Freedom convoy organizer Tamara Lich received the George Jonas Freedom Award in Toronto last Thursday with poise and dignity..The speech she gave was inspirational and delivered with passion, even though she was compelled to read it from a written text. Undoubtedly, its content had been thoroughly vetted by her lawyers to ensure that it wouldn’t land her in hot water, since she still remains on bail awaiting trial for various convoy-related offences..Only a few weeks ago, her bail conditions were altered to allow her to travel to Ontario, thus enabling her to receive the award in person. I remember being disgusted by Crown counsel's vicious attempt not only to prevent her from entering the province, but also to throw her back into jail for allegedly breaching her bail conditions by agreeing to accept the award..Accordingly, I won’t even attempt to summarize or paraphrase what she said lest I inadvertently bring trouble down upon her head. The only thing I’d like to mention — something that seems quite innocuous — is a small snippet of biographical information she gave us of which I wasn’t previously aware — Tamara was born Métis, and was adopted by an Irish father and a Norwegian mother..This little tidbit of information renders even more ridiculous Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s characterization of the Freedom Convoy supporters as racist or white supremacist. The part about being misogynist was blatantly stupid..I lost count of the standing ovations that the crowd gave that evening. I think we must have sprung to our feet at least five times: for JCCF president John Carpay, who emceed the event; for a moving video about the convoy produced by JCCF’s communications director Marnie Cathcart; for after-dinner speaker Rex Murphy, who was his usual brilliantly funny self; and at least twice for Tamara..By my estimate, there were about 400 people present at the sold-out event. I ran into many old friends. Among the more famous attendees were Rebel Media personalities Ezra Levant and David Menzies, broadcaster and columnist Andrew Lawton from True North media, and Maxim Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada. The only people wearing masks at the event were some — but not all — of the waiting staff. It was a huge relief to be among a crowd of people behaving normally..The venue was the Eglinton Grand, one of Toronto’s venerable movie theatres, built in 1936. I remember seeing The Sound of Music there in about 1965..Since large movie theatres are now passé, entrepreneurs have transformed the building into a banquet hall. The location wasn’t even announced to ticket holders until a few days before the event, presumably for fear that it might be crashed by boors of opposing views. That didn’t happen, fortunately. .The award, given annually by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), is named after the late writer and filmmaker George Jonas, who died in 2016. George’s columns in the National Post were among the few regular features that I made a point of reading. George had a knack for putting his finger on exactly what the problem was, and how it could be resolved in a manner consistent with human liberty..I’ve attended previous ceremonies bestowing the award — including one or two George himself attended — and was delighted to be among the audience at this one..Tamara was a worthy recipient. The video presentation reminded us of her calm courage as we watched her again being handcuffed on a cold, snowy Ottawa street. It reminded me of the horror I felt watching someone arrested for having done nothing more dastardly than encouraging and enabling people to exercise their constitutional right to speak out in protest against unprecedented tyranny..Freedom-lovers in the western provinces will be able to honour Tamara on two additional occasions: in Vancouver in July, and in Calgary in August. For tickets, go to the JCCF’s website.
Freedom convoy organizer Tamara Lich received the George Jonas Freedom Award in Toronto last Thursday with poise and dignity..The speech she gave was inspirational and delivered with passion, even though she was compelled to read it from a written text. Undoubtedly, its content had been thoroughly vetted by her lawyers to ensure that it wouldn’t land her in hot water, since she still remains on bail awaiting trial for various convoy-related offences..Only a few weeks ago, her bail conditions were altered to allow her to travel to Ontario, thus enabling her to receive the award in person. I remember being disgusted by Crown counsel's vicious attempt not only to prevent her from entering the province, but also to throw her back into jail for allegedly breaching her bail conditions by agreeing to accept the award..Accordingly, I won’t even attempt to summarize or paraphrase what she said lest I inadvertently bring trouble down upon her head. The only thing I’d like to mention — something that seems quite innocuous — is a small snippet of biographical information she gave us of which I wasn’t previously aware — Tamara was born Métis, and was adopted by an Irish father and a Norwegian mother..This little tidbit of information renders even more ridiculous Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s characterization of the Freedom Convoy supporters as racist or white supremacist. The part about being misogynist was blatantly stupid..I lost count of the standing ovations that the crowd gave that evening. I think we must have sprung to our feet at least five times: for JCCF president John Carpay, who emceed the event; for a moving video about the convoy produced by JCCF’s communications director Marnie Cathcart; for after-dinner speaker Rex Murphy, who was his usual brilliantly funny self; and at least twice for Tamara..By my estimate, there were about 400 people present at the sold-out event. I ran into many old friends. Among the more famous attendees were Rebel Media personalities Ezra Levant and David Menzies, broadcaster and columnist Andrew Lawton from True North media, and Maxim Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada. The only people wearing masks at the event were some — but not all — of the waiting staff. It was a huge relief to be among a crowd of people behaving normally..The venue was the Eglinton Grand, one of Toronto’s venerable movie theatres, built in 1936. I remember seeing The Sound of Music there in about 1965..Since large movie theatres are now passé, entrepreneurs have transformed the building into a banquet hall. The location wasn’t even announced to ticket holders until a few days before the event, presumably for fear that it might be crashed by boors of opposing views. That didn’t happen, fortunately. .The award, given annually by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), is named after the late writer and filmmaker George Jonas, who died in 2016. George’s columns in the National Post were among the few regular features that I made a point of reading. George had a knack for putting his finger on exactly what the problem was, and how it could be resolved in a manner consistent with human liberty..I’ve attended previous ceremonies bestowing the award — including one or two George himself attended — and was delighted to be among the audience at this one..Tamara was a worthy recipient. The video presentation reminded us of her calm courage as we watched her again being handcuffed on a cold, snowy Ottawa street. It reminded me of the horror I felt watching someone arrested for having done nothing more dastardly than encouraging and enabling people to exercise their constitutional right to speak out in protest against unprecedented tyranny..Freedom-lovers in the western provinces will be able to honour Tamara on two additional occasions: in Vancouver in July, and in Calgary in August. For tickets, go to the JCCF’s website.
