprison her … the battle for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly … this battle will be fought in court.”
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The JCCF, a vocal supporter of the protest, issued a statement following the decision saying the revised bail conditions “still unduly restrict” the rights of the Lich Charter, while the Crown did its best to revoke his bail.
Phillips also lifted Lich’s ban on entering Ontario in his revised bail plan and lifted his ban on entering the city of Ottawa, except for the geographic boundaries of the city center.
A publication ban protects the reason Lich is asking permission to return to Ottawa, and Phillips said he saw no problem with Lich attending a gala in Toronto months after the convoy was over.
“The right between attending this function and problematic support for a demonstration that was then over is so indirect that it is barely perceptible,” Phillips said.
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He decided to uphold Lich’s ban on social media, but ruled that the original March 7 court order was “justified and appropriate.”
“In a very real way, social media has certainly contributed to and even driven the now-challenged behavior, and Ms. Lich needs to move away from that to reduce the risk of recidivism to a certain level. acceptable, “Phillips said.
“Social media can be a problematic feedback loop where people are encouraged and caught up in group activity that they would never do alone,” Phillips sang.
He warned Lich to avoid the temptation of social media and cited his “susceptibility to getting caught up in the kind of toxic group thinking that cheered the crowd in February.”
Lich was arrested on February 17 and is being charged with felony criminal mischief with his co-organizer, Chris Barber, for obstructing police, advising others to commit assault and intimidation.
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He was initially denied bail on February 22, although that decision was overturned by Superior Court Judge John Johnston on March 7 and Lich was released from prison on a list of conditions. He was ordered to return home to Medicine Hat, Alta, where he must live under the supervision of a court-approved bailiff, and is barred from contacting a list of fellow protest organizers. It is still banned from social media and cannot allow anyone to post on its behalf.
Crown Deputy Attorney Moiz Karimjee presented arguments during last week’s two-day bail review alleging that Lich had breached two of his conditions of release, first by accepting the “award to freedom “and again accepting a convoy-themed pendant as a gift from a supporter, who later proudly posted a photo of Lich on the necklace.
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The post on social media identified Lich as the “brand ambassador” of the pendant.
Phillips said Wednesday that the Crown did not prove such violations.
The judge accepted Lich’s testimony that he saw no “live connection” between accepting the pendant or accepting the award and his support for the “Freedom Convoy.”
“I think Ms. Lich when she says she doesn’t see her acceptance of this award as any kind of support for the ‘Freedom Convoy,’ because that initiative is over,” the judge said. “I specifically reject the idea that she is responsible for what someone else did with a picture of her with a pendant.”
Lich has lived in his community for a “significant stretch” and has shown he can follow bail conditions, the judge said.
ahelmer@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/helmera
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