Alberta’s top court upholds convictions of two leaders of COVID-19 border blockade

A truck convoy of anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators block the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. The Alberta Court of Appeal has dismissed appeals of convictions for two leader in the protest. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Alberta’s top court has upheld the convictions of two leaders of the COVID-19 border blockade at Coutts, Alta.

Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick were charged in 2022 and convicted by a jury in 2024.

They were sentenced to six-and-a-half years for mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

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Jurors found them not guilty on a charge of conspiring to kill RCMP officers.

Lawyers for the two men appealed both the convictions and sentence, saying the trial judge made irreconcilable errors.

But the Alberta Court of Appeal, in written judgment, rejected their arguments.

More coming.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press