From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Speaking as an invited guest, Tamara Lich recounted how during the Freedom Convoy protests in 2022 calling for an end to COVID mandates that authorities treated the protesters like a ‘drug cartel.’

Tamara Lich, leader of Canada’s 2022 Freedom Convoy, was invited to speak before the European Parliament and wasted no time blasting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for “hiding” from protesters instead of engaging in dialogue as he did with other activist groups.

“We have politicians calling us terrorists, domestic terrorists, racists, even accusing us of trying to burn down an apartment building,” she said during her address.

“This is not the Canada I grew up in.”

Lich was a guest at the EU Parliament by the Europe of Sovereign Nations group, which is a right-of-center faction. She was joined alongside MEP Christine Anderson to speak to the parliament located in Strasbourg, France.

Lich recounted how during the Freedom Convoy protests, which took place in January and February 2022 in Ottawa calling for an end to COVID mandates, authorities treated the protesters like a “drug cartel.”

“Our prime minister ran away and hid and refused to even send anyone out to talk to us. … As a matter of fact, he even said that he’s attended protests before but only those that he supports,” she said.

“In my opinion, the leader of a country leads all of their people, not just the ones who believe in the same ideology. That is his job, and he failed us. They all failed us.”

Lich in a later social media post to X noted how it was a “privilege and an honour to speak to the Europe of Sovereign Nations Group this evening about the treatment of hard-working, blue-collar Canadians and the brave truckers who stood up for all of us.”

“I was able to speak about the current political climate in Canada, the censorship of our media, lawfare and political prisoners (our beloved Coutts boys) and the freezing of bank accounts without Parliamentary oversight or court order from a judge among many other concerning and important issues we are facing as Canadians under this current regime,” Lich said. “Thank you to Madam Christine Anderson and the ESN Group for this amazing opportunity. I will never forget it.”

The Europe of Sovereign Nations thanked Lich for her testimony, saying in a social media post its group was out in “full force on the sidelines of the plenary session in #Strasbourg to hear Tamara Lich’s testimony regarding the #Canadian government’s handling of Covid, which showed no regard for individual freedoms.”

Lich still faces up to 10 years in jail for protesting government COVID mandates

Lich and co-leader Chris Barber’s trial concluded in September, more than a year after it began. It was originally scheduled to last 16 days.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, Lich and Barber’s verdict will be announced on March 12.

Lich and Barber face a possible 10-year prison sentence. LifeSiteNews reported extensively on their trial.

During Lich’s speech, Lich noted how she was thankful for “support” Canadians showed to the Freedom Convoy “in the form of donations which were that we were going to receive.”

“We honestly thought we would just drive there, you know a small group of us,” she said. “But what we saw, as you guys obviously did too, on the sides of the roads and on the overpasses, was an overwhelming number of Canadians out there to support us who finally felt hope for the first time in years. Who finally felt proud to be Canadian for the first time in years.”

The $24 million raised by GoFundMe was frozen on the orders of the government.

“The first GoFundMe campaign that we started was taking in $1 million a day as we travelled across the country. (It) was frozen after the politicians contacted GoFundMe and told them that we were ‘domestic terrorists’ and that they were ‘fighting terrorism,’” Lich said.

She recounted how the problems facing Canada under the Trudeau government are not just an issue at home but around the world.

“This is what they are trying to do,” said Lich, adding, “I see it everywhere, it’s to demoralize and bankrupt you, but I’m here to tell you that they picked on the wrong woman, and we’ll keep fighting.”

In early 2022, thousands of Canadians from coast to coast came to Ottawa to demand an end to COVID mandates in all forms. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, Trudeau’s government invoked the Emergencies Act on February 14. Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23.

The EA controversially allowed the government to freeze the bank accounts of protesters, conscript tow truck drivers, and arrest people for participating in assemblies the government deemed illegal.

From LifeSiteNews

By Doug Mainwaring

‘Have we learned NOTHING from the horrific abuses the government imposed during COVID?’ Republican Rep. Greg Steube asked. ‘These same overreaching policies are being set up to control us again.’

Less than 24 hours after the GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives published its monstrous 1,500-page Continuing Resolution to fund the government of the United States, a remarkable shift in power became evident, showing to be true what the November presidential election had hinted at: The MAGA movement now appears to be in the driver’s seat in D.C.

GOP leadership on the Hill waited to publish the bill and hand it out to members of the House until just 60 hours before the measure was to be voted on, hoping no one would be able to do a deep dive into its contents, while simultaneously strong-arming members to quickly vote in favor of the Continuing Resolution in order to avoid a government shutdown on Friday.

House leadership’s approach to producing the massive bill without allowing time to thoroughly study and comment on it echoed Nancy Pelosi’s appalling 2010 elitist pronouncement to the nation and fellow members of Congress concerning the even more monstrous 2,000+ page healthcare legislation: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”

“The worst part is,” Vivek Ramaswamy said, “they (House leadership) didn’t want you to know about any of it. That’s why they made this a last-minute jam job.”

By Wednesday morning, alert members of the new, rising online conservative media had combed through the contents, uncovering deeply disturbing provisions antithetical to the ideals of the burgeoning America First movement that just last month had handed over control of the House, Senate, and White House to Republicans.

Chief among the alarming provisions was the intended expansion of the “Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act” that allows for vaccine and mask mandates, vaccine passports, international emergency powers, and gain of function research, according to investigative reporter Natalie Winters, who unearthed the troubling insertion.

Winters, who co-hosts Steve Bannon’s War Room, further pointed out that the document also mandates the establishment of no fewer than 12 new bio containment labs.

It also sought to extend funding for the Global Engagement Center, an organization embedded within the U.S. Department of State that actively seeks to censor populist and conservative voices online.

“Have we learned NOTHING from the horrific abuses the government imposed during COVID?” asked Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida, expressing the bewilderment and disgust of many.

“These same overreaching policies are being set up to control us again,” he added.

Just as disturbing is the massive increase in spending, which many suggested to be the House GOP leadership snatching defeat from the jaws of its recent electoral victory.

“The more we learn about this criminal bill they are trying to pass today, the worse it gets!!” said Elon Musk, co-head of the soon-to-be launched Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in response to the revelations.

“ALL government spending is taxation,” Musk said in a subsequent post. “The government either taxes you directly or, by increasing the money supply, taxes you through inflation.”

“The American people just delivered President Trump and congressional Republicans a decisive mandate,” Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia said. “So why did our House Republican leadership negotiate the spending bill like we lost?”

“This omnibus is the very thing the incoming Department of Government Efficiency is trying to put an end to,” Republican Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri said. “A vote for this monstrosity is a vote against DOGE.”

“Another lump of coal for the American people courtesy of the Swamp,” Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin wrote.

“I’m a NO on the massive 1,500+ page omnibus,” Tiffany declared. “The American people voted to stop runaway spending, and I stand with them.”

Utah Senator Mike Lee has been on fire since the contents of the 1,547-page document began coming to light.

“You know what’s *not* leadership?” Lee asked on X. “Writing a 1,500-page spending bill in secret, hiding it from most lawmakers until days before Christmas, giving them no chance to identify & fix serious problems with it, using threats to make colleagues vote for it, and justifying all of this by saying you ‘have to get the votes.’”

“No, that’s not leadership,” Lee fumed. “It’s legislative thuggery.”

“These are the disgraceful methods of The Firm™,” he added.

By 4 p.m. Wednesday, Fox News was reporting that Musk’s many posts on X decrying the bill had “sent shockwaves through the Capitol, forcing them to likely kill the spending bill.”

By evening, Torsten Prochnow declared, “The fight against the bloated Continuing Resolution marked a pivotal moment for America, securing a major victory for Donald Trump’s MAGA movement and the American people.”

He offered a brilliant analysis, pointing out seven major takeaways from yesterday’s unfolding Capitol Hill drama, shown here in full:

1. The Age of AI is here: Today demonstrated the transformative power of AI in politics. Teams working with Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and countless X commentators and X citizen journalists dissected the monstrous 1,500+ page Continuing Resolution bill. Using tools like GROK and ChatGPT, they broke the bill into manageable sections, analyzed it in detail, and revealed the outrageous hidden spending. Without AI, exposing such concealed pork barrel policies within the limited 24-hour window provided to Congress would have been impossible.

2. The end of legislative tricks: The era of burying pork barrel policies in enormous, incomprehensible bills is over. Today marked the beginning of an age of transparency where such deceptive practices are destined to fail. No longer can lawmakers hide egregious spending within massive CRs, hoping that nobody reads them. This monumental shift signals accountability moving forward.

3. The swamp is bipartisan: Shockingly, today exposed just how deeply intertwined the swamp is on both sides of the aisle. Both GOP and Democrat representatives actively contributed to crafting this bill and were delighted by its hidden provisions, including a $70,000 pay raise for themselves. None of this was scrutinized by legacy media, which ignored these scandals entirely. Without X, none of this would have come to light.

5. Trump’s leadership shines: Donald Trump, alongside Vice President-Elect J.D. Vance, displayed remarkable composure today. Trump allowed his MAGA movement to take charge of the battle and refrained from engaging in the trench warfare until the fight was nearly won. Only then did he deliver the final blow to the CR, demonstrating a level of leadership and restraint that is rarely seen. His timing was impeccable and speaks volumes about his strategic vision.

6. The power of X: Today underscored how underrated X remains. The platform proved to be a powerful democratic tool that amplifies the voice of the people. Elon Musk’s posts gained strength from his followers and Trump-aligned commentators and citizen journalists, turning X into the ultimate platform of empowerment. X stands as the embodiment of the phrase “We the People,” holding the government accountable in ways legacy media utterly fails to do.

7. The irrelevance of legacy media: The day revealed the growing insignificance of legacy media, particularly the leftist outlets. They ignored the CR entirely, failing to investigate, analyze, or expose the hidden pork barrel spending. The transparency and investigative journalism that legacy media once championed are now delivered by X. Legacy media has devolved into leftist propaganda arms of partisan organizations, while X carries the torch of truth and transparency.

“Today we witnessed the demise of a tyrannical cartel — known as The Law Firm of Schumer, McConnell, Johnson & Jeffries™,” Senator Lee wrote late Wednesday night.

“May The Firm™ and its despotic ways never return to power,” the senator prayed.

As of this writing on Thursday morning, the fate of the bill remains unclear, while the universal condemnation by America First voters of this legislative atrocity and those who produced it has become crystal clear.