OTTAWA — “Freedom Convoy” leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber were both given 18-month conditional sentences 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 today, Justice Heather Perkins-McVey sentenced Barber to 12 months of house arrest and another six months abiding by 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.
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.
David Baxter, The Canadian Press
