The first organizer to take the stand was Saskatchewan-based trucker Chris Barber, who was vaccinated as a result of the federal cross-border vaccine mandate for COVID-19 and soon after became one of the original convoy organizers. After spending weeks protesting in the nation’s capital, on February 17 Barber froze his bank accounts and was arrested on multiple charges. He is expected to go on trial in September 2023, although as he said on Tuesday: “As far as I know we did everything within the law.” From describing how he felt there was a “power struggle” between various factions of protesters, to the role TikTok played in sparking Canada’s convoys and an admission that he was bothered by honking, here are some key moments from his testimony on Tuesday .
‘TOTALLY ORGANIC’
Asked to explain to the committee exactly how the Freedom Convoy came together in a “slow roll” or convoy of transport trucks to travel across Canada to Ottawa, Barber said it was “totally organic.” “Everything literally fell into place … I think it was about two weeks from the time we started talking about it to the time we actually left. It was super fast,” he said. Asked who was in charge of the event, Barber said there was not one. Although he named Brigitte Belton, Tamara Lich, Pat King and James Bauder of Canada Unity as involved from the beginning. “It was a group of organizers … We had people in every province come up, we had helpers in every province. It was everything, it just all came together.” Barber, who was part of the western convoy, later testified how truckers, coming from different directions, used radios to coordinate as they converged on the capital. “Everything was well orchestrated.”
“IT WAS A POWER STRUGGLE”
However, this “organic” muster seemed to be under some strain as the protests grew, Barber testified. Barber told the committee he was aware that some participants had come to Ottawa seeking more than an end to the COVID-19 mandates, and those competing agendas appeared to cause some friction. Barber testified that while the “core group of real truckers” stayed together, other organizations set up camp and there was a struggle for control. “It was a power struggle a lot of the time,” Barber said. He cited the Taking Back Our Freedoms and Canada Unity factions as examples. Canada Unity was a group led by Bauder, who Barber said was involved from the beginning and tried to push a “memorandum of understanding” (MOU) for the Senate and Gov. Mary Simon to join to form a committee on-demand lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates. Such a proposal is not feasible under current democratic procedures. As protests erupted and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to meet with protesters, the Memorandum of Understanding evolved, with some suggesting they try to form a coalition with opposition parties and Simon’s involvement to topple the government. Asked what his problem was with Canada Unity, Barber said he didn’t like their MoU, though he also testified he’s never read it and doesn’t plan to. Asked if he had concerns that he was advocating an undemocratic power change in Canada, Barber said he had “heard rumors from both sides.” During the protests, Barber and other protesters made efforts to distance themselves from Canada Unity as a result of the attention it was receiving. After collecting 320,000 signatures, Canada Unity withdrew the Memorandum of Understanding, saying it “does not reflect the spirit and intentions of the Freedom Parade.” And, after attention was paid to King’s suggestion that the protests would end “with bullets,” the committee heard that Barber was involved in discussions about whether King should be sent home. However, testimony showed Barber had concerns about the trucks King brought with him if he was asked to leave. “Was the concern that if Mr. King was sent home or asked not to participate, that his supporters would stop participating as well?” asked a committee lawyer. “That would be a good guess, yes,” Barber replied. Ultimately, Barber said he gave King the benefit of the doubt when media attention came, acknowledging that at one point he texted Leach that Barber had “skeletons in the closet.” That said, it was about his online behavior.
TROLLING AND THE ROLE OF TIKTOK
Barber told the committee that he “has been an internet troll for many years” and that it was common for him to juggle multiple accounts because he “would constantly get banned for posting inappropriate things or things that were against community standards.” However, Barber testified that he seemed to use the escort to “grow up” and that coming to Ottawa changed his perspective. “It was such a different crowd of people … It changed me.” During his testimony, Barber was asked about the role social media played in how he became involved in the protests and later used his platform to promote it. He testified that he first became involved after Belton approached him, via TikTok, in early January. “The communication started from there,” he said, describing how he was already using the app to post “very angry” content about the COVID-19 restrictions. Barber also testified that as he continued to use his TikTok account during the protests to both communicate with other protesters and broadcast the scene in Ottawa more broadly, his following grew from about 30,000 to 170,000. Describing the scene as “chaos”, Barber said the “only thing” he could do was make a video calling for order because they had not come to disrupt the city. But Barber’s self-described efforts to bully the protesters backfired when he came to talk about honking.
THE HORN HONKS ‘INNOCHE ME’
Barber was also asked Tuesday if he felt the incessant honking was a form of peaceful protest. Here’s what he said: “I considered honking to be a form of excitement, more than peaceful protest. I’ll be the first to admit that honking annoyed me. I did everything I could to try and stop the honking. I put out a lot of videos on a regular basis. saying ‘stop,’ especially after the court order,” he said. A lawyer for the convoy then played one of Barber’s TikTok videos showing him laughing as truck horns blared in the background.
