Judge denies Tamara Lich's request to travel under house arrest

Tamara Lich, one of the organizers of the 2022 convoy protest in Ottawa, leaves the courthouse for a lunch break in Ottawa on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)Social SharingA judge has denied Tamara Lich's request to travel internationally while she serves a house arrest sentence, including going on a Caribbean cruise and to the White House.

Lich was found guilty in April 2025 of mischief and other offences for her role in organizing and sustaining the 2022 convoy protest that paralyzed downtown Ottawa for nearly a month.

She was handed a conditional sentence last October that included 12 months under house arrest. 

A month after being sentenced, Lich asked for and received permission to leave her home in Medicine Hat, Alta., to attend her grandchildren’s school. Since then, she has travelled to other provinces for her job with Rebel News.

In July, Lich asked for permission to travel internationally.

She didn't offer the court a detailed itinerary, but her request mentions attending press events at the White House, going on a seven-day Caribbean cruise with Rebel News, and travelling to Arizona to speak with Rob Schneider, a right-wing comedian whose controversial content prompted his removal from a Saskatchewan stage in 2024.

Crown prosecutors said the additional exemptions would give her a "blank cheque" to travel internationally. They opposed the request, arguing that granting it was unnecessary and would diminish the impact of her sentence "to an unacceptable extent."

Her defence said in July she had "abided by the terms of her conditional sentence to the letter."

In Justice Heather Perkins McVey's ruling Thursday, she said there was not enough evidence to show Lich's request is needed, including to maintain employment, and it would go against the principle of her sentence.