Zexi Li, who obtained an injunction against the convoy, testifies at the Lich-Barber trial

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A class action lawsuit was launched by Zexi Li, a young civil servant from Ottawa. (Archive photo)

The Canadian Press

The Ottawa citizen who went to court last year to obtain an injunction against the convoy of truckers in Ottawa (New window) repeatedly described this demonstration as an “occupation » during his testimony in court Monday morning, to the great dismay of lawyers for two protest organizers.

Zexi Li testified Monday morning in the criminal trial of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, accused in particular of mischief and having advised to ;others to commit wrongdoing.

In her testimony, Ms. Li used the term occupation to describe the protest in which trucks, tractor-trailers and scores of demonstrators blocked streets in downtown Ottawa for three weeks, x27;winter 2022.

Mr. Barber's lawyer, Diane Magas, objected to the use of word occupation, qualifying it as inflammatory, particularly because the witness is quite invested in this cause.

Ms. Li is the representative in the application to file a class action against the organizers of the convoy, on behalf of residents, workers and business owners in downtown Ottawa. The motion alleges that downtown residents were harmed when thousands of protesters took to Ottawa's streets with trucks for three weeks.

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Judge Heather Perkins-McVey told Ms Li she would prefer she use the words protest or demonstration. She added, however, that what the witness says depends on her.

Like several other witnesses called to the stand by the prosecution in this trial , Ms. Li described on Monday the excessive noise made by trucks honking their horns for most of the day, if not all day.

During the second week of protests in Ottawa, Ms. Li went to court to successfully obtain an injunction against the constant sound of horns. She admitted Monday that the noise became less incessant after that, but that she still sometimes heard patches of collective honking, where it seemed like all the horns were blaring in concert for a while.

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Some Ottawa residents said they had trouble sleeping because of the horns from the truckers' demonstration at the winter 2022. (Archive photo)

Ms. Li told the court that during the third week of protests, she went to the streets to record evidence that the court's injunction was not being respected.

She also took a photo of a truck carrying cans of fuel that was partially parked on the sidewalk. The witness testified at trial that the driver backed the truck toward her, while nearby protesters honked their horns and shouted at her.

Her lawyer, Paul Champ, said last week that Ms. Li preferred not to testify, but would do her duty as a citizen if asked.

He maintains that Ms. Li has been the victim of harassment since she went to court against the convoy, and then again after her testimony before Judge Paul Rouleau's commission of inquiry into the appeal by the federal government to the Emergency Measures Act.