Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber will be able to keep his long-haul truck “Big Red” after a judge dismissed the Crown’s application to seize the vehicle used in the 2022 protest.
“The Crown’s application for the forfeiture of Big Red is denied, the court having found forfeiture of Big Red to be disproportionate,” Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said on Dec. 19.
Perkins-McVey said while the truck was used as offence-related property for the protest, forfeiture would have been disproportionate because the truck is used for Barber’s business and there is “no evidence” that Big Red will be used in future criminal offences.
“On the contrary, the evidence suggests that Big Red will continue to be used for its legitimate and intended commercial purposes as a work truck in the future, much the same way as it has been used since its purchase in 2004,” she said.
The judge did not accept the defence’s request for the Crown to pay compensatory costs, as this measure is “rare and exceptional” under the Criminal Code, and the Crown’s conduct did not “exhibit a hardball attitude or systemic disregard for legal standards.”
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