Tamara Leach is a political prisoner. She was arrested weeks ago and charged with counselling mischief. That's it. Nothing violent, nothing dangerous. Essentially, she was one of a number of voices speaking on behalf of the Truckers' Convoy. She has appeared before the courts twice since her arrest and has been denied bail.
00:00:00.000So let's not beat around the bush with this. There's no other way to put it. Truckers for Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Leach is a political prisoner. Leach was arrested weeks ago and charged with counseling mischief. That's it. Nothing violent, nothing dangerous. Essentially, she was one of a number of voices speaking on behalf of the Truckers Convoy. She set up a fundraising account.
00:00:20.220Leach has appeared before the courts twice since her arrest. In the first appearance, her bail was outright denied. Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois, quite the name too, you know, it's appropriate in some senses, felt that Leach was a risk to re-offend, though Leach stated she was willing to abide by bail conditions.
00:00:38.060Leach appeared again yesterday in a hearing that took nearly seven hours, and the judge reserved a decision on the issue. That's simply a version of judicial cowardice. The court couldn't come up with a decent rationale to keep Leach locked up.
00:00:50.220So the ball was kicked down the road until next week. It's just another way to deny bail.
00:00:54.380Now, bail is an important part of our justice system. If we didn't allow people who are considered to be low risk, you know, a low risk to offend, to leave the system while they're awaiting their hearings, our remand centers across the nation would be overflowing within days.
00:01:05.920Judges need to determine who can be released and who needs to remain in custody. It's like a legal triage, almost. It's a difficult and important task. Unfortunately, though, they're often terrible about it.
00:01:15.760I've recently, you know, I've spoken before about my recent experience with the justice system. No, I wasn't arrested or anything. What happened with me, at least not that time.
00:01:23.620A gang of losers went on a crime spree in rural areas west of Calgary, and that included the robbery of a bar I used to own. They robbed it twice in a matter of weeks, along with a whole bunch of other places around there.
00:01:32.200The RCMP did manage to arrest these guys, the members of that gang, and they were promptly released on bail.
00:01:37.740Now, in the months that followed them being released on bail, Ian Abercrombie murdered his friend Shane Smith.
00:01:43.500Hunter Van McElberg killed his friend, Calix Lagano. Execution style in a field with a shot to the head, by the way.
00:01:49.900Those were two separate murders. These were guys released on bail. The police had them. They let them out.
00:01:55.140Ian, Shane, and Hunter had all been charged in the spate of robberies that impacted me.
00:01:58.740This is an example of the bail system failing, and it was at the expense of two lives.
00:02:03.100During the convoy protests in Winnipeg, extreme activist David Alexander Zegarach drove his car through peaceful protesters.
00:02:09.240He caused injuries, but thankfully didn't manage to kill anybody.
00:02:12.240He was released on bail shortly after his arrest.
00:02:15.960Apparently, people who allegedly, at least, attempt to commit vehicular homicide are not considered dangerous.
00:02:22.080Now back to Tamara Leach. Her crime was to be an organizer.
00:02:25.100She counseled mischief. Big friggin' deal.
00:02:28.880That's like the bottom of the food chain on criminal charges, guys. This is not major.
00:02:33.340I mean, they keep talking about sedition and people trying to take over the government and things like that.
00:02:36.920Well, you know what? There's treason charges for that sort of thing.
00:02:39.060Nobody's been charged with any of that because nobody did it.
00:02:41.540So what has to be asked is what risk to anybody does she present if she's released?
00:02:49.280Police have retaken every blockade, and nobody's ready or planning to set up a new one in Ottawa.
00:02:53.400Do they think Leach will somehow set up a new kind of one-woman blockade and bring Ottawa to its knees again?
00:02:59.740Do they think she will attack people despite never having a violent history and shown an inclination to do so before?
00:03:05.860Conditions are usually set upon bail as well.
00:03:08.360Tamara would likely have to stay away from existing protests and locations.
00:03:11.840She'd have to have some degree of supervision, and she would understand that if she violates any of those conditions, she'll land right back in jail.
00:03:18.540Now, whether or not she even committed crimes or not has to be determined by the courts.
00:03:23.340But that's likely going to take months, at least, in our slow system.
00:03:26.620Is it realistic or even humane to keep her in remand over that period?
00:03:30.240Remand isn't the same as prison, by the way.
00:03:32.080It's a temporary incarceration, and it's much like solitary confinement.
00:03:35.560I don't imagine any form of being in jail is pleasant.
00:03:38.200But remand is worse than other forms because it's meant to be short-term.
00:03:41.480There aren't the opportunities for recreation, learning, or socialization as prisons provide.
00:03:45.120That's why remand time is often actually turned into a two-for-one credit when real jail sentences are imposed later on.
00:03:51.100Judges recognize that remand time is exceptionally punitive.
00:03:55.040Look, the reason Leach remains locked up is purely political.
00:03:59.520The Truckers for Freedom Convoy protests, they embarrass the government.
00:04:02.180It took over the nation's capital for weeks and caused the Prime Minister to humiliate himself as he scrambled and imposed a form of martial law in order to quell the disorder, only to drop it within a couple of days of forcing Parliament to embrace it.
00:04:16.020The state wants people to see just how harshly they're going to punish those who dare to protest in the future.
00:04:21.920They're making an example of Leach, and they're keeping her locked up like this before trial is nothing less than a sick, vindictive travesty.
00:04:28.800Civil rights were suspended as our inept and panicked government scrambled to try and shut down the protests.
00:04:34.100Funds have been seized from citizens while free movement was suppressed.
00:04:37.200In light of these actions, it's not surprising to see Canada taking and holding political prisoners.
00:04:41.460Every day that Tamera Leach languishes without bail deepens Canada's shame further.
00:04:47.600And it was even more shameful, you know, when they led her into the courtroom in shackles.
00:04:52.220What was she going to do? Jump over the desk and fly out the window in a movie sort of scene?
00:04:56.900This is how absurd this is. We see they want to make an image.
00:05:01.060They want to scare people. They want to say she's extreme. We have to lock her up.
00:05:04.320We have to protect society from her. It's absurd.
00:05:08.120The other thing they want to say is, don't you dare push back against the government, or you will share her fate.
00:05:14.340That's what they're doing. And that's what political intimidation and political imprisonment is all about.
00:05:19.440And that's what's happening in Canada right now. Canada is broken.
00:05:23.140That's what you're trying to fight against both sides and border-originesia from Caler on Canada.