'Freedom Convoy' organizers were not in criminal cahoots: defence

Tamara Lich arrives at the courthouse in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA — "Freedom Convoy" organizer Tamara Lich wasn't part of any conspiracy to break the law when she helped organize a massive protest against pandemic restrictions in Ottawa, her lawyers argued in her criminal trial on Tuesday.

The Crown alleges Lich and fellow organizer Chris Barber, who owns a Saskatchewan trucking business, were in cahoots to block roads and disrupt locals in a bid to pressure the federal government to drop COVID-19 vaccine mandates in 2022.

The two are co-accused of mischief, intimidation and counselling others to break the law. If the Crown's conspiracy argument holds up, the evidence against Barber would also apply to Lich.

They were both among a group of organizers behind the Freedom Convoy protest, which brought thousands of people to Ottawa for a three-week demonstration that ended only after a massive police operation.

The two rode to Ottawa together in Barber's truck, which he affectionally calls "Big Red," and were part of the corporation set up to handle donations to the protest effort.

They posted videos with messages to fellow protesters regularly on social media throughout their journey to the capital and in the weeks that followed.

But the evidence before the court suggests Barber was far more present and vocal about what was happening on the streets of Ottawa, Lich's lawyer Eric Granger said in his final arguments Tuesday.

There's also "very little evidence of contact or interplay between the two of them," he said.

The Crown has highlighted a particular text exchange between the two to illustrate their allegation.

On Jan. 30, 2022, Lich texted Barber to ask him to head over with her to the "command centre."

"They have a strategy to gridlock the city. I don’t want to make those decisions on my own," Lich told Barber.

Granger said while the text suggests a decision needed to be made and that Lich had the authority to make it, it doesn't mean she was part of the strategy, or that she agreed with it.

The other problem with the Crown's theory, Granger said, is that the goal the pair was allegedly conspiring to achieve — the lifting of government vaccine mandates and restrictions — is not inherently illegal.

It's far more common for prosecutors to use the conspiracy allegation, known as a Carter application, in murder or drug trafficking cases where the goal itself is illegal, he said.

That means in this case, the Crown must prove that the means the two organizers used to achieve their goal was illegal, he said.

He argues there's little evidence linking Lich to any acts of mischief that played out during the protest, other than her encouraging people to come to Ottawa to protest.

The Crown has argued that Lich told protesters to "hold the line" and to come to Ottawa after residents of the city were overwhelmed for weeks by the noise, smells, crowds and blocked streets.

In final arguments, the Crown said Lich "crossed the line" into illegal activity.

In court Tuesday, Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said the meaning of "hold the line" can change from one situation to the next and it would be reasonable to think that, at least in some contexts, it means "be true to your values."

"And that’s the difficult thing," Granger said. "It’s simply not clear."

Granger's arguments are part of final submissions in a trial that began in September 2023. It was supposed to end the next month, but has dragged on far longer than expected.

Lich's legal team is scheduled to continue its final arguments on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2024