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Tamara Lich speaks to CHAT News when the convoy came through Medicine Hat on Jan. 24, 2022. (CHAT News File Photo)

Tamara Lich, the ‘spark that lit’ the convoy protest in Ottawa, gets bail

Mar 7, 2022 | 5:38 PM

OTTAWA, ONT – Tamara Lich, one of the principal organizers of the convoy protest that gridlocked downtown Ottawa for three weeks has been granted bail on a $25,000 bond.

Lich was initially denied bail on Feb. 22 after Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois deemed her detention was “necessary for the protection and safety of the public.”

Her lawyer launched a bail review, arguing that the decision may have been tainted by the fact that Bourgeois ran as a federal Liberal candidate in the 2011 election and expressed that her own community had been affected by the protest.

On Monday, Superior Court Justice John M. Johnston found no merit to those arguments.

But Johnston says he did find several other errors of law in that decision, and says the risk of releasing Lich can be addressed by a new surety proposed by the defence.

Lich must abide by several conditions, including having no contact with fellow convoy organizers and she has been ordered to leave Ottawa within 24 hours.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 7, 2022.

(The Canadian Press)