Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber fighting to stop Crown seizing his 'Big Red' truck
A Freedom Convoy organizer is fighting the Crown’s attempt to seize his bright red big rig, which was used in the 2022 protest.
As Swift Current, Sask., trucker Chris Barber waits to hear if he’ll be sentenced to prison time for his role in the convoy protest, which filled downtown Ottawa for three weeks beginning in late January 2022 to challenge vaccine mandates and other pandemic measures, he is also fighting the Crown’s forfeiture application to take Big Red, his 2004 Kenworth long-haul truck, valued at more than $150,000.
“It is Mr. Barber’s position that he followed the instruction of the police as to where to park Big Red and that he moved Big Red at the request of the police when it was safely feasible for him to do so, as such Big Red was not used in the commission of the offence of mischief,” according to court documents filed in the trucker’s case that argue against forfeiture.
If Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey finds the truck was used to commit mischief, Barber’s lawyer argues seizing Big Red would be disproportionate to the crime.
“It would amount to, in my opinion, cruel and unusual punishment,” his lawyer, Diane Magas, said Friday, noting replacing the truck would cost $300,000 or more.
If the judge sentences Barber to prison time and he loses his truck, “that would be a really harsh financial hardship for him and his family,” Magas said.
Taking his truck would be “totally out of proportion” to the mischief caused, she said, noting Barber uses it to feed his family.
“Now his son is also driving, and he has a couple of employees that sometimes drive it, too, so it’s a legitimate source of business for himself, his family and his employees,” Magas said.
Taking away Barber’s truck would cause his family “extreme financial difficulties,” she said.
“That truck’s been part of his family for over 20 years. His children grew up in that truck. One of his dogs died in the truck. He had wedding pictures by the side of the truck. So, that truck is part of the family. It was named Big Red by his children when they were younger.”
Magas did not want her client to conduct an interview Friday. But in a video distributed by The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which has been supporting his defence, Barber takes people on a tour of his truck that’s painted with the word “Canada” and several white maple leaf logos.
in the video.
The seats in the cab are well-worn, he points out, as is the steering wheel. “It’s been my home for the better part of 22 years.”
The collar of Barber’s late dog, Buddy, hangs from Big Red’s ceiling. “The dog traveled with me for the better part of 17 years.”
Magas presented evidence in court this week that the truck is owned by C.B. Trucking Limited, which her client co-owns with his son. Barber’s adult daughter also works for the same outfit.
The company has other trucks, but the only other vehicle that’s suitable for longer runs has been in an accident and is out of commission, and the others are only suitable for short hauls, said his lawyer.
On top of that, Barber’s parents lent his company $50,000 in 2022 to buy another truck, using Big Red as security for the loan, she said.
Magas said she only knows of the Crown going after one other truck that was involved in a protest a few months after the convoy, in the spring of 2022. But that forfeiture application was dismissed, she said.
Final arguments in the forfeiture hearing are scheduled for Nov. 26.
Barber is slated to be sentenced Oct. 7.
The Crown is seeking stiff sentences for Barber, 50, and fellow Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich, who was also convicted of mischief, arguing the protest caused broad community harm. Prosecutors have argued Barber — who was also found guilty of counselling others to disobey a court order related to an injunction against protesters honking truck horns — should get eight years in prison, and Lich should get seven.
“There’s a great divide between the two sides,” Magas said Friday. “There are citizens of Ottawa that really took it to heart and felt interfered with and still some have a hatred. He’s got death threats. I’ve got emails from people that were very hateful to me as a lawyer for him. I’ve been a criminal lawyer for over 30 years, defended a lot of different types of crimes much worse than this, and never got that type of attention and hatred from regular people.”
Others, she said, hail the protesters, including Barber, as heroes.
Magas has argued for absolute discharge for her client because he’s been out on bail without incident for the last three-and-a-half years. That decision would mean Barber would not receive a criminal record.
“Mr. Barber has to cross into the United States for his work purposes,” Magas said.
If he had a criminal record, he might be turned away at the border, she said. Truckers can apply for waivers, but that can take up to a year, Magas said. “So that would definitely effect his business — his ability to earn an income for his family.”
Magas said that if Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey decides a criminal record is necessary, she wants to see Barber receive a suspended or conditional sentence that would allow him to live at home and work.
Blocking roads, creating noise and fumes were all considered part of the mischief, she said.
The convoy protest ended after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time ever. The convoy was cleared out of Ottawa’s downtown core in a three-day police operation that began on Feb. 18, 2022.
Police asked Barber to move his truck on Saturday Feb. 5, 2022, but he didn’t do it until the following Tuesday, said his lawyer.
“For safety reasons, he couldn’t move it right away because the Saturday was really, really packed with people and there was other trucks around,” Magas said.
Along with other truckers, Barber took Big Red to a rural staging area about 45 kilometres outside of Ottawa, she said. “He went there with his truck and didn’t come back to Ottawa downtown,” she said.
Perkins-McVey said in her April decision that she found Lich and Barber guilty of mischief because they routinely encouraged people to join or remain at the protest, despite knowing the adverse effects it was having on downtown residents and businesses.
Convoy organizer Pat King was sentenced this past February for mischief and disobeying a court order. The Crown sought a sentence of 10 years in prison for King but he was sentenced to three months of house arrest, 100 hours of community service at a food bank or men’s shelter and a year of probation. He received nine months’ credit for time served before his conviction.
The Ottawa Police Service has reported policing the protest cost $55 million, while the City of Ottawa pegged its own convoy-related costs at over $7 million.
Both Lich and Barber were found not guilty on charges of intimidation, counselling to commit intimidation, obstructing police and counselling others to obstruct police.
Both were arrested without incident and were in custody before the main police operation began to clear downtown Ottawa.
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