Lawyers for
Tamara Lich
have filed an appeal of her
mischief conviction
that was handed down last month.
Lich, a key figure in the convoy protest that gridlocked downtown Ottawa in 2022, was found guilty of mischief in April.
In a media release on Tuesday afternoon, defence lawyers Lawrence Greenspon, Eric Granger and Hannah Drennan said there was substantial evidence to prove Lich encouraged protesters to be peaceful, lawful and safe.
All three lawyers argued that Lich’s public communications were peaceful and protected under Section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees freedom of expression without government interference.
Greenspon, Granger and Drennan also said there was no evidence linking Lich to the misdeeds of others.
The appeal comes almost a month after Lich’s sentencing hearing, on Oct. 7.
She was given an 18-month conditional sentence, but she will only need to serve a 15.5-month conditional sentence after credit for time served. She will have to serve 12 months of house arrest, with the remaining 3.5 months under a strict curfew.
In her decision, Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said Lich played an important role in actively organizing and sustaining the trucker convoy.
Perkins-McVey further noted that while there was no evidence that Lich advocated for violence, intimidation and destruction of property, the mischief caused “significant harm” for Ottawa residents and businesses.
The judge also said Lich made documented efforts to work with local officials and police to reduce the protest’s impact on the surrounding communities, but didn’t take steps to end or to stop the demonstration. Lich did not leave Ottawa until she was arrested despite messaging that the protest had become unlawful.
“The ‘Freedom Convoy’ began as a lawful, constitutionally protected form of protest that unfortunately grew out of control and was allowed to go on and on and morphed into criminal activity in the form of mischief in related offences,” Perkins-McVey told the court on Oct. 7.
Crown attorney Siobhain Wetscher had previously asked for a seven-year sentence while lawyers for Lich
asked for an absolute discharge
, which would have meant she wouldn’t have a criminal record.
