Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, Freedom Convoy co-organizers, appeared in court on Sept. 5 for their first day of a sixteen-day trial for their alleged offences during the January and February, 2022, protests in Ottawa..Both Freedom Convoy organizers are facing charges of mischief, intimidation, obstructing a police officer, and counselling others to commit the same offences..Barber, who owns a Saskatchewan trucking company, faces an additional charge of obstructing a highway, according to a Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) press release..Barber was arrested near Parliament Hill on Feb. 17, 2022, three days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time ever and was released from jail the following day on bail with conditions..“The 2022 Freedom Convoy was a significant moment in Canadian history,” said John Carpay, president of the JCCF, which is providing pro bono support to Barber..“Brave Canadians made a remarkable winter’s journey from our coasts and mountains and prairies to the nation’s capital to peacefully exercise their Charter freedoms, to challenge harmful, unjust and unscientific government policies, and to start a conversation about the importance of rights and freedoms.”.“We are proud to have supported Chris Barber and so many other truckers, both in defending them against unjust criminal charges and in defending Tamara Lich and others in an ongoing civil action against them,” said Carpay..Barber pleaded not guilty to the offence of counselling others to disobey a court order on April 23, 2023..According to the JCCF, there have been approximately 4,000 pages of private cellular communications between the two defendants released publicly — with Barber learning about the violation while reading a CTV article that referenced his private messages..However, the Assistant Crown Attorney “who had requested access to these communications stated that he had only attempted to capture the cellular communications.”.Following the incident, a publication ban and a sealing order were put in place to protect private communications..Barber’s lawyer “argued that his charges should be stayed or dropped; the privacy violation amounted to an abuse of process that violated his constitutional right to privacy.” The counsel for Barber later withdrew the abuse-of-process motion.
