An Ontario judge has denied a request from Tamara Lich, one of the key organizers of the 2022 “Freedom Convoy” protest in Ottawa, to travel abroad as part of her work with Rebel News.

Lich was found guilty last October of mischief for her role in the protest, which blockaded downtown Ottawa around Parliament Hill for nearly a month.

She was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest, including a curfew, as well as 100 hours of community service.

In July, Lich applied to the court for permission to travel internationally to facilitate her work with Rebel News.

That work would include an interview in Arizona for a documentary, a future book tour and speaking appearances, and a Caribbean cruise being hosted by Rebel that serves as an annual fundraiser for the organization.

The Canadian Press has more. 

Kerry-Lynne Findlay is vowing to stay on as the British Columbia Conservative leader, saying she is “not going anywhere” after a series of defections that have depleted the Opposition ranks.

She told an audience at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention in Vancouver on Thursday that those who have quit the caucus are welcome to have a conversation about coming back, but “it has to happen now,” because Premier David Eby could call an election “as early as tomorrow.”

“Twenty-seven thousand party members voted for me as a leader who will collaborate with anyone, from any background or political alliances … who share our common-sense vision for change,” she said.

She called the prospect of a snap election by David Eby “cynical move.”

“So, the premier will impose on British Columbians a costly election two years early, trample on the byelection he just called, and he knows I was about to win,” she said.

CP’s got more.

Children undergoing cancer treatment will soon be able to trade hospital rooms for campfires, canoe trips and summer camp – without leaving their medical care behind.

The federal government is putting more than $27 million toward Campfire Circle’s new medically supported overnight camp in Prince Edward County, as the charity raises money of its own with a roughly 1,000-kilometre cycling journey from Toronto to Quebec City.

Campfire Circle provides medically supported camp programs for children with cancer and other serious illnesses, including programs delivered in pediatric hospitals across Ontario.

The new Prince Edward County facility will expand its overnight programming to more children in eastern Ontario, with the organization aiming to serve 10,000 children and families annually by 2030, according to CEO of Campfire Circle Alex Robertson.

“The whole impetus behind it was to help ensure that more kids with cancer and serious illness could come to camp,” Robertson said in an interview with iPolitics.

Sydney Ko reports. 

In Other Headlines

Internationally

Human rights experts commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body say they have found “reasonable grounds” to believe the United States committed war crimes in two strikes in Iran, including on a school in the southern city of Minab. They also accuse Iran’s theocratic government of carrying out crimes against humanity against its own people in a report published Thursday.

The report, while not binding, adds to international evidence gathered about crimes in the war in Iran, and could eventually be used in efforts to reach justice in international courts.

The fact-finding mission on Iran, chaired by jurist Sara Hossain of Bangladesh, is made up of independent experts and was created in 2022 by the Human Rights Council, the U.N.’s top human rights body, which is based in Geneva.

The experts were expected to present their findings on Monday to the council, which is made up of 47 U.N. member countries.

NPR has more. 

Jeffrey Epstein’s estate is facing a new lawsuit filed by two women who allege that Epstein possessed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of them. They want a judge to order that a program be set up to identify and notify all individuals whose “unlawful sexualized images” might have been in Epstein’s collection, and are also seeking monetary damages.

The complaint was filed this week in the US district court for the southern district of New York on behalf of two plaintiffs, who are anonymous in the filing but described as survivors of Epstein’s CSAM crimes. The lawsuit was filed against Epstein’s former lawyer Darren Indyke and Epstein’s former accountant Richard Kahn, who are being sued in their capacities as co-executors of Epstein’s estate. Attorneys for Indyke and Kahn, who have both said that they had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes during their employment, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the complaint on Wednesday.

The complaint claims that for more than two decades, Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, possessed, transported, produced and distributed “child pornography and/or child sexual abuse material of countless children”. It alleges that Epstein “acquired by theft” nude or partly nude images of the first plaintiff, referred to in the document as Jane Doe, and that he transported the material across state lines and retained it.

Read more from The Guardian. 

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

And finally… as Prime Minister Mark Carney courts Europe, here’s a tweet to end this newsletter.

Have a great evening!