Organizers of the “Freedom Convoy” are expected to testify at the public inquiry into the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act beginning today.
The witnesses are expected to shed light on the conception of the weeks-long demonstrations that paralyzed the streets of Ottawa last winter.
Several of the protest organizers, including Tamara Lich, Chris Barber and Pat King, face criminal charges related to their participation.
Barber is expected to be the first to testify.
The investigation is looking into the events that led to the federal government’s declaration of an emergency on February 14, weeks after demonstrations brought downtown Ottawa to a standstill and spread to border blockades elsewhere.
So far it has painted a picture of confusion and chaos between police forces and levels of government as officials try to figure out how to respond.
By all accounts to date, the idea for the convoy to Ottawa appears to have been inspired by a TikTok video of two truckers.
Brigitte Belton, who is expected to testify after Barber, was one of the first people to conceive of the idea.
Barber was one of the early organizers, driving from his home in Saskatchewan to Ottawa in January, with Lich at his side for much of the trip.
The two are co-charged with criminal mischief, obstructing police and advising others to commit mischief and intimidation for their actions during the protest.
Protesters began arriving in Ottawa on January 28 to express their anger and opposition to the federal government and COVID-19 restrictions, including vaccination mandates.
The protest quickly turned into what police and government officials described as a full-on occupation, with protesters blocking traffic, honking truck horns and camping out on city streets.
The area outside of Parliament Hill was only cleared weeks later, after Ottawa invoked the federal Emergency Act on February 14.
Hearings of the Public Order Emergency Commission began in mid-October and are expected to continue until the end of November.
Lich has attended most of the hearings, sitting in a public viewing area with friends and a small handful of supporters. Barber arrived in Ottawa last week and briefly attended one of the hearings.
On Monday night, the commission said it intends to call Jeremy MacKenzie, the founder of the online group “Diagolon,” to testify via videoconference on Friday.
MacKenzie was present at the protests in Ottawa and the group includes other members who supported the convoy.
MacKenzie’s attorney filed a request with the commission asking him to testify in the absence of the public and the parties or under a publication ban and saying his presence in Ottawa last winter was “lawful and peaceful.”
He is currently in a Saskatchewan prison and was denied release earlier this month after being arrested in Nova Scotia on a Canada-wide warrant.
He was charged with assault, pointing a firearm, mischief and reckless use of a restricted weapon after police received a report of an alleged assault near Viscount, Sask., in November 2021.
MacKenzie was also charged in Nova Scotia with 13 firearms offenses in January and harassment and intimidation in March after an anti-mask protest outside the home of Nova Scotia’s medical director of health.