Convoy Organizer’s Lawyer Challenges Honking-Related Charge in Closing Argument

Chris Barber arrives to the Ottawa Courthouse in Ottawa on Nov. 3, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA—The defence for Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber continued with its closing arguments on Aug. 19, arguing that his directive to protesters to honk following a court injunction was not counselling to commit mischief.

Barber and Tamara Lich are on trial for mischief, intimidation, and counselling others to break the law in connection with the trucker protest in early 2022. Barber is also accused of counselling others to disobey a court order. The protest saw hundreds of vehicles gather in the streets of downtown Ottawa to protest COVID-19-related public health restrictions and vaccine mandates.

During their closing arguments on Aug. 13 and 14, Crown lawyers said that Lich and Barber “crossed the line,” using unlawful means to pursue their political goals, and that the case against the two is “overwhelming.” The Crown has also said the pair conspired together so closely that evidence used against one of them should apply to both, which is known in Canadian law as a Carter application.

Barber’s lawyer Diane Magas argued on Aug. 15 that there is a lack of evidence against Barber and that he is “morally innocent.” She said there is evidence Barber had no “mens rea”—or criminal intent—during the protest, and that he worked together with police officers to ensure the protest was peaceful.

On Aug. 19, Magas continued her case by showing a TikTok video Barber posted from Feb. 9, 2022, in which he acknowledged that a court injunction against protesters honking their horns had been put in place.

In the video, Barber also said that if protesters saw numerous police officers coming to arrest them, they should “lock that door, crawl into that bunk, but before you do that, grab that horn switch and don’t let go.” “We want everybody to know when the time comes, and that’s the best way to do it,” he added.

Due to the video, Barber faces a charge of counselling others to disobey a court order. But Magas said there was “ambiguity” in terms of how far the court order went and that Barber was attempting to explain the limits of the injunction.

Magas noted that the injunction order against honking contained an exception concerning statutory duties such as honking horns in case of an emergency. She said there had been growing fears among the protesters that riot police were preparing to take action against them, and that Barber saw the unlawful arrest of the protesters as an emergency.

Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said, “That’s a stretch.” “How could that possibly be seen as an emergency in the eyes of Justice McLean,” she added, referring to the Ontario Superior Court judge who granted the 10-day injunction against honking.

Magas responded that the order was not clear in terms of what constituted the exceptions, and that Barber was attempting to explain the limits on the court order to the protesters “in his own words.”

The lawyer for Lich is expected to give her closing argument on Aug. 20.