MacLEOD: The scales of justice shattered

Sentencing hearings in the case of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are to be held in Ottawa, on Wednesday July 23-25.Colin MacLeod is a Calgary-based aviation consultant, and author of 'The Case for Alberta's Independence.'The conviction of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, pivotal figures in the 2022 Freedom Convoy, for the nebulous crime of “counselling mischief” is nothing short of a travesty, a glaring miscarriage of justice that reeks of political vendetta. The Crown’s audacious demand for seven- and eight-year prison sentences for these non-violent organizers — who, let’s be clear, worked daily with police to manage the protest and never incited violence — is an infuriating overreach. To add insult to injury, former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s steadfast refusal to even meet with the convoy organizers throughout the protest, underscores the government’s contempt for dialogue with its own citizens. This is not justice; it’s a deliberate attempt to crush dissent and silence the voices of Western Canada.From the perspective of the West, where the Freedom Convoy found much of its support, this case is a grotesque display of Ottawa’s elitism and disdain for ordinary Canadians. The convoy was a raw, unfiltered cry from people who felt ignored, marginalized, and steamrolled by draconian government policies. Lich and Barber, far from being criminals, were amplifying the frustrations of countless citizens who saw their livelihoods and freedoms eroded. .The fact that they cooperated with law enforcement daily — working to keep the protest as orderly as possible — only deepens the outrage. To slap them with a mischief conviction and then demand prison terms that rival those for violent offenders is not just disproportionate; it’s a deliberate message to anyone daring to challenge the Trudeau government: speak out, and we will bury you.Seven or eight years behind bars for organizing a protest? This is the kind of punishment you’d expect in an authoritarian regime, not a democracy.Even when viewed from Ottawa’s perspective, the Crown’s sentencing request is indefensible. Yes, the convoy disrupted the capital. Residents and businesses faced weeks of inconvenience, noise, and frustration — an undeniable hardship. But to pin the entirety of that disruption on Lich and Barber, who neither committed nor encouraged violence, is a lazy caricature of accountability. Their daily coordination with police demonstrates a clear intent to manage the protest responsibly, not to unleash chaos. Ottawa’s narrative of being “under siege” conveniently ignores this cooperation, as well as Trudeau’s refusal to engage with the organizers in any meaningful way. Instead of dialogue, the government chose escalation, invoking the Emergencies Act and now pushing for draconian sentences. Colin MacLeod is a Calgary-based aviation consultant, and author of 'The case for Alberta's Independence.'.Even those who sympathize with Ottawa’s frustrations must question whether a near-decade in prison for non-violent protest leadership is justice or just petty revenge.The mischief conviction itself is a flimsy pretext, a legal sleight-of-hand designed to criminalize protest. Counselling mischief? The term feels like a catch-all, a vague cudgel to punish those who dared to disrupt the government’s carefully curated narrative. Lich and Barber’s cooperation with police directly contradicts the idea that they were orchestrating chaos. Yet the Crown, emboldened by Trudeau’s refusal to even sit at the table with the convoy, is now demanding sentences that would see these organizers locked away for years — years! — for exercising their right to protest. This is not about accountability; it’s about sending a chilling message to every Canadian who might consider raising their voice against the state..Prime Minister Trudeau’s refusal to meet with Lich, Barber, or any convoy representatives during the protest is the rotten core of this saga. Instead of engaging with the concerns of thousands of Canadians, he dismissed them as a “fringe minority” and hid behind his security detail. This refusal to even entertain dialogue fuelled the convoy’s resolve and now casts a long shadow over the Crown’s sentencing demands. It’s hard to see this as anything but a government punishing those it refused to hear, using the courts as a bludgeon to enforce compliance.The Crown’s request for seven- and eight-year sentences for Tamara Lich and Chris Barber is an outrage, a grotesque overreach that mocks the principles of fairness and proportionality. That they face such punishment despite their non-violent leadership and active cooperation with police is a damning indictment of a justice system weaponized against dissent. Trudeau’s refusal to meet with them only deepens the sense of betrayal, confirming the government’s utter disregard for the voices it claims to represent. This case will not fade quietly — it will galvanize those who already see Ottawa as out of touch and vindictive. The scales of justice are not just uneven; they’ve been smashed to pieces. Whether the court endorses this shameful sentencing request remains to be seen, but the very fact that it’s on the table is a stain on Canadian democracy.Colin MacLeod is a Calgary-based writer.