Yearlong criminal trial of 'Freedom Convoy' organizers comes to an end

Tamara Lich arrives at the courthouse in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

After 45 days of evidence and legal arguments the criminal trial of "Freedom Convoy" organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber is finally at an end.

A verdict could be as much as six months away.

"I don’t know in this moment when I will be in a position to give my decision," Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said Friday.

She said "it's a little daunting," given the unusually great volume of evidence and legal questions associated with the case. 

Lich and Barber are co-accused of mischief, intimidation and counselling others to break the law for their role in the 2022 protest that drew thousands of demonstrators to Ottawa for three weeks.

Though the charges against the two appear straightforward, the trial has been anything but.

Originally scheduled to last just 16 days, the case has been mired in the complexity of the legal arguments, a huge body of evidence and disclosure delays that have dragged the proceedings out more than a year.

Lich, who became something of a figurehead in the protest, and Barber, one of the original organizers, drove into Ottawa together as part of a massive convoy of big rigs that parked on the streets around Parliament Hill and nearby residential areas and refused to leave until their demands were met.

The Crown and defence largely agree on what happened when the Freedom Convoy protest rolled into Ottawa to demand the federal government drop COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.

The Crown’s case included 16 witnesses who painted a picture of life in Ottawa during those tumultuous weeks in the capital. Ottawa residents, business owners, police officers and city officials described high-traffic roads blocked with big rigs, overwhelming smells from idling vehicles and open fires, shuttered stores and, above all, the overwhelming noise from the near constant honking of air horns.

Lich and Barber’s legal teams filed signed admissions to a similar effect.

The question for Perkins-McVey to answer now is whether Lich and Barber can be held responsible for what unfolded in the streets of Ottawa.

The defence has argued that the two were exercising their fundamental rights as part of a legal protest, and did not break the law themselves. 

In his closing arguments, Lich's lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said in a contest between the Charter-protected freedom of expression and Ottawa residents' right to the enjoyment of their property, there is no contest,

The Crown argued Friday that isn't quite right.

"No right is without limits, including the right to stand up for your beliefs," Crown attorney Siobhain Wetscher said Friday.

The Crown asserts that the two organizers were in cahoots to put pressure on people in Ottawa and the federal government to achieve their political means.

In calling on protesters to “hold the line,” Lich and Barber “crossed the line” from peaceful protest into criminal activity, the Crown asserts.

Further complicating the case, the Crown also alleges the two worked together so closely, evidence against one of them should apply to both.

If the judge agrees with the Crown’s conspiracy allegation it would be particularly detrimental to Lich, whose social media statements during the protest were somewhat less bombastic and potentially problematic for the defence than Barber’s. 

Greenspon called the Crown’s strategy unprecedented in a case where their common goal, to protest for policy change, is legal.

Though the two accused had been travelling to Ottawa to attend court over the course of the trial, they attended the final day by video conference from their homes in Alberta and Saskatchewan, respectively. 

Lich smiled and waved at a dozen or so supporters from a large TV screen set up at the front of the room. 

Lich and Barber’s legal fees for the prolonged trial have largely been covered by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, though both have been fundraising throughout the trial as well. 

Lich has already spent a combined 49 days in jail, first after her initial arrest during the 2022 demonstrations and again following an alleged bail breach last summer. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.