Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois tamara lich
Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois
Ruled Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois: 'Your detention is necessary for the protection and safety of the public'

Tamara Lich, one of the leading organizers behind protests against COVID-19 restrictions and the Liberal government on Parliament Hill, has been denied bail. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois said in the decision that the effect on the community from the actions of the convoy were immense and that she felt Lich was obstinate and disingenuous in her responses to the court during her bail hearing on Saturday.

"I cannot be reassured that if I release you into the community that you will not reoffend," Bourgeois said.

"Your detention is necessary for the protection and safety of the public."

Tamara Lich Freedom Convoy organizer denied bail
Tamara Lich, one of the Freedom Convoy organizers, was denied bail after her arrest in Ottawa
Lich was arrested last Thursday and charged with counselling to commit mischief. During the bail hearing, Lich promised to leave Ottawa by vehicle and give up her advocacy of the protest, saying she would need several days to make those arrangements because she does not have the required vaccine passport enabling her to fly and because her bank accounts are now frozen.

A separate bail hearing is scheduled this morning for fellow protest organizer Patrick King.

In addition to holding Lich in custody, Bourgeois ordered Lich to have no contact with King and other convoy organizers Benjamin Dichter, Christopher Barber and Daniel Bulford.

Barber was arrested the same day as Lich and released on bail on Saturday.

King, 44, was arrested on Friday and faces charges of mischief, counselling to commit mischief, counselling to commit the offence of disobeying a court order and counselling to obstruct police.

Lich's bail decision came the day after the House of Commons voted to support the government's use of measures under the Emergencies Act. The Senate is scheduled to start its own debate today on the measures.

Ottawa police said in a statement Monday that officers have made 196 arrests and 115 vehicles connected to the protest.

Lich has been described by fellow organizers decribe as "the spark that lit the fire" of the Freedom Convoy protest that occupied downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks. She is a former energy industry worker and a leader within the "Wexit" movement pushing for the independence of western provinces.

Petite, blond and standing barely five feet tall, Lich is a former fitness instructor and sings and plays guitar in a Medicine Hat bar band called Blind Monday. She is a mother, grandmother and claims Métis heritage.

The Saskatchewan native was living in Medicine Hat when she became politically active three years ago with Wexit, which later merged into the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta. When Lich and her husband moved to Manitoba, she left Wildrose and joined the fringe and fledgling Maverick Party as an original member of its governing council.

Maverick, under its interim leader Jay Hill, a former cabinet minister in the Stephen Harper government, advocates for Western interests, vowing in its guiding principles "that every vote in the House of Commons by our MPs must be put to one simple test: Is our support, or opposition, good for the West and our citizens."

Lich resigned from Maverick to devote herself full time to the "Freedom Convoy" protest.

In a 2020 profile in the Medicine Hat News, Lich described the reasons for her political disenchantment.

"By the time Alberta hits the polls in every federal election, the outcome has already been decided by eastern voters," Lich told the paper. "While we are all Canadians we have different needs and lifestyles out here. For example, gun legislation for the city of Toronto must differ from that of rural Alberta. The west needs a party that is willing to fight for what is best for their interests and their people without having to pander for the eastern vote.

"The Maverick Party is not running against a particular party or politician; instead we are running against a broken system. Our goal is to unite westerners in this common goal; Constitutional Reform or, failing that, independence."

But Lich is also on the radar of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, which has flagged her association with the "Yellow Vest" movement and her support of the anti-Muslim Clarion Project.

"I wouldn't say she was a major player," CAHN executive director Evan Balgord has said. "But she's in the far-right ecosystem."

Speaking to reporters, Lich said negative portrayals of the Ottawa protesters were wrong.

"The reality is that members of this freedom movement are average, peace-loving and law-abiding citizens from all walks of life who are fed up with being bullied by our government," she said.