'Intended to incite': Calgary pastor found guilty on two border blockade charges
A judge has found Calgary pastor Artur Pawlowski guilty of mischief for his role in protests against COVID-19 public health measures.
The protests at Coutts, Alta., blocked the province's main border crossing into the United States for more than two weeks in early 2022.
"I am satisfied Mr. Pawlowski intended to incite the audience to continue the blockade intended to incite protesters to commit mischief," Justice Gordon Krinke said as he delivered his verdict Tuesday.
Crown prosecutors told Pawlowski's trial in Lethbridge, Alta., that his impassioned speech to the truckers in February 2022 fanned the flames of unrest and convinced them to stay at the border crossing for another two weeks.
Krinke also found Pawlowski guilty of breaching a release order.
Pawlowski faces another charge under the Alberta Critical Infrastructure Defence Act of wilfully damaging or destroying essential infrastructure. However, Krinke said he couldn't rule on that charge Tuesday because the defence has given notice of a constitutional challenge.
Artur Pawlowski is charged with breaching a release order and mischief for inciting people at the border crossing, where truckers gathered to block a highway.
Separately, several people were also charged after RCMP found a cache of guns, body armour and ammunition in three trailers during the blockade, with four men facing counts of conspiracy to commit murder.
The Pawlowski case has dogged United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith, who is trying to win her government a second term in the May 29 election.
In March, the NDP released audio of a phone call between Smith and Pawlowski in which she is heard offering to help him with his criminal case.
Smith is heard offering to make inquiries on Pawlowski's behalf, revealing to him internal government arguments over case direction and telling him the charges against him are rooted in political bias.
Alberta's ethics commissioner is investigating the conversation.
Legal experts have said the call violates the democratic convention that there must be a firewall to separate politicians from the day-to-day decision-making of cases before the courts.
Smith has said she has restricted her involvement to reminding her justice minister and top justice senior civil servant – as she is free to do – of the overarching guideline that any case should be pursued only if it is in the public interest and has a reasonable chance of success.
Smith has since stated she agrees it isn't right for politicians and accused persons to discuss active criminal cases, but has said her call to Pawlowski was OK because as a politician it's her role to interact and hear from constituents and hear their concerns.
She has also said she didn't realize her call with Pawlowski, which took place in January, would be about his criminal case and that she thought she would be talking politics with him in his then-role as the head of the fringe Independence Party of Alberta.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 2, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Israel launches strikes on military targets in Iran, escalating Mideast wars
Israel pounded Iran with a series of airstrikes early Saturday, saying it was targeting military targets in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier this month. Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though there was no immediate information on damage or casualties.
'If it were me, I'd be leaving': Longtime Liberal New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna on whether Trudeau should go
Former New Brunswick Liberal premier Frank McKenna says if he were in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s shoes, at this point in the government’s mandate, he would step down.
How will the U.S. election affect the way Canadians vote?
As months, become weeks, become days left before this U.S. election cycle comes to an end, here's a look at what each outcome might mean for Canadian politics.
'I did everything I could': Canada Post driver recounts helping save woman from fiery Tesla crash
Canada Post driver Rick Harper recounts how he and others helped save a woman from a Tesla that caught fire after crashing into a guardrail on Lake Shore Boulevard.
An abrupt goodbye to a guerilla goldfish aquarium beneath a leaky Brooklyn fire hydrant
A makeshift aquarium that popped up this summer in a puddle beneath a leaky fire hydrant in New York City has been paved over, to the dismay of neighbours who turned the area into a hangout spot and goldfish shrine.
Scotiabank confirms outage for mobile, online banking resolved
Scotiabank has confirmed outages affecting mobile and online banking services, according to a statement published to its X account.
Women's hockey is growing, but junior athletes play fewer competitive years on average. A new league aims to change that
Teams are facing off in a new eastern Newfoundland hockey league aiming to bring competitive play — and a few extra years on the ice — for young women in the province.
Mother who beat and starved her 5-year-old son to death sentenced to over 50 years in prison
A New Hampshire woman was sentenced Friday to 53 years to life in prison in the death of her 5-year-old son, who was beaten, starved and exposed to drugs before his 19-pound body was found buried in a Massachusetts park in 2021.
Pizza inadvertently infused with THC sickens dozens in Wisconsin
Pizza inadvertently laced with THC has apparently sickened dozens of people in Wisconsin.