Die Anführer des „Freedom Convoy“ Tamara Lich und Chris Barber wurden zu bedingten Haftstrafen verurteilt

* conditional sentence of 18 months less time already spent in custody – works out to 15.5 months

* first 12 months: house arrest, except to and from court, medical emergencies, appointments, religious service

* 5 hours a week for shopping

* Allowance to go to her coming grandchild’s birth

* remaining 3.5 months curfew between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. except for medical emergencies

* 100 hours community service

Certainly not the custodial sentence the Crown was asking for, though I don’t think there was ever any chance a prison sentence would be upheld on appeal for what she was convicted of. Precedent here is almost exclusively conditional sentences, house confinement or fine + community service.

If anything, these conditions are likely on the more severe side of the possible spectrum.

The crown pushed for almost a decade of jail time and spent millions in taxpayer funds to support their vindictive prosecution, which in the end was thoroughly repudiated by the judge.

For organizing a peaceful protest, Lich & Barber were dragged through the courts for years and subjected to huge legal costs and were unable to live their lives and work as normal.

Their treatment at the hands of the government has been completely disproportionate relative to other incidents, such as the railway blockade in 2020, CUPE’s blockade of major ports in 2024, or the violent and destructive attack on the Coastal Gas site in Feb 2022, which injured RCMP and caused millions in damage. Nobody has even faced a judge for any of those crimes.

Clearly, the greatest crime Lich & Barber committed was opposition to the state. 18 months conditional sentence is still too high for mere words like „hold the line“, but thankfully the state was not able to completely destroy them and intimidate any future protests against them.