Will Chris Barber be jailed for peacefully protesting?

Court to decide soon

OTTAWA, ON: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that a decision on Chris Barber’s Stay of Proceedings Application—which, if granted, would halt the Crown’s proposal that Mr. Barber be imprisoned for two years or more—could arrive as early as Friday, May 23, 2025.

The hearing is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. in Room 5 at the Ottawa Courthouse from Wednesday to Friday, May 21 to 23, 2025.

Mr. Barber’s legal team will argue that he followed the advice of officials and the police in good faith during the protest and that the charges should be stayed despite his conviction for mischief and for counselling others to breach a court order on April 3, 2025.

In court documents submitted to the judge, the Crown claims that there is no merit to Mr. Barber’s Application and that it should be thrown out. The Crown argues that he knowingly broke the law during the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest. The Crown is also demanding that Mr. Barber’s primary source of income, his 2004 Kenworth long haul truck, called “Big Red,” be seized and forfeited to His Majesty the King.

If Justice Heather Perkins-McVey of the Ontario Court of Justice grants the Application, sentencing would not proceed, and the charges would be stayed. Mr. Barber is expected to testify on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, to explain the official advice he followed.

Diane Magas, Mr. Barber’s lawyer, explained that an “officially induced error defence” is rarely used but that it is an appropriate defence in the particular circumstances of this case.

Mr. Barber is a trucker from Saskatchewan and a central figure in the 2022 Freedom Convoy. The grassroots Freedom Convoy protest began in January 2022 as a response to federal and provincial Covid vaccine mandates, particularly those affecting cross-border truckers. As mandates increasingly tied Canadians’ ability to work, travel, and participate in public life to their vaccination status, frustration grew among those who felt sidelined for exercising their right to bodily autonomy. What started as a convoy of trucks rolling toward Ottawa quickly grew into a broader national demonstration, drawing thousands of supporters from across the country.

“To imprison a man who sought and followed legal advice would bring the administration of justice into disrepute,” stated John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre. “Mr. Barber consistently followed the legal advice that he received from police officers, lawyers, and a Superior Court judge.”

A sentencing hearing will proceed at a later date, only if the Stay of Proceedings Application should fail.