Poilievre rips Crown’s demand that Lich and Barber serve up to 8 years in prison

Poilievre criticized Canada’s justice system over the potential seven and eight-year prison sentences sought by Crown prosecutors for Freedom Convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized Canada’s justice system over the potential seven and eight-year prison sentences sought by Crown prosecutors for Freedom Convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.

In a post to X on Monday, Poilievre criticized Canadian courts for what he viewed as a blatant double standard—where violent criminals and extremists are let off easy, while peaceful demonstrators like Lich and Barber face years in prison.

“Let’s get this straight,” Poilievre wrote. “While rampant violent offenders are released hours after their most recent charges & antisemitic rioters vandalize businesses, terrorize daycares & block traffic without consequences, the Crown wants 7 years prison time for the charge of mischief for Lich & Barber. How is this justice?”

Poilievre’s comments follow a post by Lich, who revealed on X that Crown prosecutors are seeking seven-year sentences for her on a charge of misfire and an eight-year sentence for Barber on mischief and a charge of counselling others to disobey an order.

Earlier this year, an Ontario court found Lich and Barber not guilty of most of the charges filed against them. An Ontario Superior Court judge struck down four charges related to obstruction of police and intimidation for both protest leaders.

The Crown’s demands stand in stark contrast to the lenient treatment often given by courts to repeat offenders and for violent and horrific crimes.

For his own part, Poilievre had—like the Freedom Convoy protestors themselves—previously criticized COVID pandemic mandates and government overreach.

The Freedom Convoy, which began as a protest against federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, sparked a national movement and led to the historic and unconstitutional invocation of the Emergencies Act by the Trudeau Liberal government.

Considered the “longest mischief trial in history,” the prolonged proceedings against Lich and Barber have drawn criticism for their cost, with estimates suggesting the trial has cost taxpayers several million dollars in legal and court resources.