Freedom Convoy leader declines questions from 'lying' media after testimony

Tom Marazzo, one of the leaders of the Freedom Convoy that protested in Ottawa earlier this year, declined to take questions from legacy media following his testimony at the inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act by the federal government.

Marazzo was on his way out of the court when a reporter told him she wanted to ask him a couple of questions. He responded by saying "You guys have been lying for three years. I don't want to talk to you."

Marazzo was a former military captain who lost his college teaching job following the institution's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. He went on to emerge as a spokesperson during the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa earlier in the year. He also ran as a candidate for the Ontario Party in the Peterborough-Kawartha riding during this year's provincial elections.

Marazzo's subbing of the mainstream media follows a year of misrepresentation and untruthful reporting of the Convoy, with CBC going so far as to suggest that Russian actors were behind the movement. The organizers of the convoy have ben strong supporters of independent media, even disallowing legacy media into their press conferences.

The Emergencies Act was invoked by Trudeau in February of this year after three consecutive weeks of protests in Ottawa's downtown core, with the purpose of giving the government additional powers during national emergencies. The current inquiry at which Marazzo was testifying is to determine if its use was justified during the protests.