Canada Today

 

"While rampant violent offenders are released hours after their most recent charges and antisemitic rioters vandalize businesses, terrorize daycares and block traffic without consequences, the Crown wants seven years prison time for the charge of mischief for Lich and Barber."

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre 

Key organizers of the Freedom Convoy, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber who led the infamous convoy of truckers from Western Canada to central Ottawa to launch their COVID 19 pandemic regulations protests mounted by the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau and who were recently the subjects of a court action brought by a vindictive government against Canadians who had the temerity to oppose pandemic-imposed strictures now face the potential of 7 years in prison after being convicted on lesser counts of promoting unrest.

 

While six charges for a variety of accusations such as mischief, intimidation, counselling others to break the law, obstructing police, and counselling others to obstruct police were set aside, the two were found guilty of the minor charge of counselling others to disobey a judge's order to stop honking horns. As to the majority of the charges, they were found not guilty. They now await sentencing by Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey, three years after they were first arrested.  

 

Convoy protest organizer Tamara Lich, right, and her lawyer Lawrence Greenspon approach the Ottawa Courthouse where sentencing submissions began Wednesday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

"[Lich and Barber came to Ottawa] with the noblest of intentions to simply protest their wish for the government and Prime Minister [of the time] Justin Trudeau to end the COVID mandate. The Crown agrees that the accused came to Ottawa to advance a noble cause and had the right to protest against COVID mandates, but argues they crossed the line with the means used to achieve their ends."

"Persons testified that the noise from the truck horns made it difficult for downtown residents to sleep and focus on work. Others testified that the egress from their buildings was blocked or that because of the streets being blocked that it was difficult or impossible to get to work and appointments. Generally, the central core of the city came to a standstill."

"The downtown residents who testified including persons and their families who lived in the downtown core, owners and employees of small businesses and other institutions such as churches suffered significant interferences in the use and enjoyment of their property and in their daily activities because of the protest."

"[There is a] delicate balance between law enforcement concerns for public safety and order and individual rights and freedoms on the other."

Judge Heather PerkinsMcVey

AFP via Getty Images

 

The 45-day trial saw the two organizers of the convoy found guilty of mischief, with Barber found guilty as well of counselling others to disobey  judge's order to stop honking horns. Yet for this misdemeanor the Crown is adamant that a penalty is required that has no relation to the charges to which they were found guilty. The Crown asks for seven years imprisonment for Lich and 8 years for Barber. The Freedom Convoy in its several weeks of disruption caused inconvenience for people living nearby their encampment on Sussex Drive. 

 

 

 

There was nothing particularly offensive, much less violent in the Freedom Convoy during its three-week stand against pandemic conditions imposed by the government, including that truckers refusing inoculation would not be permitted to drive their long-distant rigs. The punishment for lacking respect for the government's COVID-19 protocol is all out of logical proportion to the alleged sins committed. But this was a government that demanded obeisance to its dictates. Justin Trudeau similarly sought recriminatory vengeance against the second in command of Canada's national forces for ostensibly countermanding his orders.

 

Vice-Admiral Mark Norman suffered the full extent of Justin Trudeau's malice accusing him of leaking restricted cabinet documents relating to a supply ship for the Canadian navy. That he was head of the Canadian navy, and went on to become vice-chief of the Defense Staff gave him no immunity from persecution by the government on orders from Justin Trudeau who could not countenance the thought of anyone defying him. Trudeau's revenge wreaked havoc with the further career prospects of a loyal Canadian who was the commander of the Canadian fleet.  

 

Within the Truckers Convoy there was signage insulting to Justin Trudeau personally. And it was no secret certainly the contempt in which he was held, and the wish of those present to be removed from his position as prime minister for having administered the pandemic response for Canada in a clumsy, autocratic manner unbefitting a democratic county. Where the right to protest is enshrined in the Canadian constitution. 

 

"In a free and democratic society such as Canada", said Judge Perkins-McVey, "we welcome and encourage people to hold demonstrations if such is necessary to exercise their right of freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and their right to freedom of association as guaranteed by section two of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, society also expects demonstrators to exercise these rights to do so without violating the rights of others to move about freely or to engage in activities which they have a perfect legal right to do so."

 

"At the heart of the competing interests in this case lies the question to what extent the exercise of the right to protest protects those from criminal liability when the rights of other citizens to enjoy their property have been impacted by their actions. Even Charter-protected rights are not absolute", the judge added.

 

Which brings us directly to the issue of wildly damaging social compact demonstrations that have been disruptive and ongoing to an extent that dwarfs by massive degrees the three-week Truckers Convoy demonstration. For two and a half years, week after week, large demonstrations have taken place in Canadian cities by Palestinian supporters aggrieved over the Israeli invasion of Gaza following thousands of Palestinian terrorists having launched a massive atrocity in southern Israel, raping, maiming, murdering children, entire families, the elderly, music-celebrating youth, at a music festival and farming communities across the border from Gaza.

 

Jewish Canadian businesses have been vandalized, Jewish parochial schools have been shot at, synagogues and community centres have been fire-bombed, Jewish residents in Jewish-majority communities have been intimidated, harassed and threatened. Anti-Israel protesters have marched on university campuses, setting up encampments and harassed Jewish students and faculty. Crowds of Muslims gather in public squares and roads, cutting off traffic while they engage in massed prayer sessions. Chants of 'globalize the intifada', 'from the river to the sea', and 'final solution', in all their sinister dimensions ring out.

 

Pro-Palestinian supporters on the Avenue Road bridge. (Credit: Lila Sarick)

 

These are social hate crimes, of a dimension that challenges Canadian hate laws as criminal offences, yet governments at every level countenance them, failing to act to bring the situation to order, to restore normalcy, to protect the Canadian Jewish population from ongoing threats. The federal government sets the tone for its counterparts at lower levels and these travesties of civil behaviour are continuing and as they do, become more threatening and psychically violent.

 

Yet a minor offence, held to have sullied the dignity of the social aura of compliance with government edicts however offensive to good governance they may be, are held up as justified legal reactions to public behaviour found offensive to authority. Offensive to the degree that a national emergency was called to bring the Convoy's presence to an end, and those involved, even to the extent of having minimally donated funding to the cause found their bank accounts frozen by government edict, as punishment.

 

A proscribed terrorist group like Hamas -- listed by Canada as such, can be lionized by hordes of protestors while a Jewish state whose democratic foundation links it with Canada's, and whose right under international law to defend itself from lethal violence is unquestioned -- merits no government reaction when Hamas flags are flown by protestors and threats of lethal harm are expressed toward Canadian Jews. 

 

Regular blockages of intersections continue but are not considered a crime, nor are the real threats to security, safety and harmony within the population, with malicious threats growing ever more virulent and violent given any level of attention by government. This is Canada today. 

  

Honest Reporting Canada