{"id":90835,"date":"2025-07-25T07:52:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T07:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/90835\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T07:52:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T07:52:13","slug":"tamara-lichs-lawyer-seeks-absolute-discharge-as-sentencing-hearing-for-ottawa-convoy-organizers-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/90835\/","title":{"rendered":"Tamara Lich\u2019s lawyer seeks absolute discharge as sentencing hearing for Ottawa convoy organizers ends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich walks to the courthouse with her lawyer Lawrence Greenspon for a sentencing hearing in Ottawa on Wednesday.Blair Gable\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Tamara Lich, the central organizer of the 2022 convoy demonstrations<\/a> in Ottawa, never advocated for violence or unlawfulness, her lawyer told a courtroom.<\/p>\n

A two-day sentencing hearing for Ms. Lich and fellow convoy organizer Chris Barber<\/a>, which wrapped up on Thursday in Ottawa, is the latest chapter in the fallout from protests that took place more than three years ago. <\/p>\n

In the winter of 2022, scores of protesters descended onto the city\u2019s downtown, stating opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates<\/a>. The demonstrations marked a significant moment in the pandemic and pushback to federal stipulations regarding Canadians inoculations against the virus, such as needing proof of vaccination to board an airplane.<\/p>\n

The protests also drew in anti-government demonstrators.<\/p>\n

The Crown is seeking seven years in prison for Ms. Lich and eight for Mr. Barber because he faces an additional conviction for counselling others to disobey a court order. Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey is scheduled to deliver sentencing decisions on Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

This April, Ms. Lich and Mr. Barber were convicted of mischief<\/a> for their roles in the demonstration. Justice Perkins-McVey said she reached her decision because Mr. Barber and Ms. Lich encouraged people to join or stay at the protest while knowing the adverse effects on downtown Ottawa businesses and residents. <\/p>\n

Lawrence Greenspon, a veteran Ottawa defence lawyer who represents Ms. Lich, told court Thursday that his client asked demonstrators to come to Ottawa and stay in their fight against vaccine mandates. Her intention was clear, he said. <\/p>\n

Ms. Lich took \u201cunprecedented\u201d efforts to work with Ottawa Police to lessen the impact of the protest, he said. His team wants an absolute discharge, considered the lowest sentence. It does not carry conditions such as a probation order and means the conclusion of an individual\u2019s case. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe spent 49 days in jail for the offence of mischief,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no reason for her not to receive an absolute discharge.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Thursday proceedings, Mr. Greenspon became visibly emotional and told reporters outside of the courtroom that he was thinking about how Ms. Lich and Mr. Barber stood up for what they believed in, and how many thousands of Canadians were not able to do so at that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose people were inspired,\u201d he said, adding that his client came to the city with the \u201cbest of intentions.\u201d She has already been under strict bail conditions for three and a half years, he added.<\/p>\n

Mr. Barber\u2019s lawyer, Diane Magas, is also seeking an absolute discharge. She told court Wednesday that the sentence sought by the Crown is excessive, unfit and unduly harsh.<\/p>\n

At the outset of proceedings, assistant prosecutor Siobhain Wetscher said the convoy was not peaceful and went well beyond a legitimate protest. Their actions were organized, deliberate and sustained, she said.<\/p>\n

The Ottawa convoy led to big-rig trucks being parked on several downtown streets for more than three weeks in the winter of 2022 and spurred the city to declare a state of emergency<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The mayor at the time, Jim Watson, said additional police personnel were required to quell what he called an \u201cinsurrection<\/a> that the Ottawa Police is not able to contain.\u201d Despite calls from the city and police to leave the area, countless protesters dug in. <\/p>\n

In what he described as a \u201clast resort,\u201d then-prime minister Justin Trudeau announced on Feb. 14, 2022, that he would invoke the never-before-used Emergencies Act<\/a>, two days after a majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted to authorize the emergency measures.<\/p>\n

The act granted authorities extraordinary powers, including the ability to allow banks to freeze personal and corporate bank accounts without court orders. The move was decried by convoy supporters, the federal Conservatives and civil-liberties organizations.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 23, the government lifted the Emergencies Act after a massive police effort to dislodge protesters and many trucks and other vehicles in Ottawa used as street blockades. <\/p>\n

An Ontario Court of Appeal judge who served as commissioner of a public inquiry into the act\u2019s use \u2013 which is automatically triggered when the law is used \u2013 said its invocation was appropriate. Justice Paul Rouleau said in February, 2023, that he did not come to this conclusion easily because he did not \u201cconsider the factual basis for it to be overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January, 2024, the Federal Court ruled that the federal government acted unreasonably and was not legally justified<\/a> in its decision to invoke the act. A month later, the government said in a statement <\/a>that while it respects the independent judiciary, it did not agree with the decision and would appeal it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich walks to the courthouse with her lawyer Lawrence…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":90836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2147,50,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-90835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114912791270116592","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}