Lich says Rouleau condemning Trudeau ‘slap on the wrist’ | Western Standard - Jonathan Bradley:
Feb 19, 2023 - "Freedom Convoy co-organizer Tamara Lich said the part of the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) report denouncing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s language was 'a slap on the wrist.' 'Our prime minister went on public television and called Canadians who don’t believe in his views racists and misogynists and asked if we should be tolerated,' said Lich at a Sunday press conference....
"The POEC determined on Friday the Canadian government met the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act in response to the Freedom Convoy.
"POEC Commissioner Paul Rouleau said Trudeau's comment about the Freedom Convoy containing a small fringe minority of people with unacceptable views were interpreted by many as referring to all protestors.... 'In my view, more of an effort should have been made by government leaders at all levels during the protest to acknowledge that the majority of protestors were exercising their fundamental democratic rights,' said Rouleau.
"The press conference started off with Lich saying Freedom Corp was disappointed with the report.... When the POEC began, she said Freedom Corp hoped it would be a fair, objective process. As the process wore on, it became concerned about how it was done. Reading the report, she said the Canadian government 'used innocent Canadians who participated in good faith at the hearings as nothing more than puppets for the government’s political theatre designed to protect the prime minister'....
"The co-organizer went on to say government incompetence is the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act now. She said people know the truth about what happened in Ottawa.
"Chipiuk Law lawyer Eva Chipiuk, who is representing Freedom Corp, said she has met amazing, hardworking Canadians in the past year whose most serious crime was holding the government to account.... [T]he prime minister of Canada engaged in a misinformation and disinformation campaign to vilify, cause hate and divisiveness among Canadians, friends, and families,' said Chipiuk. Trudeau has accused innocent people of domestic terrorism. Chipiuk said no one has been charged with domestic terrorism....
"Wilson Law Office lawyer Keith Wilson, who is another lawyer with the case, said the POEC report does not mean it is over. 'In fact, it’s a clear indicator that all we need to engage even more as Canadians in the democratic process,' said Wilson.... In order to obtain the donations to the Freedom Convoy, he said they need to have the class action lawsuit dropped, criminal charges removed, and the civil forfeiture order from the Ontario government scraped. He said he expects Lich and Freedom Convoy co-organizer Chris Barber’s case to go to trial, as Trudeau wants to make an example of them.
"Lich said she has zero regrets.... She concluded by saying this moment affirmed to her every second of the experience was worth it. 'The biggest thing I’ve learned through the convoy is the unity,' she said. I’ve never been more proud to be a Canadian than I was last winter and still am today.'"
A Big Disappointment - The Emergencies Act Inquiry Report is out, Canadian Constitution Foundation, February 17, 2023:
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