SPECIAL POST: Two Sets of Rules: One for the Political Class, Another for the People

By Tom Marazzo

ON THIRSDAY, 3 April 2025, TAMARA LICH AND CHRIS BARBER LEARNED THEIR FATE AFTER 19 MONTHS OF POLITICAL PERSECUTION:

As Canada heads into another federal election, a dark, unresolved shadow continues to loom over Parliament Hill: a 2024 CSIS report alleging that 11 sitting Members of Parliament may have been influenced by foreign states — and yet, not a single name has been released, no one has been disqualified from running, and no charges have been laid.

Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who led the Foreign Interference Commission, found no evidence of “traitors” but acknowledged that foreign governments had attempted to cultivate relationships with federal politicians. She did not seal her report for 99 years, as some have claimed — but significant national security information remains classified, and most importantly, the public has not been told who among their elected officials may be compromised.

Rather than focusing on these threats to democracy, the Liberal and NDP parties turned their attacks toward Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, accusing him of political cowardice for refusing to obtain a security clearance that would allow him to view the CSIS intelligence. Poilievre has repeatedly explained that doing so would bind him to secrecy, preventing him from speaking publicly or holding the government accountable. And he’s right — a cleared opposition leader becomes muzzled, while the public remains in the dark.

So the question lingers: If Trudeau and Singh know who the compromised MPs are, why are those MPs still allowed to run for re-election?

The answer, sadly, seems to be that in Canada today, there is one set of rules for the political class — and a far harsher, more punishing set of rules for the public.

Nowhere is this clearer than in how the Trudeau government has handled the Freedom Convoy and its leaders.

Tamara Lich, Chris Barber, Pat King, and Harold Jonker have all faced prosecution — not for violence, or insurrection, but for peaceful protest and dissent against government overreach. For this, they’ve been treated like violent criminals.

Tamara Lich was arrested and jailed for 49 days — 25 of which were the result of a photo taken at a legal dinner hosted by her law firm, celebrating her receiving the George Jonas Freedom Award from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Her bail conditions allowed her to be in my presence if counsel was present. At that dinner, the head of the JCCF was seated beside her, and her criminal defence team was directly behind us. The room was full of lawyers — all fully aware of the bail terms. Yet Ottawa Crown Prosecutor Moiz Karimjee convinced a judge to issue a Canada-wide arrest warrant, citing the absence of a lawyer in the photo as a breach of her conditions. Both Karimjee and the judge knew the context and that no breach occurred — yet neither faced any sanction for violating Tamara’s rights. Two Ottawa Police detectives were dispatched to Alberta, where they arrested her at her home and flew her back to Ottawa — in handcuffs.

Pat King spent 150 days in pre-trial detention, while Chris Barber and Tamara Lich are now enduring the longest-running criminal trial in Canadian history — facing up to 10 years in prison for vague charges like “mischief” and “counselling mischief.” The verdict is expected April 3, 2025, nearly 19 months after their trial began.

Harold Jonker, a trucker who peacefully participated in the Convoy, was charged 15 months after the protest — even after Commissioner Paul Rouleau of the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) admitted, during CSIS Director David Vigneault’s testimony, that the Convoy activity did not meet any of the four criteria under Section 2 of the CSIS Act required to invoke the Emergencies Act.

Let’s be clear: These people were not criminals. They were working-class Canadians who peacefully opposed government mandates after two years of lockdowns, censorship, job loss, and forced compliance.

And they were right. On January 23, 2024, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley ruled that Justin Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act was illegal, unreasonable, and unconstitutional. It violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Yet despite that ruling, the Crown still pursued convictions. In February 2025, Pat King was sentenced — and on the final day to appeal, the Crown appealed his sentence because it wanted 10 years in prison and didn’t get it.

Meanwhile, not a single Liberal MP has faced arrest. Trudeau himself has twice been found guilty of violating the Conflict of Interest Act: once for illegally accepting a vacation from a registered lobbyist (the Aga Khan), and once for pressuring the Attorney General in the SNC-Lavalin scandal. Add to that over a dozen major scandals, from the WE Charity payoff to the ArriveCAN boondoggle, and it’s clear — there is no accountability at the top.

The hypocrisy is blinding.

• When government insiders are accused of wrongdoing? Nothing happens.

• When ordinary citizens push back? They are hunted down, arrested, and threatened with prison time.

This is not justice. This is two-tiered democracy — a country where the laws are bent, broken, or ignored to protect those in power, while the full weight of the system is dropped on those who dare to object.

So when they come asking for your trust — remember who locked you down.
When they come asking for your support — remember who called you a fringe minority.
When they come asking for your vote — remember who used your Charter rights as a political weapon.

Because if they get away with it this time, they will do it again.
And next time, there may not be anyone left brave enough to resist.
No matter the outcome for Chris and Tamara, the goal is to ensure you never speak up again.
An election is just a formality when dissent has already been crushed.