Final thoughts as closing arguments conclude in Tamara Lich trial

Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, the two co-accused leaders of the anti-mandate Freedom Convoy protest back in 2022 finally had the last day of their trial this past Friday.

The Crown prosecutors made their arguments on Friday, bringing a close to the longest mischief trial in Canadian history. Tamara Lich's lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, is a top criminal lawyer and has defended some of the most complex cases you could imagine — terrorists, murders, the most heinous cases — and he can't remember any running as long as this.

The government wanted to smash the Freedom Convoy, but they couldn't. So instead, they try to punish some of its leaders with the massive, unlimited resources of the state.

I think the prosecution has made this a political trial. There is no reason to have a 45-day trial for incitement to mischief. An example of this is the Ottawa bureaucrat who testified the first time I was here in person covering the trial.

He very quickly acknowledged he had never met, spoken to or had any first-hand information whatsoever about Tamara Lich. And yet he testified for an entire day, sharing his feelings on the matter.

In this case, the judge has to walk a fine line. If she's too strict with the prosecution and their shenanigans, that could theoretically give the Crown grounds for an appeal. So, I think the judge has bent over backwards for the Crown on every occasion just so there is no way the ruling is appealed. 

An important part of prosecution is that it is supposed to be in the public interest — and second is the likelihood of conviction. For this trial, much of the prosecution's case relies on five short videos showing Tamara Lich, sort of in the background of the protest.

That does not meet the test of reasonable likelihood of conviction, let alone of public interest.

And while Justin Trudeau is responsible for invoking the Emergencies Act and leaning heavily on the Ottawa mayor, the decision to prosecute is a provincial decision. So, as strange and bizarre as it sounds, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his Attorney General Doug Downey are the reason Tamara Lich is on trial.

With the closing arguments from the prosecution and defence now made, the judge says by November 26 she'll have a better idea of when a decision will be handed down. 

It's been an enormous expenditure of public resources, at least $5 million. Imagine all of the actual crimes that have been dropped while the government focuses its attention on this trial.

I'm optimistic Tamara Lich will be acquitted, along with her co-accused Chris Barber.