Chris Barber, a major figure of the 2022 “Freedom Convoy,” has been handed a conditional sentence that avoids future jail time.
Barber was found guilty of mischief and counselling others to disobey a court order earlier this year.
On Tuesday, he was given an 18-month conditional sentence that will see him serve 12 months at home with limited outings, then six months under a curfew. He will also have to serve 100 hours of community service.
Fellow convoy leader Tamara Lich has yet to be sentenced. The pair are in court in Ottawa for sentencing following sentencing hearings in July.
Crown prosecutor Siobhain Wetscher previously asked Justice Heather Perkins-McVey to impose extraordinary sentences — eight years’ imprisonment for Barber and seven for Lich — arguing that such heavy penalties would reflect the profound impact the two had on the public during the protests they led in Ottawa.
That winter, Lich and Barber encouraged thousands of protesters to park their vehicles in the city’s downtown core, causing gridlock for weeks. They also raised millions of dollars to protest against the federal Liberal government’s COVID-19 mandates.
The federal government eventually invoked the Emergencies Act to clear the protests.
Lawyers for Lich and Barber called for an absolute discharge, with Barber’s lawyer Diane Magas saying an eight-year sentence would be “abusive.”
A discharge would mean no criminal record and no additional jail time for Lich, who has already been imprisoned for 19 days, plus another 30 for a breach of her bail conditions.
In July, Lich’s lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said his client enjoyed widespread public support.
“They stood up for thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of people, who believed that their human dignity and freedoms had been compromised by government-mandated vaccinations,” Greenspon said at the time.
Lich came to Ottawa with “the best of intentions,” he said.
Tamara Lich. centre, arrives at the Ottawa Courthouse for sentencing Tuesday. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Speaking on Monday, Greenspon told CBC he and Lich were “cautiously optimistic,” though he remained unsure of how the judge would rule.
“It’s very much up in the air,” he said, saying his client is “very much looking forward to having this ended.”