A pandemic of fear met with resistance
In January and February 2022, thousands of Canadians travelled from all corners of the country to the nation’s capital to protest mandatory vaccination policies, which turned millions of Canadians into second-class citizens if they did not get injected with the Covid vaccine.
In British Columbia, dissenting healthcare workers and firefighters were fired. In Nova Scotia, judges were pressured into getting injected and threatened with consequences for choosing not to do so. In Quebec, government officials threatened a tax on the unvaccinated. Across Canada, conscientious objectors were fired from their jobs, suspended from their university programs, and prevented from travelling. Cross-border Covid vaccine mandates particularly affected Canadian truckers.
Canadian truckers and the Freedom Convoy protest
The pressures being applied by governments across Canada to get citizens to bend to their will resulted in what became known as the Freedom Convoy protest. Truckers across the country drove to Ottawa to try to meet with federal politicians and air their grievances. The Justice Centre sent lawyers to the protest to advise protestors of their constitutional rights.
Chris Barber and Tamara Lich arrested at Ottawa protest
Chris Barber and Tamara Lich were arrested in Ottawa on February 17, 2022–one day before the brutal police crackdown on Freedom Convoy protestors – and after the federal government illegally invoked the Emergencies Act on February 14, 2022.
This was the first time the Act had ever been invoked to clear the protest. Chris Barber and Tamara Lich were both criminally charged with mischief, intimidation, obstructing a highway, obstructing a police officer, and counselling others to commit the same offences. They have asserted they were peacefully exercising their Charter freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly during the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa.
Barber and Lich’s trial originally scheduled to last 16 days
The Justice Centre has been supporting the defence of Chris Barber. Mr. Barber, a trucker and trucking company owner from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, pleaded not guilty to all charges on April 23, 2023. Diane Magas, his defence counsel, has consistently argued that he acted peacefully and lawfully throughout his time in Ottawa. Note: the Justice Centre is also providing legal support in a separate action for Mr. Barber, Ms. Lich and Freedom Convoy members who are being sued by Ottawa residents for $290 million.
The criminal trial began on September 5, 2023, and was originally scheduled to last 16 days. Nearly one year later, the trial of Mr. Barber and Ms. Lich is nearing 40 days of court time.
“Crown prosecutors in Ontario claim that they do not have enough resources to prosecute people accused of sexual assault and other serious crimes. 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,” stated John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre.
Final arguments include reference to DeCaire decision
Lawyer Diane Magas was back in court with Mr. Barber the morning of Friday, September 13, 2024, to hear the Crown’s closing submissions. You can read the Crown’s final arguments here. The Final Submissions for Chris Barber are here.
Ms. Magas said she will address the court referencing the R. v. DeCaire Appeal decision. She successfully defended Christine DeCaire when the Crown appealed Ms. DeCaire’s dismissal on charges of mischief for being at the Freedom Convoy protest. Ms. Magas hopes the court will use that decision as guidance when considering the current case. She will draw attention to paragraphs 30-31, where the Appeal Court noted the Crown still needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person actually engaged in mischief, and that merely being in the vicinity of where someone else might be causing mischief was not enough to convict.
A date for the verdict was set for March 12, 2025. That date was postponed until April 3, 2025.
John Carpay says, “Thanks to the generosity of donors, the Justice Centre has provided criminal defence lawyers for Chris Barber, Tamara Lich and other Canadians who were criminally charged in February 2022 for having peacefully exercised their Charter freedoms of expression, association, and assembly during the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa. More than 30 months ago, they were charged with mischief, intimidation, obstructing a highway, obstructing a police officer, and counselling others to commit the same offences. We have secured favourable outcomes for many individuals who were wrongfully charged, including acquittals at trial, the dropping of charges, as well as negotiated agreements with the consent of clients.”
Court finds Chris Barber guilty of mischief
We are disappointed that the Ontario Court of Justice found Chris Barber and Tamara Lich guilty of mischief for their involvement in the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest.
The decision, released on April 3, 2025, follows upon 45 days of hearings in a criminal trial stretching from September 2023 to September 2024.
Justice Heather Perkins-McVey delivered the decision in the Ontario Court of Justice at the Ottawa Courthouse.
Counsel will carefully review the decision and confer with Mr. Barber to determine any next steps.
Chris Barber asks Court to stay proceedings against him
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that Chris Barber has asked the Ontario Court of Justice for a stay of proceedings against him. He argues that the legal advice given to him by police officers, lawyers, and a Superior Court judge during the Freedom Convoy was erroneous and that, as a result, the Crown is not entitled to convict him.
On April 3, 2025, Justice Heather Perkins-McVey of the Ontario Court of Justice found Mr. Barber guilty of mischief and of counselling others to breach a court order. That decision followed upon a lengthy 45-day trial stretching from September 2023 to September 2024.
Diane Magas, Chris Barber’s lawyer, filed a Stay of Proceedings Application with the Court on April 16, 2025. In that Application, Mr. Barber and his legal team argue that he did, in fact, seek legal advice regarding his actions during the Freedom Convoy protest.
For example, he followed Ottawa Police Services directions on where to park trucks in downtown Ottawa. When an officer asked him to move his truck, “Big Red,” from downtown Ottawa, he moved it. On February 7 and 16, 2022, his lawyer at the time advised him that Justice Maclean of the Superior Court had confirmed that the protest could continue so long as it continued to be peaceful and safe.
In essence, Chris Barber and his legal team are now arguing that he followed all legal advice that was given to him in 2022, but that some of the legal advice he was given turned out to be erroneous.
Judge asked to set aside crown’s recommended sentence
Barber’s Application argues for a stay of proceedings against him on the grounds that “he sought advice from lawyers, police officers, and a Superior Court Judge on the legality of the protest he was involved in.”
This Application was filed one day after Chris Barber was informed that the Crown was pursuing a two-year prison sentence against him. In an April 15 Facebook post, Mr. Barber wrote, “My family got bad news today. The Crown prosecutor wants to lock Tamara Lich and me in prison for two years-for standing up for freedom. They also want to [seize] my truck, Big Red, and crush her like she’s just scrap metal or sell it at auction.”
If the Application is successful, Mr. Barber would not see prison time, nor would his truck be seized.
“Throughout the peaceful Freedom Convoy, Chris Barber did what any law-abiding Canadian would do: seeking out and acting upon the best legal advice available to him,” stated John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre. “Chris Barber consistently followed the legal advice that he received from police officers, lawyers, and a Superior Court judge.”
“To hold a well-meaning man behind bars for two years and to confiscate his property, as is now demanded by the Crown, would bring the administration of justice into disrepute,” Mr. Carpay continued. “Crown prosecutors are painting a portrait of a dangerous criminal, even while Chris Barber sought out and followed legal advice when participating in the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa in 2022. Chris worked within the law when peacefully exercising his Charter freedoms of expression, assembly and association.”
Stay of Proceedings hearing confirmed for Wednesday to Friday, May 21–23, 2025
Chris Barber’s Stay of Proceedings Application will be heard in person at the Ottawa courthouse from Wednesday to Friday, May 21–23, 2025, starting at 10:00 a.m. in Room 5 on May 21.
Members of the public are welcome to attend in person; virtual attendance is not available.
The court will consider whether to set aside the Crown’s request for a two-year prison sentence and the seizure of Mr. Barber’s truck, based on arguments that he acted in good faith by following official advice during the 2022 Freedom Convoy.
