Sentencing decision for convoy leaders Tamara Lich, Chris Barber expected Oct. 7

Tamara Lich's lawyer urged the judge to consider the "positive things" that came from the convoy occupation of downtown Ottawa in early 2022 as sentencing hearings wrapped up on Thursday.

While Justice Heather Perkins-McVey acknowledged the protest "galvanized" many, she noted others had a very different experience during the protest. She held off on a sentencing decision, which is now scheduled for Oct. 7.

• Crown seeking 8 years for convoy leader Chris Barber, 7 for Tamara Lich

Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon admitted he got emotional as he defended Lich. He seemed to choke up as he quoted from what he said were hundreds of pages of letters of support for his client, and said the protest changed lives.

"They stood up for thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of people, who believed that their human dignity and freedoms had been compromised by government-mandated vaccinations," he said.

The Crown has argued that the protest had a profoundly negative impact on the city, costing millions of dollars in business losses and for the police response, while overwhelming downtown residents with weeks of incessant honking, exhaust fumes and general disorder.

The Crown is asking for seven years for Lich and eight for Barber, who was convicted in April of mischief and counselling others to disobey a court order. Lich was found guilty of mischief alone.

Lich had 'best of intentions,' Greenspon says

Greenspon's legal team said such a sentence is almost without precedent, claiming only one mischief case has earned such a penalty. That offender shut down a large swathe of Quebec's power grid in a case with few if any mitigating factors.

But Greenspon said there are many mitigating factors for Lich. He said she came to Ottawa with "the best of intentions" and never called for violence or lawlessness. Instead, Greenspon argued, she tried to work with police to lessen the protest's impact on the city.

The defence contrasted that with the case of Pat King, another prominent convoy figure, casting him as someone who celebrated the gridlock caused by the convoy and resisted efforts to move trucks out of residential areas.

King got a three-month conditional sentence, plus credit for time served.

Greenspon said Lich has spent enough time in jail: Nineteen days plus another 30 for a breach of her bail conditions. In his view, those conditions were punishment enough, with many lasting three and a half years.

Like Barber's lawyer, he called for an absolute discharge. That would mean no additional jail time for Lich, and no criminal record.