Crown seeks prison time for pair accused of mischief at Coutts COVID border protest

A sentencing hearing is to start Thursday for three men convicted of helping co-ordinate the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., in 2022 in protest of COVID-19 rules and restrictions. A truck adorned with Canadian and American flags is shown at the blockade, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Two men who became the faces of a protest at a key Alberta border crossing in 2022 need to do prison time to send a message that actions have consequences, a Crown prosecutor told court Thursday.

Steven Johnston said the pair put themselves front and centre at the illegal blockade, which shut down the Canada-US border at Coutts for two weeks over pandemic measures and vaccine mandates.

Johnston said defendant Marco Van Huigenbos should get nine months in prison while Gerhard (George) Janzen deserves six months.

He told Justice Keith Yamauchi that Van Huigenbos was more to blame, as he was in a leadership position.

“These two men are not at the same level,” Johnston told court on the first day of the two-day sentencing hearing.

"It is the Crown's view that, realistically, the most appropriate sentence for these gentlemen is to sentence them to a term of jail — real jail."

Johnston added that the sentencing is not about freedom of speech.

“You can’t break the law and not expect to be punished for it.”

Van Huigenbos, Janzen and a third man — Alex Van Herk — were found guilty last year of mischief over $5,000 for their actions at the blockade.

Van Herk was to have been sentenced as well. However, earlier Thursday his lawyer, Michael Johnston, told court his client fired him.

Van Herk has asked for a 30-day delay to obtain new counsel.

The trio were found guilty in April. Defence lawyers didn't call evidence during the trial, and the three accused didn't testify.

At the trial, Mounties told the jury that, as the protest dragged on, officers increasingly turned to the three men to negotiate. The Crown argued the trio became the faces of the blockade and spoke on behalf of protesters.

There were a number of arrests tied to the border protest.

In a separate case, protesters Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert were charged with conspiracy to murder police officers at the blockade.

In September, a jury found them not guilty of that offence but convicted them of possessing a firearm dangerous to the public peace and mischief over $5,000. Olienick was also convicted of possessing a pipe bomb.

They were each sentenced to 6 1/2 years behind bars. Their mischief convictions netted concurrent terms of six months.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2025.