OttawaTamara Lich and Chris Barber, two major figures of the 2022 “Freedom Convoy,” have been handed conditional sentences and spared further jail time.Guilty of mischief, both will spend a year at home with limited freedomCBC News · Posted: Oct 07, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago’Freedom Convoy’ leaders Chris Barber, Tamara Lich given conditional sentencesThey will spend 12 months at home with five hours’ leave per week, followed by a six-month curfew. Lich is being given credit for the 19 days she initially spent in jail, and for another 30 days she spent in custody after breaching her bail conditions.Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, two major figures of the 2022 “Freedom Convoy,” have been handed conditional sentences and spared further jail time.Barber was found guilty of mischief and counselling others to disobey a court order earlier this year, while Lich was found guilty of mischief. Both were found not guilty on several other counts.On Tuesday, each was given an 18-month conditional sentence: Twelve months at home with limited outings per week, followed by six months under a 10 p.m. curfew.Lich is being given credit for the 19 days she initially spent in jail, and for another 30 days she spent in custody after breaching her bail conditions.Barber and Lich will each have to serve 100 hours of community service.Tamara Lich leaves the Ottawa Courthouse after getting a conditional sentence in her trial with fellow Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber on Tuesday. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)Lich’s lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said they’re still considering whether to appeal her conviction.”The main objective was to make sure she didn’t spend one more day in jail, and that was achieved,” he told reporters outside the courthouse.Barber’s defence lawyer Diane Magas said her client respects the judge’s decision and considers it reasonable, adding it was more or less the sentence they expected.Barber gets into a vehicle as he leaves the Ottawa Courthouse on Tuesday. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)Crown sought years in prisonThe 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. Magas said at the time an eight-year sentence would have been “abusive.”A discharge would have meant no criminal record for Lich.
‘Freedom Convoy’ leaders Tamara Lich, Chris Barber given conditional sentences
