Ezra Levant covers Tamara Leach and Chris Barber’s October 7 sentencing—18-month conditional house arrests after a three-year "mischief trial" tied to a farm incident from last year—while criticizing Justice Heather Perkins-McVay’s media focus and Ottawa’s $55M policing costs. Both face extreme restrictions, unlike Al-Qaeda-linked Omar Khatter, who returned unrestricted with $10.5M in taxpayer funds. Supporters at BC’s "ostrich farm," where CFIA seized nearly 400 birds amid claims of natural immunity research suppression, see the sentences as proof of a two-tiered protest crackdown, questioning why peaceful dissenters face harsh penalties while systemic issues—like alleged conflicts of interest involving Freeland—go unaddressed. Leach and Barber plan Supreme Court appeals, framing their case as resistance against government overreach that could silence future protests. [Automatically generated summary]
Regime Journalists vs. Citizen Journalists00:15:10
Hello, my friends.
I was in Ottawa today for Tamara Leach's sentencing for her role in the trucker convoy.
It was a very frustrating day for me, but at least there's no jail time.
But they did get a sentence.
I'll explain it to you in today's show.
But first, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus.
That's the video version of today's podcast.
And there's a certain thing I want you to see, just how crazy the crush of people was outside the courthouse.
It was sort of regime journalists versus citizen journalists pushing each other around.
It was quite something.
I was standing right in the middle of it.
So if you don't have the Rebel News Plus, you'll only hear it.
I would really encourage you to get Rebel News Plus to see it.
Today is a visual show for that part.
Just go to rebelnewsplus.com and click subscribe.
Tamara Leach is sentenced, but not to jail.
It's October 7th, and this is the Ezra Levant show.
Shame on you, you sensorious bug.
Hi, everybody.
I'm back at our world headquarters in Toronto.
I spent the day in Ottawa, where Tamara Leach and Chris Barber were finally given their sentence.
You know, it's been a three and a half year legal process for them both, the longest mischief trial in Canadian history.
I'm very frustrated with the judge, who it seemed to me over the course of time, sort of loved the attention, loved having a full courtroom, loved the banter, and was certainly in no rush for anything.
She took two and a half months to come up with her ruling today for her sentencing hearing.
I won't tell you the result right now.
I will show you what I recorded on the scene.
It was very interesting.
A huge crowd was there of both mainstream media and more citizen journalists than I've ever seen in Canada before.
I think you've heard me remark that citizen journalism has reached a real critical mass in the United Kingdom, especially with Tommy Robinson's big rally on September 13th.
What I saw in front of the courthouse today felt like the same critical mass in Canada.
There were so many citizen journalists, some with just a simple cell phone, some with a little bit more gear.
It was really exciting.
In fact, there's a little bit of jostling with the regime media, the mainstream media, when basically citizen journalists decided, why should we wait for the fancy journalists to go first?
We have our own questions.
And of course, the legacy media don't like being dethroned.
There was some little bit of tussling, I won't lie.
Let me show you what it was like today.
I did a lot of live tweeting from the court, but I don't know.
If you want the minutiae, the minute by minute, you can go to my X account.
But here's my report from the scene.
Holding here, I'm standing outside the Ottawa Court.
I'm going to turn around here.
A huge crowd outside.
A lot of journalists.
Look at the wall of TV cameras.
It's tough these days to understand who is with the mainstream media and who is the alternative media.
One thing for sure, I don't know if you can see it, but you can't really see it through the windows there.
There are at least seven police right inside the vestibule and another seven police downstairs outside the courtroom, plus two police in the courtroom.
My math tells me that's 16 different cops.
What are they expecting will happen?
One of the things the judge said repeatedly in her sentencing was that Tamara Leach and Chris Barber were completely nonviolent and encouraged others to be non-violent too.
And yeah, let me catch you up what's happening now.
We're right outside the courthouse, minutes after Justice Heather Perkins-McVay issued her sentences in the cases of trucker leaders Tamara Leach and Chris Barber.
The prosecution had asked for astonishing sentences, the kind of sentences that murderers would get.
Eight years for Barber and seven years for Leach.
The judge did not do that.
She said that there was no basis for that, and she gently chided Doug Ford's prosecutors.
And remember that the prosecutors who have founded Tamara Leach and Chris Barber for three and a half years, they work for Doug Ford.
They don't work for Mark Carney or Justin Frudeau.
They'll make Ford off the hook.
Anyways, today in the sentencing, neither of the two accused were given a custodial sentence.
In plain English, open.
Well, for my comment, he respects the judges not appealable in terms of the sentences.
They are conditional sentences.
He gets house.
Yes, he does.
And in terms of his reaction in Ford, does he feel any regret in terms of what has happened, in terms of his role in the Hindu power?
I'll let him speak to that when he's due and ready to do that.
Are you surprised by the verdict sentence today, Ms. Nagas?
No, I'm not.
It was expected to be in the realm of sentences, the sentences that were provided to other members or leaders, convoy.
Oh, there was. I expect it.
Madame Magas, is-ce que vous êtes satisfaites de ces 18 mois d'emplacement avec ceci?
C'est une sensation qui est raisonnable, selon nous, et puis qui, mon client, respecte l'addition du juge à cet effet-là.
Don't question me, whoever you are, I don't question you.
Can you tell me what kind of message this nation to other individuals who may want to protest, given if it's another protest against government overreach?
You see something going on in the ostrich farm right now.
What message does the court send in terms of other mass protests?
I think the message from the judge was really clear that my client and Ms. Leach had the best intention when they came to Ottawa.
It was a lawful protest.
She found that it turned into unlawful because of the blockage of the streets, and that's what the message is, like protest, but don't block the street.
Don't interfere with other people's enjoyment of their property is the clear message.
I think the judge wanted to make sure in her decision today and even in a decision on conviction that protests is allowed.
That's not the issue.
It's the manner of the protest that you think there's a double standard with how Hamas protesters are really unmolested by police.
None of them are being jailed.
There's no three-year prosecutions like this for mischief.
Whereas trucker protesters have been jailed and the enormous amount of resources thrown at them.
It's hard for me to comment on another protest that I don't know the facts of each of the protests.
So it's, I can't comment on that.
Unfortunately, I can tell you that this trial took very long to succeed, or complete, but I can't comment on the other ones.
Do you think the judge has a lot of attention to the fact that he has collaborated with the police?
Yes, I think the judge has made a point to say that his collaboration is a politician.
One of the questions I think it was CTV who asked it was, is there any lesson here for the ostrich farm?
Isn't that interesting?
That's what's on their mind.
I'm just keeping my eye peeled about.
You're here first.
Well, we are here.
I didn't realize that scrum was happening, but I tried to jump in front of it.
I've got to keep my eyes peeled for when Lawrence Greenspawn comes out.
A little bit of hollering between citizen journalists and the regime journalists.
Let me get back to the story at hand, the headline news.
The big news right now is that Chris Barber and Tamara Leech have been sentenced for their role in the trucker convoy.
Neither of them has been sent to jail, but both of them have received enormously long house arrests.
In both cases, 18 months of house arrest or 18 months conditional sentence, excuse me, of which?
12 months is house arrest reduced somewhat in the case of Tamara Leech because he's already spawned the legal equivalent of 74 days in jail.
So 15 and a half months of house arrest, during which time they are not allowed to leave, other than for medical emergencies, five hours a week, for shopping, legal medical and dental appointments and other things that they negotiate with their supervisors.
In the case of Chris Barber, he's a trucker along distance trucker so obviously his employment would count as an exception to that, but I have not heard of such a strict house arrest.
I'm trying to think of a of a usual political protest that yielded such a brutal sentence, and you could compare it to Omar Khatter, the Al-Qaeda terrorist, who didn't have any of these conditions.
In fact, he was given ten and a half million dollars of taxpayer money.
He was given the red carpet.
He had a.
You know he was the golden boy of Justin Drudeau.
I asked Ms. Maggus that's the lawyer for Chris Barber if there's an evident double standard between how these truckers are being treated and how the Hamas protesters are being treated.
I don't know of any Hamas protesters who've been jailed for months.
I don't know any of them who have been prosecuted with the obsession that Doug Ford has prosecuted Tamara Leach or the Alberta government has prosecuted the Coots protesters.
Her answer was fair enough, but I think it was a tiny bit of a cock up because it's not familiar with those other protests.
I don't know the facts.
I suppose that's a proper lawyer's answer, but it's pretty easy to say there's a two-tier standard for protests in Canada.
All right, I'm going to extend.
I'm sort of in the thick of it.
I hope you don't mind.
I've tried to film the scrum.
It's a little bit hard when I'm using a selfie stick.
As you can see there's a ton of folks here watch this video that there's so many cameras similar, more official looking sources.
Many of them are citizen journalists like myself.
I'm going to keep my camera rolling because I do expect Lawrence Greenspawn, the lawyer for Tamar Leach, to come out and I'll try and put some questions to him.
He's very knowledgeable, he's a very senior lawyer and I note that even the regime deferred to him because he's very professorial, he teaches what he actually purchases and I'm pleased to say that we have crowdfunded his legal fees, him and he has had two junior lawyers.
He's been working on this case for two years and I know from my previous conversations with him at Tamara Leach that Tamara Leach intends to appeal her convictions, so I don't know if they're going to appeal the sentence as well when you appeal the conviction, and if you were successful, then there would be no need for any sentence at all, of course, if you found good.
Anyways, I'm just going to turn the camera around a little bit so you can see there are some protests out here and you can see inside there are a lot of cops, which is a bit a bit, a bit rich.
I think the Ottawa Police Service has some psychological trauma from the truckers that they're literally sending six teens off.
And those are just the ones that I counted.
I think they haven't got over it.
I think the Ottawa police went this crazy.
And that's not just my opinion.
According to the Federal Court of Canada, the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the conduct of police in its aftermath, including the arbitrary search, seizure, and shutting down of bank accounts of anyone who was there, including the spouses.
A lot of people, of course, share a bank account with their spouse.
And imagine you're a mom at a grocery store and suddenly none of your credit cards work because your husband was at a protest and some liberal politician said, Hey, shut down this guy's bank account.
He's a trucker.
Absolutely abusive.
The Federal Court of Canada itself found that to be illegal and unconstitutional.
I think the Ottawa Police Service has some explaining to do, but they don't really ever explain now, do they?
So, anyways, I'm out here with this huge crowd.
I would say it's fair to say that, in addition to the regime media, there's thousands of different kinds of media, got a lot of people who are just plain old Tamara Leach and Chris Barber supporters.
I think that if you were to ask me where are Tamara Leach and Chris Barber right now, I think they're actually doing paperwork with what they call the supervisor.
I think that may be a newfangled way of saying parole or probation officer.
So they're doing the paperwork.
And one of the things the judge said is that responsibility for enforcing this house arrest will be shifted to their respective homes.
Oh, I see Lawrence Greenspawn is on his way out.
He's the lawyer for Tamara Leach.
And we'll do our best to let you know.
Is he not going to back it up?
Lawrence Greenspawn here.
Mr. Greenscan, how many people do you think the Freedom Convoy positively impacted?
Well, in our submissions, I said thousands, if not tens of thousands, but we received letters of support from hundreds of people.
We've received messages.
Tamara has received messages.
So this was one of those rare cases where I was able to say to the judge, there were some very positive things that happened as a result of this, what was found to be an offense.
And the positive is that there are a lot of people who were inspired by Tamara's example, a lot of people who were lifted up and given oath by what she did.
Are you satisfied with the sentencing today, sir?
Yes, the main objective was to make sure she didn't spend one more day in jail, and that was achieved.
So, yes, in that sense, we are still very seriously considering an email.
Lovely conviction.
Maybe a little bit of an eggman.
As far as the safety goes, we're pleased that she is not going to be spending any more time in jail.
Do you think there's been a double standard with how the truckers have been treated with jailing, prosecution, enormous resources, compared to the pro-Hamas protests that block streets in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and elsewhere?
Freedom of Expression vs. Peaceful Assembly00:15:42
Is there a double standard on the streets?
I think that this case on its own demonstrates the conflict between freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
And as contrasted with some of the other protests that you're referring to, the pro-Palestinian protests, there's definitely a different way that those are being treated as opposed to the way that this peaceful assembly and freedom of expression was treated in this government.
Lawrence, wasn't any balance struck by the judge in this case in terms of freedom of expression, in terms of the right to protest?
No.
No, there was none.
And in Canada, constitutionally protected freedom of speech, which encourages peaceful assembly, must prevail over the rights of property owners, the enjoyment of property.
That's not an equal balance, and that's the primary basis that we're considering for an appeal of conviction.
What do you think the post-effects will be?
I mean, even if you might be happy with the results as of now, what do you think just takes the feeling of free speech going forward?
The process, of course, the pre-trial custody.
I'm concerned that going forward, individuals who advocate peaceful assembly, and that's all that Tamara did, was talk about peaceful assembly, encouraged people to come to Ottawa to assemble peacefully and lawfully.
That's all she did.
And if that becomes, and as at this point, it remains criminal, it's been found to be the offense of mischief.
If that's allowed to stand, then I'm very concerned about the future of freedom of expression in this country.
Well, as you're appealing Ms. Leachy's conviction, we're seriously considering an appeal of the conviction for mischief.
What about the impact on the peace of operators?
The JCOS knows significant impress there when it's necessary.
There is definitely, and that was something that we were prepared to admit right at the beginning of the trial, that there was an impact on the people and businesses in the core of the city of Ottawa.
Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly do not come without some price.
And in a contest between the two, peaceful assembly, freedom of expression that encourages that should win every time.
Mr. Greensman.
Nowhere in the Constitution are the property rights or the enjoyment of property to be found.
Freedom of expression, peaceful assembly are fundamental freedoms that are supposed to be protected by the Charter.
Mr. Greensman, were you surprised by the sentence today?
The Federation?
Given the reign, absent discharge to seven years, there's really nothing that could surprise me.
What surprised me was that in 45 years of doing this work, I've never been this far apart from the Crown in terms of a sentencing position.
The judge made comments about the Crown Sentencing Commission, and I'll leave you to that.
Has Ms. Lynch ever expressed any type of remorse for her role in this, even though she did not advocate for violence, but it resulted in $65 million of police costs?
You heard the portion of the letter that she wrote, and she recognized, as did Mr. Barmer, that there were many people in the downtown core and businesses that were affected by the Freedom Harvard.
She doesn't deny that.
That the question, the question of that, was there remorse for what she did?
No.
She pled not guilty.
She's been found guilty of mischief.
And we're seriously looking at a feeling that you think Tamira actually said.
She may have saved lives.
She may have.
One thing we know is that there were many lives, many people that were inspired by her example about the set in how she did it.
There were lives that were changed as a result of her standing up on behalf of many thousands of intangible parish decades.
Were lives saved?
I don't know, but may well have been.
Just a little bit.
I'm anti-fout abuse.
No, I know they can't stay because sometimes it works.
Yes, I just had a little bit of preparation with the police.
She took that and we left.
Do you have anything more to do with James Bowder's representation?
No.
Finish him again?
I'm done with James Bowder.
You done?
The judge, Richard, made an example of different trials, of different judgments, of different codes that are related to the ones that she launched the out-of-the-citizen fire and teach drugs.
Do you think that was a curious oversight?
No, I think she canvassed all of the, as many of the protest cases that we're familiar with.
The Antifa protests generally involved violence and damage to property, so there would have been no point in her mentioning those and then saying, but they don't apply in this case.
I think I was impeaching remorse.
What did you say to her?
What I said is no, she has not indicated to the court that she's remorseful for what she did.
Well, I'm going to take a few steps away from this drum.
Lawrence Screwspon certainly in the man of the hour outside the courthouse here.
What I learned from his remarks is something he said before is that in our Canadian Constitution, property rights do not trump freedom of speech.
Now, we love both property rights and freedom of speech, but he does have a point.
The Charter of Rights mentions freedom of speech.
It does not mention property rights.
And in a protest situation like the Trucker Convoy, don't be surprised if some dainty people are put out by some noisy protests.
The second thing, which he said clearly, is that they have not yet officially decided whether to appeal the conviction, but they're seriously considering it.
I had understood previously that they were going to appeal.
If that's the case, we'll certainly crowdfund it through the Democracy Fund.
It's a little bit crowded there, and I managed to sort of get beyond hearing range, but it shows you the tremendous interest in this case.
I'm going to try and film just a little bit more.
It also fleshed out that things happened in the first year.
It happens in the first year.
I'm not sure that all of them.
I saw that.
You made that very public.
Where they were directed to go should have been an issue.
And it clarified that this meeting of trucks to reduce the footprint was something that was stopped not by the Spirit of the Convoy organizers, but rather stopped by the chief.
We're not doing as badly as they are south of the border, but the decision to convict Tamara Leach for mischief for what she did in the name of peace for assembly and freedom of expression is something that we're looking at in various ways that are challenging further on.
Mr. Grinsman, there's been a lot of misunderstandings and misregulation about this entire process.
If there's one thing you can communicate to the people of Canada that may have not been properly communicated, maybe lost in the weeds, what would that be?
It's this message.
It's that Freedom of expression has to mean something when it is encouraging peaceful assembly.
And those two things are both constitutionally protected fundamental freedoms.
That has to mean something.
And it has to mean, unfortunately for some, that it prevails over the right to enjoyment of property, which is nowhere to be found in our trucker frights and readings.
Good job, Larry.
Thank you, Mr. Peace.
Hi, everybody.
Ezra Levant here.
I'm in a cab headed from the Ottawa courthouse to the airport.
I just want to give you a quick update super quickly on the case of Tamara Leach and Chris Barber, the two co-accused who were charged with mischief and other offenses in relation to the trucker convoy in early 2022.
They were found guilty a few months ago, and today, finally, the judge, Justice Heather Perkins-McVay, issued her sentencing.
Now, the Doug Ford's prosecutors, remember, it's not just Entrudeau or Mark Carney who's prosecuting, it's Doug Ford.
Doug Ford's prosecutors wanted seven years in prison for Tamir Leach and eight for Chris Barber.
The defense wanted what's called an absolute discharge, which is basically we all walk away as if, you know, we just walk away.
I mean, of course, Tamara Leach has already spent 49 days in prison.
The judge rejected both of those, but came much closer to the defense proposal.
Neither Chris Barber nor Tamara Leach will spend another minute in jail.
Unfortunately, though, they'll have a conditional sentence for 18 months, of which a year will be under house arrest, and it's brutal.
They have to stay on their property unless they're working, going for legal mandical or dental appointments, five hours a week allowed for shopping, and a handful of other exceptions.
Now, I suppose it's possible to get a job that permits them to travel widely, but this is a very suffocating house arrest.
And I think by comparison to the terrorist Omar Cotter, who didn't have any conditions when he came back to Canada.
In fact, he got a $10.5 million check from the government.
And in fact, one of my questions that I put to Lawrence Greenswan in the scrum afterwards, actually I put it to both defense lawyers, was, can you comment on the double standard between how these peaceful trucker protesters are being abused by police and prosecutors versus how the pro-Hamas protesters take great liberties every day?
And I think both realized I was right, but they didn't want to dive into that pesky issue.
Anyways, I'll have full reports later on rebelnews.com.
And if you want to help be part of the solution, go to helptamera.com and you can chip in to help cover her legal fees for defense.
I'm sorry, it's so bouncy.
I'm in the back of a car on the way to the airport, but I promise you my report in the main will be a lot more steady.
Once again, that's helptamera.com.
We got to help her fight back.
Just in the cab on the way to the airport, it's a bit bumpy and a bit rainy.
I had two more thoughts that I don't think I expressed in my little commentary outside the courthouse.
The first is the judge repeatedly talked about how much the city of Ottawa spent, including on policing.
I think she said $55 million, as if that were all attributable to two truckers, Tamara Leach and Chris Barber.
And had they not been there, the city wouldn't have had to incur those expenses.
Well, the first response to that is, it's a city.
Police is an expense.
And when you're the capital city, expect to have protests from time to time in your capital.
If you don't like it, go move somewhere else.
Go move out into the country.
Part of the price of a capital city is that is a place where people are allowed to come protest.
But if that's the argument, oh my God, that cost enforced and foisted on taxpayers.
What was the cost of the lockdowns?
What was the cost of the you're not allowed to work orders?
You're not allowed to go to school orders in the billions, maybe in the hundreds of billions, maybe even in the trillions, I don't know.
But the idea that this trucker convoy harmed the economy is a laugh.
Now, I was here, as you remember, for a few days at the beginning of the convoy, and it was the first time that many convenience stores and restaurants had any customers because the truckers were not afraid to go out for a bite.
The second thing, and I don't know if I emphasized it, but I think it was Judy Trin from CTV.
She asked a question if the sentences here would deter other protesters, like at the ostrich farm in BC.
And I thought, look at how the regime connects the dots.
Look at how they're thinking already, as if the ostrich protesters are evil people who need to be prosecuted, jailed.
They haven't done a thing wrong.
In fact, the only people who have done anything wrong and who have engaged in any violence, to be quite literal, is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which has killed at least one, maybe two ostriches without legal right.
But imagine being a regime journalist based in Ottawa, thinking, how can I blame the ostrich people?
How can I whip up some mania against them?
Can we perhaps get the idea of police brutality and prosecutorial vendettas against them too?
Just a very interesting visit.
Anyways, I'm on my way to the airport.
Got to get back to Toronto.
News keeps happening all across this country.
I'm delighted to have the privilege to report it to you and in some cases to be part of the solution.
As you know, we have helped Tamara Leach in a number of ways.
We published her excellent autobiography called Hold the Line.
And if you believe in crowdfunding or legal fees like I do, you can do that at helptamera.com.
All right, I'm going to sign off now.
To me, the most ominous part was when Judy Trinh of CTV asked in the scrum outside, is there a warning here?
I forget her exact words, something like, is there a warning here for the ostrich protest?
And I thought, oh my God, they're trying to develop a narrative that the people standing against the senseless slaughter of 400 ostriches are somehow criminals because we were at a criminal trial.
It was so crazy, and you could see the maliciousness, the malice of the regime media in that moment.
Now, speaking of ostriches, our friend Drea Humphrey, who I call the queen of the ostriches, she is still on location along with other rebels, including Sheila Gunread, who has just arrived on the scene in Edgewood, British Columbia.
I tell you, I really enjoyed my brief visit there.
I feel like I'm busy, so I have to keep going.
But if I had more time, and let me say this, if you are in British Columbia or Alberta, or even more adventurous from further afield, and you want to get an interesting feeling of populist, activist, grassroots Canadian freedom lovers, you should consider going to the farm.
I was there fairly briefly, but even in my brief time there, I loved the feeling and it did indeed remind me of the festival feeling, the unity feeling that I encountered when I was at the trucker convoy in early 2022.
Farm Conditions Matter00:09:49
So I know it sounds sort of unusual, but if you have time and if you are political, and if you've got like a camper van or, I mean, some people are even sleeping in their cars.
There are port-a-potties.
There's a sort of a group kitchen.
Like there are some amenities.
They're not much.
It's pretty, I mean, you want to bring your own stuff.
But it's something that I would encourage you to consider doing.
I certainly enjoyed my time there, and I think Drea is too.
Anyways, Drea was out there at the ostrich farm, and she did streeters asking people there what they thought of Tamara Leach.
I should say Tamara was recently at the ostrich farm.
In fact, she played a rock concert there.
Here's Drea's report.
Drea Humphrey here with Rebel News at Universal Ostrich Farms.
want to speak with some of the supporters of the farm's plight against the Canadian Food Inspection Agency who remains on their property over there trying to call their healthy flock.
I want to get the supporters' opinions on the news that's come out on the Freedom Convoy leaders, Tamara Leach, Chris Barber receiving no jail time, but very, very stiff conditions.
It's actually breakfast time out here.
There is an overlap to the Freedom Convoy, so I'm told.
When it comes to the food, the donations that are coming in and the hardworking people that make sure everybody here is fed.
Now the farmers don't know when donations are coming in, so if you come to camp, they of course still ask you to be prepared to feed yourself.
But so far it's been good.
Can I ask you your opinion?
Did you hear the good news?
I did!
It's good news as far as jail time.
What were your thoughts?
Both Chris Barber and Tamara Leach not having to go to jail again.
Again, I love it.
It's a step in the right direction.
Yeah, absolutely.
I can't be more happy for them.
And now we're on this one.
What do you make of the stiff sentences, though?
They're still getting a lot of conditions.
Tamara Leach on house arrest for a complete year.
Chris Barber has his conditional 18-month sentence.
What do you make of that and how long this whole mischief trial animal is going to be going?
It's ridiculous.
It's bad.
I don't agree with it.
Again, overreach with the government.
And I don't think they should have gotten paid.
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
Do you think there's any overlap between your stand here at the Freedom?
See, I'm calling it the Freedom Farm.
The Ostrich Farm and the Freedom Convoy.
And if so, what are those?
They're people standing up for what they believe in.
Freedom of speech.
Asking for your rights.
Both of them are.
And they're both being unjustly punished by the government's own ideas of the way things should be.
It's not right.
It's not right.
It's horrible that people, both sides, Freedom Convoy and these guys, have to go through so much pain and everything to bring to light how corrupt our government is.
Yes.
On all sides.
A lot of government overreach.
I mean, we thought, thank you very much.
We thought during COVID we had constitutional rights.
One of those was the right to peacefully gather.
And in many ways, we saw that wasn't true during COVID, but it was the ultimate test when we saw the brutal force and impact that the officers did.
But the injustice of the overlap I'm seeing here between the ostrich farm and the convoy is the injustice of the tax dollars being sent to go after peaceful people.
Again, if you haven't been following this, there is a standoff that's been going on for two weeks as the Canadian Food Inspections Agency sits and seizes the herd of nearly 400 ostriches that they want to call who are not sick based on an illness that swept through the farm 10 months ago.
And they're here on the taxpayers' dimes.
They've got tons of cops here every day, shift chains, all of that.
And that reminds me of this mischief trial in a way.
This is the longest mischief trial in history.
Now, of course, our founder, Ezra Levant, has been on the scene reporting every second of the way.
I'm going to read his exact reporting of the conditions.
First, the decision, which was made by Justice Heather Perkins.
I'm going to move away from the generator.
Heather Perkins McVeigh, the first ruling came in for Chris Barber, and Ezra says this.
There are terrorists out on bail with fewer conditions than what he received.
Also, Tamara Leach, what a gross, sloppy, whiny judge carrying out errands for the political establishment.
That's what this whole thing has been.
So he says, Chris Barber must remain on his own property during the first 12 months, except for employment of traveling to and from any legal medical or dental appointments or religious services.
Once a week for up to five hours, he can go shopping.
Isn't that nice?
For what?
Honking horns and feeding the homeless.
Or by written permission.
Tamara Leach.
I'm just going to swipe over here.
Justice Perkins McVeigh says same thing.
Conditional sentence of 18 months, less time already spent in custody.
So that makes it 15.5 months.
And remember, they spent a lot of time already.
It's ridiculous.
So conditional sentence, as we said, first 12 months, house arrests.
So we saw Barber had some exceptions for working, it looks like.
House arrests, except to and from court.
Oh, oh, so nice.
That's so nice.
Medical emergencies, well, I should hope so.
Appointments and religious services, so can go for that.
Five hours a week for shopping can go to her grandchild's birth.
So she's a grandma.
That's right.
Who took a stand for Canada and has been paying the price ever since.
Remaining 3.5 months of curfew will be 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. except for medical emergencies.
And of course, Chris Barber also has a curfew for his remaining sentence too.
They're getting some wood together here over here.
Can I ask you about the news with Barber and Leach?
Very happy that Chris is not being sentenced and most likely will be free.
Just hope that Barber will be next.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Oh, so he hasn't heard.
Yes, Tamara Leach got no jail time.
Really?
Yes.
Tomorrow got no jail time.
Yeah, none.
Both of them.
Woo!
Hopefully they're coming here.
We need all the support.
Right.
You're more than welcome, Chris, and tomorrow.
Well, they can't.
That's the second part I want to ask you about.
They can't come here.
Get in there and help them, goddammit.
They actually can't come here because they have really stiff conditions.
So Tamara Leach is on house arrest for an entire year.
Oh, no.
And Barber is a watcher.
He's basically on house arrest.
He's taking the day off.
How long this takes you around?
And the jail top day already fits.
Well, it's just, to me, it's not an offense that he deserves a sentencing of that length.
There's bigger criminals out there, calling, for example, DD stuff.
And he might be only getting four years.
Right.
So he's doing obviously worse things than protests and convoy.
So we need to get our justice system sorted out.
I mean, go after real criminals.
And even the funding here, I think it's $500,000 a day for the cops and all that.
I'm not sure about that.
But that could be used for federal, for real criminals.
Exactly.
That's overlap.
I see.
Tell us a little bit about what you guys are doing here.
This is from 24-7 Firewood in Florida.
They just donated us a couple cords of wood for free.
Oh, no.
Oh, yeah.
Came out made our day and we're just stocking everything.
We're just working in the kitchen and getting camps sorted out.
We'll be watching the gate one more day and keep the fight up.
That's awesome.
Never quit.
Yeah, I'm going to be guys.
Ostrich Patriots.
Yeah.
She's Dick Van Dyke from that's pretty awesome.
You see everybody working together to keep people warm.
And also, you know, what he said about Diddy, I haven't been following that case anymore.
He claims that he only might get four years.
I should point out that with Chris Barber, the prosecutor was asking for eight years.
Eight years for what exactly?
Let me see if I can bug these guys who are working hard too.
We've got Jim Kerr here.
What do you make of the news so far?
The big news of today.
I was really concerned that if you got jail time, it would be really bad.
So I'm really glad that didn't happen.
But the fact that these people who didn't do anything got charged for what they did, and now they've got to spend 12 months under house arrest and six months privation, three months, that's ridiculous.
I'm glad, and I'm happy they're not going to spend time in jail.
The Vibe Has Changed00:02:30
But, you know, it's cut hollow.
Yeah, I'm the same way.
I thought, you know, maybe they're going to throw them in jail just to prove a point.
But the point is already proven what they're saying.
You know, don't go against the state.
What do you see here, Jim?
I know you were involved with the trucker convoy in some ways supporting that.
And now you're here with the ostrich farms.
Do you see any overlap connection between these two?
And if so, what is it?
It's remarkably similar in so many ways.
Specifically, the spirit that it evoked.
Do you know, when you were at the Trucker Convoy, the thing that you couldn't kind of tell on the news was how everybody was just so happy and generous and loving.
It's kind of like a Woodstocky feel, like a winter Woodstocky feel.
Yeah.
It's not winter.
Stock and wood.
Yeah.
Oh, there you go.
Stock and wood.
So it's got that really positive, peaceful vibe.
As much as I saw people praying at the trucker convoy, it's prominent here now.
It wasn't always.
And the vibe wasn't always what it is right now.
That's a good point.
You know, but now it's meditative.
Like, it's like we're not.
At first, we were shocked and angry and crying and all that.
We still cry and stuff, but now it's more peaceful.
Yeah.
And it's just more like this.
Yeah.
And everybody just wants to help.
Our prime directive here is twofold.
One is to save the ostriches, and the other is to support the family.
That's it.
And anytime the camp or anybody else gets off track, it's because they forget one of those two things.
Yeah.
And as long as we remember it, like people are remembering without having to be told.
It's beautiful.
It feels like the trucker convoy in so many ways.
And I've said this right from many, many months ago, that this has the potential to impact more than the trucker convoy just because it crosses boundaries.
It's not left.
It's not right.
It's life and death kind of stuff.
Yeah, it's busting through the echo chamber because you can't vilify ostriches.
You can't say they're mega.
You can't say they're far right.
We saw Elizabeth May take a dig at it, but even she's like, no, why aren't they testing these birds?
And so you're right, I think it has bigger features.
And also, it still has the same elements of going after big pharma and saying, hey, there's a lot of the story on that side.
And it's incorporated trade issue into all of this, which of course has been the biggest thing this year in 2025, the trade tension.
So it is quite remarkable how much is at stake with that flock where the farmers and supporters are fighting for it.
Life and Death Issues00:07:56
It's amazing.
Thanks, Jim.
Thank you for everything you do, girl.
amazing.
Now this is, I want to get you say your name.
I don't want to say it wrong.
Hi, everyone.
I'm Chief White Buffalo Man, Many Feathers.
That's just my name.
I got in the ceremony years ago.
So I guess I earned that name.
Yeah.
What do you make of the big news so far today about Tamara Leach and Chris Barber?
Have you heard him?
Well, I heard it last night.
You heard it last night.
It just happened today.
You heard it up here, right?
No, we were talking.
They told me everything's going to be okay.
Everything's switching now.
Yeah.
The way it's supposed to be.
A turning point.
Yes.
Yeah.
And they're going to be free and stuff like that, right?
Because we're talking about.
And I.
That was that.
We knew it.
Yeah, so you knew it.
Any words about seeing it come official?
No jail time, but very, very stiff conditions.
But that's okay.
We still got a fellow win for us.
Yes.
And it's amazing that they even looked at it.
So that's a big, huge step for us.
All right, Big Bear, come over here.
You heard the good news, obviously.
Yeah, and you were part of the convoy, too.
So first tell us about the news of the day, what you think about it.
Okay, so everybody, Tamara Leach and Chris Barber are not going to prison, but there's still conditions, 12 months health arrest.
I think for Tamara, 18 is it for Barber.
She's not even allowed to leave Saskatchewan.
To me, that's kind of a joke.
You know, they were a symbol of freedom.
I was a big part of the Freedom Convoy right along with them.
Me and Chris Barber are actually friends.
You know, I've touched base with him here and there throughout the whole thing.
I didn't meet Tamara actually until not that long ago, but she was a lovely soul, you know.
And yeah, I think the politicians would have been committing political suicide if they honestly would have thrown them in jail.
You know, looking at our economy, the drug addictions, the overdose, the mental health, people going broke all over the country, going homeless, you know, the encampments everywhere.
You know, people are at their breaking point.
And I think if they would have thrown them in jail, they probably would have tipped people over the deep end to an extreme level.
So they probably made that choice to, you know, let them not go to prison, you know, out of their best interest.
And what reason would they have to give the eight-year sentence that the prosecutors were asking for?
Tell us why you're here, why you've been coming back and forth at the farm, and how it connects to the Freedom Convoy.
Well, it's government overreach, just like which was happening in COVID with the masks and the mandates and all the chaos, right?
Like it was madness, you know, and then you have a government body coming to this family farm and stepping over on overreach, and we can clearly see the birds are healthy.
You know what I mean?
So, yeah, we can see the birds are healthy, and obviously they don't need to be killed.
And there's something not right about this picture, just like there was something not right about COVID.
Right.
No, that's the key.
Government overreach.
That's what we're seeing.
And again, thank you, Colin.
Thank you.
Again.
Congratulations, Chris and Tamara.
Definitely love you guys.
And I'm happy you're not going to prison.
Yeah, hopefully you see this.
I saw some evil person saying they should take their internet away too.
Like just demons.
But you know what?
The narrative was that they were actual terrorists.
But as Ezra said, even terrorists are getting lesser sentences.
I'm going to ask you guys what you think about today's big news today.
Chris Barber, Tamara Leach, no jail time, but very stiff sentences nevertheless.
Yeah, I mean, I think any sentence is preposterous, honestly.
However, it's a lot less than I think what was threatened and what it was kind of made out to be.
And I think big picture, I'm sure if you asked them, they would say it was absolutely worth it.
Do it again.
Oh, yeah.
Right?
And so I think, like, I know several people that through COVID were asked to make big sacrifices that went against their conscience.
They decided not to.
And every single person that I know who did that personally was greatly rewarded for taking a stand for themselves and following their inner guidance.
I think it's just really big picture.
I think more and more and more, it'll just reinforce that, that it's always worth following your conscience.
And it's freeing.
I mean, it really sucks that they're not technically free right now.
And of course, they were already in prison, but I know taking the stands I've did and gotten the consequences and everybody else, it sets you free.
It really does.
So why are you both here today and for how many days at the ostrich farm?
I'm probably here for another day.
Yeah, I'm here to help fight the fight for the ostriches.
So I think what CFIA is doing is wrong.
It definitely should be other ways to help fight the virus.
So and if the healthy birds get killed today or tomorrow or the day after, then who knows what they can come after.
They can come after your farm animals at any other point.
So there's got to be some policy change.
Yep.
And you've been here for a while coming and going.
You were here the day that the CFIA and all of those cops descended on the farm and they're still here two weeks later.
What do you make of that?
Even though there's a stay order, they're still here.
Like what?
I mean, gosh, what's it even say about that?
You know, I think it just goes to show how much of a battle is really going on here because it's clear.
There's a few things that are incredibly clear for anyone paying attention.
One, they want those birds dead.
They want those birds dead.
Right?
They're not just here acting as a natural agency for animal welfare and for the integrity of the food industry.
If they were doing that, then while there was a stay order, they would act in integrity and show compassion to the animals and treat them as though they possibly have a life to live when this is all said and done.
That's not what they're doing.
They're making mockery of the justice system.
They're just bulldozing ahead as if they planned it to kill those birds and showing not just incompetence, but I think what this is really revealing is the theatrical nature of a lot of our federal agencies.
The people who have been hired aren't actually experts in the field.
They're bureaucrats.
And the prerequisite is will you follow orders in total line?
And it's actually the opposite of what we were just talking a few minutes ago, which is like following your conscience, listening to that inner knowing of right and wrong.
The prerequisite for this kind of work is someone who will override that system themselves.
So that's where this is going to play out.
That's the perfect thing.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, just following the rules, even if the rules make zero sense.
This agency is all about government overreach.
So was the Freedom Convoy.
I know I've spoken to Tamara Leach and Chris Barber.
They were expecting the worst.
And I think the gentleman there who said, I think they'd still do it again.
I can't put words in their mouth about this, but they know that they did what was right and they fought for our country and the way that they did in a way that should have been just peaceful.
The prime minister should have come out to that freedom convoy, shook their hands and spoke to them and heard what they were asking, not only representing the hundreds of thousands of people that showed up there, but the millions across the country.
And that's not what happened.
And so we're seeing the longest mischief trial unfold.
And we are definitely seeing the longest CFIA standoff on fold on the taxpayers' dollars against Canadians, against our freedoms, against what is right.
Supreme Court's mRNA Ruling?00:04:07
I'm Drea Humphrey for Rebel News, bringing you lots of reports from the farm at savetheostriches.com.
My friend Sid Bitchard, who's my co-worker as well, came out to help me.
He's leaving today and we are expecting Sheila Gunreed and Linden to arrive here because we don't want to miss a second.
We're hoping another good news comes and the Supreme Court says, get out of here, CFIA.
We're going to let them take this to Supreme Court.
And oh my gosh, wouldn't that be a beautiful sight to see the CFIA officials have to take this big super safe blue fence down and have to file out of here the way they came in.
I hope and pray that's what Rebel News is going to be bringing you.
But if not, if the worst happens and they are going to be instead, we believe shooting those healthy 300 pound ostriches whose eggs, the farmers say, are part of research that's life-saving research that competes with big pharma, not mRNA technology, antibody research.
If they shoot those birds down, Rebel News is going to be here to show you that great atrocity, just like we did.
We had our foods on the feet on the ground during the trucker convoy.
We showed you everything that what was happening.
We'll do the same here.
And so all of that is at save theostriches.com.
If you want to be a part of making our journalism possible, just like we did in the trucker convoy, having multiple rebels here, having team back home, back east, running things sometimes through the middle of the night when there's emergencies here, Please do so at our special website called SaveTheOstriches.com.
Well, Trey is doing such a great job.
When I say she's the queen of the ostriches, that's just sort of a fun little joke I have, but actually, it felt like she's the mayor of the whole area there.
She's been there so much.
She's done so many reports.
Last I checked, it was like 60.
And I think she has a lot of responsibility for the fact that so many people around the world have heard the story.
Anyways, let me read some of your letters to me about my visit to the ostrich farm.
Wayne Venables commented, RCMP protecting criminals par for the course.
Take them, FFS.
The cops are corrupt.
Remember Coots when they vandalize private equipment on private land?
They do not work for us.
On a letter note, them telling Ezra he could get a ticket for using his cell phone while driving.
And he says, come get it.
If it wasn't for Rebel, well, I just don't know where we would be.
God bless you all.
I will admit I was a little bit rude.
You know, I actually, I recorded a lot of stuff and I sent it back and I was on the go.
So I haven't watched actually the final version of the show.
And I'm glad that made the cut.
I admit I was a little bit lippy, but I was in no mood to be talked to by a massive police operation designed to cover up what the CFIA is doing.
I want to tell you that I read Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s letter again.
And that, I mean, I had just read about it, but I actually read the whole thing through.
It's a very well-written letter where he says, look, these birds are of scientific and medical importance.
They were sick and now they're better and they have herd immunity.
We should study them because we could learn about natural immunity for avian flu.
And these birds are very valuable.
And he says in his letter, America stands by to help you with our most modern technology.
We'll give you the infrastructure.
We'll be partners with you.
Or even if you don't want to, we'll do it ourselves.
So it was such a good offer.
And the letter really clarified for me why these birds are important, which helped me figure out my new working theory for why the government wants to kill them.
Because you could learn about natural immunity.
We could study these birds and how they got better from the avian flu.
Or you could kill them, erase all trace of what happened to them so Moderna and Pfizer could sell their mRNA vaccines.
Judy Trin's Link Theory00:01:31
I think that's what's really going on.
Peter Renshel commented, Welcome, Canada, to the great reset.
How do you like it so far?
You know, there's so much World Economic Forum vibes in the police operation there, starting with the fact that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, what are they doing?
They're not, there's no food here.
These birds are not being farmed for their meat.
It's a scientific project.
They're going in with the public health theater of the hazmat suits, like they're in the Wuhan Virology Institute or something.
There's so much baloney going on, and I salute Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for trying to pierce through it.
And I just keep coming back to that comment I heard today of Judy Trin of CTB trying to draw a link between the ostrich protesters and the trucker protesters.
And I suppose there is a link.
Both of them believe in freedom.
Both of them are opposed to government overreach.
Both are sick of being told what to do by distant and partisan bureaucrats.
To Judy, though, she sees something different: people who have to be smashed by the state.
That's all from my report today.
We had other journalists working on other projects, including Alexa Lavois in Montreal.
Today, as you may know, is the two-year anniversary of the Hamas massacre that killed over 1,200 people in Israel and took over 200 hostages, many of whom are still being held in Gaza.
It's, as I've said before, what happened in Israel was terrible, but I am much more worried about what's happening in Canada.