According to Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich, the federal government has spent over $5 million taxpayer dollars prosecuting her and her fellow protest leader Chris Barber.
(LifeSiteNews) –– Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich spelled out just how much the Canadian government has spent prosecuting her and co-organizer Chris Barber thus far for role in the protests, saying at least $5 million in “taxpayer dollars” has been spent thus far.
On the three-year anniversary of the day she was arrested for her role in Freedom Convoy, Lich posted on X on February 17 a breakdown of what has transpired since that time.
She recounted how she has endured some 48 days in jail, along with 10 bail hearings, and 45 days of a trial which spanned over a year and a half.
Lich noted how to date, more than “$750,000.00 in combined legal fees for [fellow Freedom Convoy leader] Chris [Barber] & myself” has been spent, with over “$5,000,000.00 of taxpayer dollars spent on our prosecution so far.”
Lich was arrested on February 17, 2022, in Ottawa. Barber was arrested the same day as well.
Lich and co-leader Chris Barber’s trial concluded in September 2024, more than a year after it began. It was originally scheduled to last 16 days.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Lich and Barber’s verdict will be announced on March 12.
They both face a possible 10-year prison sentence. LifeSiteNews reported extensively on their trial.
In early 2022, the Freedom Convoy saw thousands of Canadians from coast to coast come to Ottawa to demand an end to COVID mandates in all forms. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government enacted the never-before-used Emergencies Act (EA) on February 14, 2022.
During the clear-out of protesters after the EA was put in place, one protester, an elderly lady, was trampled by a police horse, and one conservative female reporter was beaten by police and shot with a tear gas canister.
Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23.
In the lead-up to the protest, Trudeau had disparaged unvaccinated Canadians, saying those opposing his measures were of a “small, fringe minority” who hold “unacceptable views” and do not “represent the views of Canadians who have been there for each other.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews, earlier this month Trudeau’s government was again in court to claim its use of the Emergencies Act to stop the 2022 Freedom Convoy was warranted in an appeal of a ruling from last year that found its use of the act was unjustified.
