Tamara Lich in front of the Spruce Home Activity Centre (Derek Craddock/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Craddock

Freedom Convoy

Freedom Convoy organizer meets supporters during event in Spruce Home

Jun 24, 2023 | 2:00 PM

One of the organizers of the Freedom Convoy that hit downtown Ottawa in February, 2022 made a stop in the Prince Albert area recently.

Tamara Lich joined hundreds of her supporters at a fundraising event in Spruce Home on Friday night. She was also there to promote her book Hold The Line, a personal memoir on the Freedom Convoy and the government’s use of the Emergencies Act to overthrow demonstrators.

Lich said she came to Prince Albert at the request of one of her friends.

“One of the road captains from the convoy lives here in Prince Albert and he’s a really good friend of mine,” she said. “We all met as strangers and we left there (convoy) as family.”

The event was used a fundraiser to help raise money for a legal fund as Lich and other Convoy organizers are still facing criminal charges and a civil lawsuit.

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She also wanted to use the fundraiser to support others involved in the Convoy who don’t have the proper legal representation.

Lich and fellow organizer Chris Barber face charges of mischief, intimidation, obstructing a highway, obstructing a police officer and counselling other to commit the same offences.

They are both due to stand trial in September , which could last 16 days.

Lich said that supporters of the Freedom Convoy movement will be watching the trial attentively, believing it could set a precedent for future legal arguements.

“It was a very dark time here in Canada,” she said. “Hope was the number one word that we heard. People were getting up off their couches and coming out to the roads and seeing other people out there, and they’ve kind of been segregated from society.”

The Freedom Convoy moved through Prince Albert and area on Jan. 24, 2022, en route to Ottawa. It started with a number of truck drivers who were fed up with the government’s vaccine mandates. It inevitably turned into a rally cry against all COVID mandates and restrictions.

READ MORE: Anti-mandate trucker convoy heading to Ottawa stops in P.A.

Despite the support that Lich and others continue to receive across the country, there are others that did not support the convoy or their anti-mandate messages, including residents of downtown Ottawa who filed a civil suit against them.

When asked how she responds to the criticism she and others has faced, Lich said everyone is open to their opinions but asks them to keep an open mind.

“It was a very polarizing situation in the end,” she said “There was a whole narrative painted. They’re totally entitled to their opinion. I hope that they will keep an open mind and get all sides of the story. This has always been about peace and love and respect.”

—

derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow