‘They crossed the line’: Crown in closing arguments for ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers

OTTAWA — Two prominent “Freedom Convoy” organizers “crossed the line” into criminal activity when they led a massive demonstration to Ottawa in 2022 and refused to leave, the Crown said in its final submissions on their criminal trial Tuesday.

Tamara Lich and Chris Barber were among several organizers who brought a huge number of demonstrators and big-rig trucks to Ottawa two years ago to protest pandemic-era public health restrictions and vaccine mandates.

Protesters flooded into the capital in 2022 at the tail end of the omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and stayed in Ottawa for three weeks, blocking downtown roads around Parliament Hill with vehicles, blaring horns at all hours, blasting music over loudspeakers and setting off fireworks in the street.

The two organizers are co-accused of mischief, intimidation and several charges related to counselling others to break the law for their role in the demonstration.

Barber is also charged with counselling others to disobey a court order.

The noise, congestion, smells, scale and duration of the convoy all put it outside of the “spectrum of what could be considered a lawful protest,” Crown lawyer Siobhain Wetscher told the crowded courtroom on Tuesday.

She referred to several other cases related to the “Freedom Convoy,” and while not all have resulted in convictions, she said “not a single decision characterized the convoy as a lawful demonstration.”

The Crown’s case turns on whether Lich and Barber bear responsibility for the demonstration at large.

Wetscher also argued the two conspired in lockstep to organize an illegal protest and that evidence against one of them should apply to both.

The defence is expected to offer its closing arguments later this week. Lich and Barber’s lawyers have argued throughout the trial that organizing a protest is not an illegal activity and is protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Lich arrived at the Ottawa courthouse to some fanfare from a small gathering of supporters who chanted “Freedom” as she made her way inside.

The final chapter of the trial comes nearly a year after it first began. It was originally scheduled to last only 16 days in September 2023, but it has been plagued with delays over the disclosure of evidence, lengthy legal arguments and scarce court time.

The court heard from downtown Ottawa residents, police officers, and even the protesters themselves by way of social media posts they recorded during the protest.

The Crown argues Lich and Barber exerted influence over the crowd that stayed in Ottawa even as police tried to get them to leave. The group said it would stay to put pressure on governments to lift vaccine mandates.

“It’s all about group pressure,” said Tim Radcliffe, co-counsel for the Crown.

He described Lich and Barber as “metaphorically standing shoulder-to-shoulder with those on the ground, exerting pressure on the residents of downtown Ottawa … to achieve a public policy end.”

Justice Heather Perkins-McVey interjected with several questions and comments throughout the arguments, and challenged the Crown’s assertion that the purpose and the goals of the protest are beyond dispute.

Wetscher described several examples of Lich and Barber instructing protesters to “hold the line,” even as police prepared to launch a massive operation to put a stop to the demonstration.

“We have videos of the police saying ‘hold the line,'” countered Perkins-McVey, to laughs and nods of approval from the supporters of the accused in the courtroom gallery.

“That phrase in and of itself … is used in different contexts at different times.”

The court has scheduled three days to hear the final arguments in the case, as well as several extra days next week in case they go long.

“We will have ample time to ensure we are completed by next week,” Perkins-McVey said.

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

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press