The longest “mischief” trial in Canadian history finally concluded on Tuesday with Chris Barber and Tamara Lich receiving much lighter sentences than the crown had asked for, but in my opinion, far harsher than justice demanded:
One of the readers at Small Dead Animals got a clanker to summarize this: “Regarding the convictions of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, compare their trials and sentences to leftwing protesters who have openly and violently broken laws in Canada.”
In comparison, left-wing protesters in Canada involved in violent or disruptive actions — such as anti-pipeline blockades (often tied to environmental and Indigenous rights causes) or Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations against racism and police violence — have typically faced shorter trials and lighter sentences for similar or more destructive offenses. These cases often involve civil disobedience escalating to property damage, blockades, or clashes with police, but convictions emphasize non-violent intent or police misconduct, leading to minimal incarceration.
Overall, Lich and Barber’s cases drew unusually aggressive prosecution (e.g., multi-year sentences sought) despite no violence, contrasting with lighter outcomes for left-wing actions involving property destruction or direct confrontations. This disparity has fueled debates on selective enforcement, though courts in both contexts prioritize deterrence while considering protest motivations.
Unlike a lot of clanker slop, that is pretty fair. More reactions on the social media site formerly known as Twitter:
In the Toronto Sun, Joe Warmington accurately calls it a “show trial of sorts”:
Even though this is far better than making these two go to prison or jail, these are still stiff sentencing considering neither were violent during the Convoy and both worked with police to tone things down during the three week protest that came to an end when the Trudeau government invoked the Emergencies Act.
But this was a show trial of sorts, and Lich and Barber were political prisoners. Remember, both of these people have had the hardship of waiting 1,328 days through the longest mischief trial in Canadian history to get to this point. They had their bank accounts frozen during the convoy, Lich lost her job and Barber’s business is at risk of going under. A hearing is scheduled for next month in an effort to seize his famous “Big Red” truck.
It’s also lost on few that so many criminals with far more serious crimes have received far less in terms of length of trial, effort of the Crown and sentencing.
These are certainly stiffer sentences than some parliamentarians have received. For example, in 2021, Former Liberal Kitchener South-Hespeler MP Marwan Tabbara was handed a conditional discharge and put on probation for three years after his guilty plea was entered for two charges of assault on a man and a woman in Guelph. He also pleaded guilty to the amended charge of “unlawfully” being “in a dwelling” or home.
Conservative Sen. Patrick Brazeau was given an absolute discharge in 2015 on his guilty plea to assault and narcotics counts, which allowed him not to serve time or gain a criminal record. But while they did avoid jail time, Lich and Barber did get the book thrown at them harder than most.
Update, 9 October: Welcome, Instapundit readers! Please do have a look around at some of my other posts you may find of interest. I send out a daily summary of posts here through my Substack – https://substack.com/@nicholasrusson that you can subscribe to if you’d like to be informed of new posts in the future.
[…] OH, CANADA! Sentenced for their role in the largest peaceful demonstration in Canadian history. […]
Pingback by Instapundit » Blog Archive » OH, CANADA! Sentenced for their role in the largest peaceful demonstration in Canadian history. — October 9, 2025 @ 03:00
How can we help Barber and Lich?
Comment by Barbara Bradley — October 9, 2025 @ 08:32
Unless (until?) one or both begin an appeal against the sentences, I don’t think there’s anything you can do for them personally. Be aware that the federal government got the initial crowdfunding effort stopped (and the organization (GoFundMe) then announced that the millions in donations intended for the Convoy would instead be given to “more deserving” causes). The second organization (GiveSendGo) at least managed to resist government pressure for a while. The feds really didn’t want any support going to the truckers and I suspect the same would happen to any individual donations for legal challenges.
Comment by Nicholas — October 9, 2025 @ 10:14
Just saw a report that Tamara Lich will be appealing, so I imagine there’ll be a fundraiser to help her with legal costs. I’ll post if I see anything definite.
Comment by Nicholas — October 10, 2025 @ 10:20