Tamara says the police or Crown Prosecutor should have known that the JCCF event was filled with lawyers, including her own lawyers! In fact, she actually went before a judge a month before this event to get permission to go to the awards dinner (as she wasn't even allowed in Ontario at the time), and she says the court granted permission to attend!
That's right, she was at an event that she had specific permission to attend from the court, and she was still arrested and thrown in jail without bail for 30 days! This is the kind of treatment she received at the hands of our justice system.
Tamara says she had a "rabid Crown prosecutor" who was trying to throw her in jail "every time she turned around". She says they were watching her very closely. "There was a viciousness attached to the way that they came after myself, and Chris and the others. But they don't have that much vigour when they're prosecuting murderers and rapists...it feels more like a persecution than a prosecution" she says.
Tamara says even now, her case is polarizing. It took the lawyer's firm 3 weeks to decide to take her case. Her retainer was $25,000, which is higher than the usual $10,000 requirement. They even made a stipulation in their letter that they might need to hire a PR person to mitigate any backlash, for which Tamara would be responsible.
Of course, Tamara doesn't anticipate a PR person being needed, but it shows you the degree to which lawyers believe this case could be a "hot potato".
Tamara says she had to think long and hard before undertaking this case, as she will be liable for costs if she fails. In a worst case, she says she could go bankrupt if she loses this case. But her lawyers assure her she has a strong case, and I agree! Of course, this case will not be quick - this will take years.
She says, "people are really getting to that point again...[feeling] like they have no way of fighting back...it's been 4.5 years since the invocation of the emergencies act, that's still up in the air, the government is appealing that [court decision], we're 5 or 6 years in from the pandemic and there's been no meaningful investigation or inquiry into how that was handled...and people want to push back a little bit."
Malicious prosecution cases are extremely difficult to win and the success rate is low, but Tamara's lawyers say that on its face it's a no brainer to be a successful case. You're not supposed to let charges proceed if there's not a high chance of conviction, and in this breach there was never a good chance for conviction, as she clearly wasn't in breach. Aside from a stressful and scary experience, she also lost her job during this arrest and jail time. Tamara says we cannot be using the law and the legal system as a tool to punish people whose beliefs we don't like.
She says we're dealing with a federal government that wants things to quietly go away, whether it's the vaccine injured, the invocation of the Emergencies Act, handling the pandemic, the silencing of political dissidents, they're just trying to kick the can down the road hoping people forget. But she says we can't forget, and that these wrongs must be righted. People are ready for some accountability and a good "win", she says.
Tamara is estimating that this lawsuit could cost her about $150,000. Further, she's taking on all the personal risk if the case goes against her. Please click below to help her raise costs to pursue this lawsuit and hold the government accountable for their reckless behaviour!
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