“Freedom Convoy” leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber were both given 18-month conditional sentences Tuesday for their roles in the protest that blockaded downtown Ottawa for several weeks.
Lich and Barber were found guilty of mischief in April, while Barber was also found guilty of an additional offence of counselling others to disobey a court order.
In an Ottawa courtroom packed with Lich and Barber supporters, Justice Heather Perkins-McVey sentenced Barber to 12 months of house arrest and another six months under a strict curfew.
Lich will serve 12 months of house arrest and 3.5 months under a curfew after getting credit for days spent in custody before she was convicted.
Both have a series of exemptions associated with their house arrests allowing them to work, attend medical appointments and worship services, and run errands like getting groceries.
Justice Perkins-McVey said the Crown and defence could not have been further apart on their sentencing recommendations.
The Crown sought seven years in prison for Lich and eight years for Barber, while the defence wanted absolute discharges.
Perkins-McVey said those recommendations show political and social schisms over the pandemic persist, but said her courtroom has no place for politics.
The judge said no case exactly matched the facts of this case. She cited the mischief sentences for fellow convoy organizer Pat King and for Marco Van Huigenboss — a prominent figure in the 2022 Coutts border blockade that was associated with the broader convoy protests.
King received a 12-month conditional sentence in February, but only served three months of house arrest with credit for time served pretrial.
Van Huigenboss was sentenced to four months in jail in January.
Perkins-McVey said she took into account mitigating factors, such as the lack of criminal records and attempts to mitigate the protests’ footprint by negotiating with police. She said she also had to consider the harm the convoy protest inflicted on residents and businesses in Ottawa.
The City of Ottawa estimates the three-week protest cost it about $7 million, and cost the Ottawa Police Service an additional $55 million.
Perkins-McVey said the sentences are meant to serve as a deterrent without discouraging participation in political demonstrations. Justice Charles Hackland made similar remarks when he sentenced King.
Diane Magas, Barber’s lawyer, said the sentence was in the range of those courts have issued in similar cases.
“The judge was really clear that my client and Ms. Lich had the best intention when they came to Ottawa. It was a lawful protest,” Magas said after the sentencing. “She found that it turned into unlawful because of the blockage of the streets. That’s what the message is — protest, but don’t block streets.”
Lawrence Greenspon, Lich’s lawyer, said his client is considering an appeal of the conviction.
“In Canada, constitutionally protected freedom of speech, which encourages peaceful assembly, must prevail over the rights of property owners, the enjoyment of property,” he said. “That’s not an equal balance and that’s the primary basis that we’re considering for an appeal of conviction.”
Under the Criminal Code, mischief is defined in part as wilfully obstructing, interrupting or interfering with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property.
Lich and Barber were leaders of the protest that drew thousands of people and hundreds of trucks to downtown Ottawa in early 2022 in an effort to get all COVID-19 public health measures lifted.
The protest led to the federal government using the Emergencies Act for the first time on Feb. 14, and a multi-day police operation was launched days later to clear Ottawa’s core.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 7, 2025.
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