A lawyer representing Ottawa residents is challenging “Freedom Convoy” organizer Tamara Lich’s assertion that she was never told to leave when her massive protest was gridlocking the city last winter.
Lich is being cross-examined today as part of a public inquiry into the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act in February.
She and other organizers told the Public Order Emergency Commission yesterday that police never directly told the protesters to leave.
Paul Champ, the lawyer representing Ottawa residents and businesses, reminded the commission that GoFundMe shut down Lich’s fundraising campaign because the protest was deemed an unlawful occupation.
He says the city and the province declared states of emergency and local residents launched a lawsuit against the organizers, and asked why Lich didn’t take that as a message to leave.
Lich says the protesters had a message as well, and that was of greater concern to her at the time.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2022.
The Canadian Press
