High-profile Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon hired to defend 'Freedom Convoy' leader Tamara Lich

A high-profile criminal defence lawyer in Ottawa has been hired to defend one of the leading figures of the “Freedom Convoy” movement.

Lawrence Greenspon will be representing Tamara Lich, the organizer behind a $10 million GoFundMe supporting the convoy, as she seeks to change some of her bail conditions.

Lich was arrested Feb. 17, the day before a large police operation to remove the “Freedom Convoy” protesters who had occupied downtown Ottawa streets for about three weeks prior. Lich is jointly charged alongside co-accused Chris Barber with mischief, counselling mischief, intimidation, counselling intimidation, counselling obstruction of police and obstructing police.

She was released on bail March 7 with several conditions, including restrictions on her social media use.

Greenspon told CTV News Ottawa by phone that the social media restriction is too broad.

“In my humble view, it’s an overly broad and unnecessary condition on release that needs to be reviewed,” he said.

Greenspon joined Lich’s legal team Monday as part of the joint accusations between her and Barber. He said it’s common in these circumstances to have a lawyer for each accused person. Diane Magas, who had previously represented both Lich and Barber, will now focus on Barber’s case.

Greenspon has been involved in several high-profile cases in Ottawa, defending the likes of former Senator Mike Duffy and Momim Khawaja—the first person charged and convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act. He also represented the family of Abdirahman Abdi in a civil action against the Ottawa Police Services Board following Abdi’s 2016 death.

He says Lich’s case has some compelling elements.

“Tamara Lich has no criminal record. She’s charged with criminal code crimes that involve no violence, no weapons, or anything of that nature,” he said.

The judge that granted Lich bail had commented that, prior to the “Freedom Convoy” occupation, she had led what he called a “pro-social life.”

A date for reviewing Lich’s bail conditions has yet to be announced. Greenspon said the court must first rule on whether it has the jurisdiction to review the conditions imposed during Lich’s bail review before proceeding. He expects that to happen next week, with the review—should it be jurisdictional—likely in early May.