Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, key figures in the 2022 ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests that paralyzed Ottawa, have been handed conditional sentences, avoiding further incarceration. The duo was convicted of mischief in April after a protracted trial but were acquitted of most other charges. The protests, which saw hundreds of trucks and vehicles blockading the capital for three weeks, were a response to COVID-19 mandates and the policies of then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. The Crown had initially sought seven and eight-year prison terms for Lich and Barber, respectively, but the court opted for 18-month conditional sentences. This includes 12 months of home confinement with limited outings, followed by six months under curfew, plus 100 hours of community service. Additionally, the Crown is pursuing the seizure of Barber’s ‘Big Red’ truck, a prominent symbol of the protest, with a hearing scheduled for November. In a separate legal development, the Crown is appealing the lenient sentence given to Pat King, another protest organizer, who received three months of house arrest despite prosecutors pushing for a decade-long sentence. The protests, which began in February 2022, were triggered by a federal vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers and were eventually quelled when Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, marking its first use in Canadian history. The act empowered law enforcement to dismantle the blockades and imposed restrictions on public gatherings.