Chris Barber, right, arrives at the courthouse in Ottawa for trial, on Sept. 13.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The defence of Ottawa truck convoy organizer Chris Barber played video of former Newfoundland premier Brian Peckford in court on Thursday in which the past politician spoke about freedom and Charter rights during demonstrations in early 2022.
Mr. Barber’s legal team wants to paint a more peaceful picture of their client, who is on trial for a series of criminal charges, along with fellow truck convoy organizer Tamara Lich.
Mr. Barber and Ms. Lich have been charged with obstruction of police, mischief and intimidation, as well as one charge of counselling for each of those three offences. In addition, Mr. Barber faces a charge of counselling others to disobey a court order.
The pair’s charges stem from their organization of a protest that saw big rig trucks bring traffic in downtown Ottawa to a standstill at the end of January, 2022. The vehicles remained in place for more than three weeks despite calls from police to vacate the area. Ultimately, officers had to move on protesters, in one of the biggest police responses in Canadian history.
Mr. Barber’s defence played a video in court from Feb. 14, 2022, in which Mr. Peckford could be heard stating “hold the line.”
The words “hold the line” are considered central to the trial. The Crown has described them as the rallying call of Mr. Barber and Ms. Lich.
Speaking to reporters outside of the courthouse, defence lawyer Diane Magas said videos with Mr. Peckford are considered “very significant.” Mr. Peckford was involved in a process in the 1980s that lead to the Constitution Act of 1982.
“There’s different interpretations for the words ‘hold the line,’” she said.
Ms. Magas said Mr. Peckford’s presence in Ottawa lends legitimacy to the demonstrations, as well as showing the lawfulness of them. She said part of the defence of her client will include a look at the state of mind of the demonstrators in Ottawa.
Ms. Magas also said videos show Mr. Barber repeatedly calling for other demonstrators to remain peaceful.
Another lawyer representing Mr. Barber, Marwa Younes, played a video from Mr. Barber’s TikTok account from Feb. 3, 2022, in which Mr. Barber said an individual who burned the Canadian flag can “go home” and added: “We don’t need you here.”
TikTok videos were played in court as part of the cross-examination of Ottawa Police Sergeant Joanne Pilotte, a Crown witness.
Another video from Feb. 5, 2022, shows Mr. Barber walking near Parliament Hill. In it, he points to people making “warm food” and states “this is love.” Mr. Barber also said in the recording that the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe had “messed up.”
Millions of dollars were collected for the Ottawa truck convoy through GoFundMe in early 2022. The platform later cancelled the campaign. The online fundraising platform has since confirmed it returned all funds to the donors.
Earlier this week, a series of videos from Mr. Barber’s TikTok account collected by Sgt. Pilotte were played in court. Some of the content included Mr. Barber’s and Ms. Lich’s arrests.
At present, all of the recordings are considered part of a voir dire – a trial within a trial – to determine whether they will become admissible as evidence.
Throughout proceedings, prosecutors plan to argue Mr. Barber and Ms. Lich not only told supporters to “hold the line” during demonstrations in Ottawa last year, but that they “crossed the line” and committed crimes.
Ms. Lich’s and Mr. Barber’s defence teams reject this and say their clients participated in peaceful protest.
Kristy Kirkup