Tamara Lich spoke to CHAT News when the "freedom convoy" was in Medicine Hat on Jan. 24. (CHAT News File Photo)

By Chris Brown with files from Canadian Press

Strict conditions for Medicine Hat woman

Convoy and protest organizer Tamara Lich released on bail

Mar 7, 2022 | 2:23 PM

A Medicine Hat woman who was one of the key organizers of the “Freedom Convoy” and protest that took over downtown Ottawa for three weeks has been released.

Tamara Lich was granted bail on Monday afternoon and is subject to a range of strict conditions.

Lich must leave Ottawa within 24 hours and be out of Ontario in 72 hours. She must also report her location daily on the way back to Alberta.

She must reside at her home address, and can’t log in or post messages on a variety of social media platforms.

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Superior Court Justice John M. Johnston also ruled Lich cannot organize any protests against COVID-19 mandates or communicate with other organizers of the convoy and protest including Pat King and B.J. Dichter.

Lich’s bond was set at a total of $25,000.

Lich was arrested in Ottawa on Feb. 17 and charged with counselling mischief.

She was first denied bail Feb. 22 after Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois ruled she should be detained for “the protection and safety of the public.”

At the first bail hearing Lich’s proposed surety was her husband. At today’s an unnamed family member, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, was proposed. That person will be responsible for ensuring Lich follows the conditions of her release.

Lich’s lawyer launched a bail review after the first bail hearing, arguing that 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, Johnston found no merit to those arguments.

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