Crown Finishes Closing Arguments in Trial of Freedom Convoy Organizers

Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber (R) make their way with counsel to the Public Order Emergency Commission, in Ottawa, on Nov. 1, 2022. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Crown prosecutors wrapped up their closing arguments in the criminal trial against Freedom Convoy organizers Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, making the case that the pair conspired together so closely that evidence used against one of them should apply to both.

The two are currently on trial for mischief, intimidation, and counselling others to break the law in connection with the trucker protest in early 2022, while Barber is also accused of counselling others to disobey a court order.

The demonstration saw hundreds of vehicles flood the streets of downtown Ottawa to protest COVID-19-related public health restrictions and vaccine mandates.

The federal government eventually invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 to end the demonstration, giving law enforcement expanded powers to arrest demonstrators and freeze the bank accounts of individuals involved in the protest.

On Aug. 14, Crown attorney Tim Radcliffe took the court through text messages and transcripts of social media videos to make the case that Barber and Lich conspired to encourage protesters to behave unlawfully during the protest. He referenced text messages where Barber said the protesters were “messing the city up” and had “trainwrecked” traffic in the city.

Radcliffe also read out text messages Barber and Lich exchanged on the second day of the protest, where Lich asked Barber to come with her to the protest’s “command centre,” because they had a plan to gridlock Ottawa and she did not “want to make those decisions on my own.”

Radcliffe said the Jan. 30 text message exchange was evidence that Lich had the authority to make the decision on her own, but did not want to exercise that authority alone. “And who does she reach out to? Mr. Barber,” he said, adding that Barber had agreed to come with her.

Radcliffe also referred to a Feb. 16 statement by Barber in which he said, “We were talking about surrender, but we all said no,” saying it showed he and Lich had decided to continue with the protest despite police preparing to take action.

Defence lawyers for Lich and Barber are expected to present their closing argument on Aug. 15.

In previous court sessions, defence lawyer Lawrence Greenspon argued that Lich and Barber were peacefully protesting and worked with police to help move protestors’ vehicles throughout the protest. 

Greenspon also showed the court footage of Barber telling protestors that “under no circumstances” should they engage violently with police, to illustrate that the accused meant to protest peacefully. 

Judge Decries ‘Inappropriate’ Incident

Before the court rose for the day, Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said she had been “very impressed” by everyone who had attended the trial and followed its rules since it began, but she had been made aware of “inappropriate” incidents taking place.

Justice Perkins-McVey said there had been uncivil emails sent to both the Crown and defence lawyers’ offices, and on Aug. 14 there was an incident involving one of the accused “where inappropriate exchanges were made, threats were made, and indeed they were followed for a period of time.”

“That is entirely inappropriate in the court process, in a free and democratic process,” she said. “A decision has been made that we will not pursue the prosecution of that matter today, but should there be any incident in future, I will personally direct the Ottawa Police, or any other outside organization to commence an investigation.”

Lich, who has had a bodyguard since the beginning of the trial, posted on Facebook that she had been followed on Aug. 14 by a woman taking a video recording of her. “We ended up circling back to Bell Place, grabbed a coffee and called an Uber to drive us to my truck,” she said.