OTTAWA –
Ottawa protest organizer Tamara Leach will spend at least five more nights in an Ottawa jail after being arrested in Alberta for allegedly violating her bail conditions.
Leach appeared in Ottawa court Thursday via video link from the Ottawa police station on the new charge. A bail hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday.
The Crown said Leach violated a bail condition that barred her from communicating with 10 others involved in the Freedom Convoy that occupied Ottawa earlier this year — including Tom Marrazzo, a spokesman for the protests — except in the presence of her lawyer.
She was photographed with Marazzo at the Freedom Award Gala in Toronto on June 16. The Crown claims a video posted on Facebook shows she also sat at Marazzo’s table after speaking at the event.
“After Leach received her prize and returned to her table, Leach could be observed speaking with Tom Marrazzo,” according to a summary of charges by prosecutors filed in court Thursday.
“Additionally, during the evening, Leach and Marazzo, along with others, posed for a photo together, with Leach and Marazzo side by side, arm in arm.”
The Crown materials include a link to a Facebook video that it claims “also has communication. She seems to be whispering something in his ear.
The awards gala was organized by the Edmonton-based Justice Center for Constitutional Freedom, a charity that litigates against COVID-19 mandates.
JCCF attorney Keith Wilson represented Leach and other defendants in a civil lawsuit over the protest filed on behalf of downtown residents and businesses.
Wilson said on social media this week that Leach had not breached her terms because JCCF lawyers were present at the event when she was photographed with Marrazzo, who ran unsuccessfully for the Ontario Party in this month’s provincial election.
Leach was first arrested in Ottawa in February. She was charged along with another protest organizer, Chris Barber, with mischief, counseling to commit intimidation, obstructing police and counseling to obstruct police.
Her original bail conditions barred her from traveling to Ontario while awaiting trial, but at her request the court changed those conditions in May to allow her to attend the gala and travel in the province.
Leach’s terms also require her not to organize or promote protests related to COVID-19 or the Freedom Convoy.
The summary of documents prepared by the Crown also quoted Leach’s speech at the gala.
“She pointed out that the circumstances she has endured since her arrest will not be unique,” the summary says, “unless ‘we’ stand with our backs straight, our heels firmly planted, and unite to defend our Charter for rights and freedoms.’”
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