Chris Barber wasted little time to reconnect with fellow convoy leader Tamara Lich after a judge lifted conditions that kept them apart.Barber told Western Standard on Friday that the news brought him cheer."It was awesome. Really good. Finally, after how long of a fight, 27 months of malarkey," Barber said.Lich and Barber are charged with mischief, intimidation and offences related to counselling others to break the law at the trucker convoy in Ottawa in February 2022. Conditions placed against the two barred them from speaking to each other.In November, Barber was successful in getting permission to gather with fellow protester Danny Bulford at a fundraiser for him in Fort St. John, B.C. a few months ago."We reached out to the Crown's office and said, 'Look it, there's a fundraiser, we're trying to help these people raise money for legal funding. Could you please remove the conditions against Daniel Bulford and Chris Barber?' And they, without hesitation, [said] yes, and signed the papers and then it was gone."Barber said he and Lich never understood the reasons they could not contact each other, either, but the crown was less ready to allow the two to reunite."We reached out to the Crown's office, and they denied it. And so we said to the lawyers to file a motion the next time we're in court for something else, file a motion asking the judge to decide. And she decided on Wednesday morning, and she decided to remove the condition."Barber, a resident of Swift Current, Sask., wasted no time in connecting with LIch, who lives in Medicine Hat, Alta."It was just by chance that my son Jonathan's semi was in Medicine Hat getting some maintenance done for it, and we had to go pick it up. So I jumped in the truck, and I told the kids to drop me off, and we'll see you tomorrow. And we met up at a little a little restaurant in Medicine Hat and we sat and visited for the majority of the afternoon."Their presence was clearly noticed."It was a constant stream of people coming and going 'Hey,' either recognizing Tamara or they recognized me; it was awesome."The prosecution and defence have rested, but a Carter application has required more court proceedings."We move to final submissions August 13. I believe they booked 10 days for us now for final submissions and then it'll be off to the judge for decision," Barber explained.The trucker has a high opinion of Justice Heather Perkins-McVey who is hearing his case."She's a very, very thorough judge. I really enjoyed listening to her when she's giving her ruling. I think she's pretty fair," he said."She's been listening to the evidence in its entirety from the start. And I think judging by from some of the other news reporters in the courtroom and how they've expressed it to me, 'If anything, the evidence that they've laid out against you is actually made you look good in the public light instead of negative."As the trial has dragged on, Ottawa has become a place of familiarity and friends."I've met a lot of really, really good people in Ottawa. I have to admit it has grown on me. I don't really necessarily need to use the GPS when I'm running around town anymore, I've kind of gotten so familiar with the streets and where to go," Barber said."There's a good good crowd of people there. Of course, we go to bikers' church Thursday and Sunday for worship and hanging out with everybody, and the Sikh community there that I actually quite enjoy. And when I'm not there, I miss them."
