Freedom Convoy organizers discussed using their ties to Métis identity to play the “race card” as part of an overall strategy to control their public image and attract sympathy to their cause, text messages suggest.
Messages between Tamara Leach and Chris Barber, obtained by Ottawa police and introduced as evidence by the Crown in Leach’s release hearing this week, show how clearly the organizers were aware of the protest’s optics.
Read more: Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Leach denied bail
The convoy’s association with Pat King, who spread racist conspiracy theories, and the appearance of Nazi and Confederate flags in the early days of the protest, prompted accusations that it was sympathetic to white nationalist causes.
As they planned the convoy, Leach and Barber seemed aware that racial identity could be raised in criticism of it. Leach described himself as Métis, and on January 20, about a week before the marchers arrived in Ottawa, Barber texted Leach that his wife was also Métis.
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“It will work to our advantage,” Leech replied. “Playing a race card works both ways hahahaha.”
1:58 Police costs for Ottawa’s Canada Day protest add to financial strain
The same day, Leach congratulated Barber on his podcast interview, describing it as very “PC” – or politically correct – “but also direct”.
Barber told Leach on Jan. 22 that all his years of “social media trolling” were about to pay off. “I will spin and use everything against them,” he said of those who criticized the convoy.
Protests against COVID-19 restrictions and the Liberal government have packed the capital’s center with large trucks blocking streets and honking their horns for more than three weeks. Protesters also blocked numerous border crossings. All this prompted the federal government to invoke the Emergency Act and the police to use force to clear the crowd.
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For their role in the protest, Leach and Barber have been charged with mischief, obstructing police, advising others to commit mischief and intimidation.
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Barber remains out on bond until a magistrate ruled Friday that Leach violated a condition of her release and revoked her bond.
At Leach’s bail hearing this week, Barber’s attorney was barred from releasing court documents showing his cellphone communications, except those with Leach.
Diane Magas, Barbour’s lawyer, said the Crown’s submission may lack the full context or intent of the messages and may be misleading or inaccurately interpreted.
The 4,000-page document filed in court says it includes all the messages – numbering in the thousands – found on Barber’s phone. Dozens are directly between Barber and Lich, without the group chats.
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Leach’s attorney, Lawrence Greenspon, declined to comment on the reports outside court Friday.
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The conversations between the two seem to illuminate changing feelings about King. He is known for espousing the white nationalist “great replacement theory,” based on the concern that white people are being replaced.
King remains in jail in Ottawa on charges of mischief, intimidation, obstructing police, disobeying a court order, perjury and obstruction of justice.
His attorney has not yet responded to requests for comment.
On January 22, Leach told Barber they needed to have a “very frank discussion” with King, raising concerns about past allegations against him.
Despite these concerns, Leach also said it was necessary to the movement—in apparent contrast to later statements in which the convoy sought to distance itself from King.
“We need him, and I don’t care about his past, but it only takes one,” she said. “We have to control his rhetoric. Not even threatening to throw snowballs at parliament (sic).”
“I know he’s had problems. I have skeletons in (sic) closet,” Barber replied.
Read more: Some truck convoy organizers have histories of white nationalism, racism
But a few days later, on January 26, Leach said that if King “doesn’t stop now and right now, he has to go home.”
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“Honestly, I hate doing it. I believe part of his heart is in it for the right reasons, but he’s going to screw this whole thing up.”
On January 29, the day after the convoy arrived in the capital, Barber texted Leach about the interview King had given.
“I’m concerned that he’s portraying us in a bad light. Should he speak today?? I’m nervous about what he’s going to say,” he said.
“No. He’s not talking. Monthly cycle. We have people to take care of him,” Leach said.
A text message from Leach to Barber on Jan. 30 said she received a call from the “command center” that had a “strategy to lock down the city.”
“Can you go there with me soon,” she asked Barber. “I don’t want to make these decisions alone.”
1:45 Poilievre marches with convoy of protesters ahead of Canada Day celebrations Poilievre marches with convoy of protesters ahead of Canada Day celebrations – June 30, 2022
During that period, some Conservative MPs welcomed the convoy’s arrival as the party opposed the Trudeau government’s vaccine mandates for federal workers and travelers.
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On Jan. 31, Tory MP Marilyn Gladu posted a photo on social media of herself and her factional colleague Candice Bergen at a restaurant with two men, whom Gladu described as “hard-working truck drivers in Ottawa.”
Erin O’Toole’s reluctance to articulate a clear position on the protest was among the reasons a majority of his faction removed him on February 2 and replaced him with Bergen as interim leader.
A few days later, Leach wrote: “Candice Bergen (sic) wants to meet soon. What do you think?”
Barber did not directly answer the question. The next day, Leach expressed enthusiasm to appear in an American media outlet.
“We should be on Fox at 6:30,” she wrote.
Read more: Poilievre leads protest convoy march to man with far-right extremist ties
Christopher Martin-Chan, a spokesman for Bergen, said there was ultimately no meeting between representatives of the convoy and the interim leader.
Conservative MP Glenn Motz spoke to Leach and was willing to act as a liaison to get MPs to listen to her concerns. He proposed meetings with Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Transportation Minister Omar Algabra, Martin-Chan said.
Motz confirmed he had spoken directly to Leach “in an attempt to resolve the ongoing protest” and tried to facilitate a meeting with ministers.
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“Unfortunately, after several conversations with the two ministers, they refused any meeting with the organizer of the protest,” he said, adding that he believed that if the Liberal government had held that meeting, the protest would have been handled differently.
0:57 Tory MPs welcome convoy figures on Parliament Hill Tory MPs welcome convoy figures on Parliament Hill – 22 June 2022
Alghabra’s office said in a statement that it was not “inappropriate or responsible for Canadians to meet with people who have blocked our borders, hurt our economy and terrorized the residents of downtown Ottawa.”
A spokesman for Mendicino echoed those sentiments.
After the ministers refused to meet, Motz said he tried to arrange a meeting between Leach and Bergen, which Leach’s legal team refused because “the clearance would only be useful if it involved the government.”
Ottawa police, with the help of police forces from across Canada, cleared protesters from the capital in a major operation that began on February 18.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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