STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.

Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber to face trial in September 2023

Aug 30, 2022 | 9:44 AM

OTTAWA — Two of the main “Freedom Convoy” organizers, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, are expected to face trial in September 2023 for charges related to the massive protest that gridlocked downtown Ottawa earlier this year.

The protesters blocked roads with big rigs and other vehicles for three weeks as the city fell into what many officials have described a state of “lawlessness.”

Lich and Barber were both arrested the day before hundreds of police officers in tactical gear moved in to remove the protesters from the roads around Parliament Hill in February. 

The pair have been co-accused of mischief, obstructing police, and counselling others to commit mischief and intimidation.

The trial is expected to start at the beginning of September next year and last about 16 days. 

Lich and Barber have been released on bail with strict instructions not to communicate with each other or with other convoy organizers unless under the supervision of their lawyers. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 30, 2022. 

The Canadian Press