Decision on Seizure of Freedom Convoy Organizer’s Truck to Come Friday

A judge will soon decide whether the Crown will be able to seize Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber’s truck “Big Red” that he utilized during the 2022 trucker protest.

Justice Heather Perkins-McVey will read her decision at the Ottawa Courthouse on Dec. 19. According to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which has provided funding for Barber’s legal defence, either party will be able to appeal the ruling.

Barber and fellow organizer Tamara Lich were found guilty of mischief earlier this year, and Barber was also found guilty of counselling others to disobey a court order. Perkins-McVey did not find Lich and Barber guilty of intimidation or counselling to commit intimidation, and they were also found not guilty on the charges of obstructing police.

Lich and Barber were handed 18-month conditional sentences on Oct. 7, which include the serving of house arrest, a curfew, and community service. The Crown had sought a seven-year prison sentence for Lich and an eight-year sentence for Barber. Perkins-McVey said during her sentencing on Oct. 7 that the Crown’s requested sentences would not have been “fair, appropriate or consistent with the principles of sentencing.”

Crown prosecutors are attempting to seize and auction off Barber’s truck, a 2004 Kenworth long-haul vehicle, arguing that it is offence-related property. Defence lawyers have argued that the truck is not offence-related property, and the Crown does not have jurisdiction to seize the vehicle because it failed to file a restraint order for it when Barber was arrested in February 2022.

Defence lawyer Brendan Miller also noted that the truck is no longer owned by Barber’s business, C.B. Trucking LTD, as Barber sold it to his parents’ business Springbank Farms Inc. in order to obtain collateral to buy his son a new truck. Miller said there is no jurisdiction to “set aside a transfer of property with a third party,” and Springbank Farms had no involvement in the offence.

Crown attorney Tim Radcliffe previously argued that the Criminal Code allows for courts to order forfeiture even without the property being previously seized. He also said that the returning of property to “innocent third parties” is optional, as the Criminal Code uses the phrase “may” in the context of returning property, and not the word “shall.”

Barber said in a statement given to the JCCF that he followed the directions he was given and “did everything I could to act lawfully and peacefully.” Barber’s lawyers have argued that Ottawa police directed him where to park the truck and later instructed him to move it, and he followed these instructions.

“Big Red is not just a truck to me — it is how I support my family,” Barber added.

The Crown has also filed appeals against the sentencing and acquittals of intimidation charges for Lich and Barber. The two Freedom Convoy organizers have also appealed their sentences.

Miller has also said Barber is seeking for the Crown to pay costs to Springbank Farms Inc. if the judge rules in the defence’s favour in the matter of the seizure of Barber’s truck. Miller said on Nov. 26 that the Crown showed “gross negligence” by trying to attribute “criminal state of mind or complicity state of mind to Springbank Farms Inc.”