Court to consider whether Lich, Barber were co-conspirators at end of trial

The judge in the criminal trial of two Freedom Convoy organizers has dismissed a defence application and agreed to consider arguments that the two accused acted as co-conspirators.

Following an extended break, Chris Barber and Tamara Lich returned to court virtually on Thursday to resume their trial.

They're charged with mischief, intimidation and offences related to counselling others to break the law during the protest that took over downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks in early 2022.

Their lawyers had sought to have a co-conspirator application filed by the Crown dismissed.

Prosecutors are seeking to have the two accused charged as one, with evidence applying to both.

In her decision, Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said despite a lack of direct evidence, there was enough circumstantial evidence to create an "inference of a common unlawful design." She will now consider the Crown's co-conspirator application at the end of the trial.

Justice recognizes multiple convoys

Perkins-McVey said in her decision that she recognized there were multiple convoy and various groups that came to Ottawa for different reasons, including some who were not influenced by Barber and Lich.

But she also pointed to evidence that Barber and Lich were "part of the leadership" of the Freedom Convoy, held press conferences and raised money.

She said there's evidence the two leaders "looked for ways to distribute money to truckers on the ground" so protesters could "inferentially continue their stay in Ottawa, and lock the streets."

"These are the inferences that can be drawn, and that they mandated others to remain in Ottawa until the COVID mandates are removed, or the demands of the Freedom Convoy met," her decision reads.

The trial is expected to continue with the defence likely presenting its case later this month, possibly as soon as March 13.

Tamara Lich arrives for her trial at the Ottawa Courthouse on Sept. 19, 2023. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Slow-moving trial

Already, the trial has stretched well beyond the original 16-day schedule.

Arrested Feb. 17, 2022 — one day before police started clearing downtown streets of people protesting COVID-19 rules and airing anti-government grievances — Lich and Barber started their trial Sept. 5.

Meant to decide whether — and if so, how — the two should be punished for their role in the weeks-long protest that clogged the city's core and shook residents, the trial has been slowed by legal wrangling, technical delays, unprepared witnesses and issues over how police evidence was disclosed.

Defence lawyers have argued throughout the trial Lich and Barber worked with police and city officials, and stayed peaceful during their time in Ottawa.

Barber, from Swift Current, Sask., was released a day after entering custody.

Lich, from Medicine Hat, Alta., spent 49 days in jail spread across two stints. The first followed her initial arrested, and the second followed her arrest on a Canada-wide warrant for violating her bail conditions.

Chris Barber arrives for a trial date at the Ottawa Courthouse on Nov. 3, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Pair 'crossed the line,' Crown says

Crown prosecutors Tim Radcliffe and Siobhain Wetscher argued the case is not about Lich and Barber's political views, but instead how they "crossed the line" in committing the crimes they're accused of.

They used police and resident testimony, hours of video evidence, mountains of social media content and text messages to argue the two accused had control and influence over the protests.

Once the trial ends, the judge has up to six months to make her decision. A guilty finding for a mischief charge can carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.