OTTAWA—Organizers of the Freedom Convoy Tamara Lich and Chris Barber have been found guilty of mischief, while the verdict on their other charges remains pending.
“The Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Lich and Mr. Barber personally committed mischief as leaders and organizers and social media influencers,” Justice Heather Perkins-McVey ruled on April 3 at the Ottawa courthouse, adding that they “also aided and embedded that mischief and incited followers to continue that activity.”
Perkins-McVey said the evidence “strongly” showed that the two displayed a sense of unity with the protesters and encouraged them to block roads, which she said interfered with Ottawa residents’ lawful use of property.
The judge is set to provide her verdict on the other charges made against Lich and Barber this afternoon. In addition to the mischief charge, the two are also charged with intimidation and counselling others to break the law, while Barber is accused of counselling others to disobey a court order.
The judge said while she acknowledged that Lich and Barber came to Ottawa with the “noblest of intentions” and that a number of factors led to the downtown core being gridlocked with vehicles, the two organizers did not take steps to alleviate the obstacles until “much later in the demonstration.”
Perkins-McVey said that evidence shown in court proved that Barber was not a “mere bystander” in the protest, and that he encouraged protestors to block intersections and therefore committed mischief. She cited quotes from some of his TikTok videos, such as the protestors having “train-wrecked” traffic or that an intersection in front of the National Gallery was “looking lonely” as evidence of this.
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Perkins-McVey said that Lich also had a leadership role and was seen in many videos standing “shoulder to shoulder” with protesters and encouraging them to protest.
“Ms. Lich could not have failed to have been aware the actions of the Freedom Convoy was having and the continuing distress residents of downtown, interfering with their right of lawful access, and use of public property,” she said.
The judge also addressed the rallying cry of “hold the line” that was used by Lich, Barber, and the protesters. The Crown had argued this was evidence of the two encouraging protesters to disrupt residents and ignore police directives to leave the city, while defence lawyers had argued that the phrase could be used as a call to continue protesting, but could have other interpretations as well.
“Yes, I agree, there are different contexts and it can mean different things,” Perkins-McVey said. “But without a doubt, it was a rallying cry for this demonstration of people to remain where they were on the streets and to keep up the good fight.”
However, Perkins-McVey noted that toward the end of the protest, Lich entered into a plan with the city of Ottawa to reduce the footprint of the protest, and Barber worked with police to move the trucks away from the downtown core.
“The fact that they tried to work to reduce the footprint—and the fact that they did aim for a peaceful protest—attenuates the severity of their role and may indeed be a mitigation factor down the line,” she said.
Perkins-McVey also dismissed the Crown’s Carter application, which would have determined that evidence applying to one organizer should apply to the other because of how closely they worked together.
The 2022 trucker protest began in response to pandemic-related restrictions and vaccine mandates, and resulted in large numbers of vehicles gathering in downtown Ottawa to protest the measures.
The federal government eventually invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, 2022, to end the demonstration, giving law enforcement expanded powers to arrest demonstrators and freeze the bank accounts of individuals involved in the protest. Lich and Barber were arrested on Feb. 17, a day before police began their action to end the protest.
While the trial of Lich and Barber was supposed to take just 16 days, a series of delays and complex legal arguments caused it to last over a year.
Reacting to the verdict, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which has in the past represented the protesters, said it was disappointed with the court’s decision.
“People accused of serious crimes are walking away without facing trial because of extreme delays, supposedly caused by the Crown lacking adequate resources. Yet the Crown has devoted massive amounts of its limited time and energy to prosecuting peaceful protesters who exercised their fundamental Charter freedoms,” JCCF president John Carpay said in a statement.
“If Tamara Lich and Chris Barber had played a leadership role in organizing protests against racism, transphobia or climate change, they would not have faced 45 days of trial over a period of 31 months.”
This is a developing story, updates will follow.
