Alberta court upholds convictions of Coutts blockade leaders

The Alberta Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeals of two leaders of the 2022 Coutts border blockade who were convicted of mischief and weapons offences.

Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick asked the province’s top court to overturn their weapons convictions or, alternatively, reduce their six-and-a-half-year sentences.

On Thursday, a three-member panel dismissed the conviction appeals, finding that although there had been errors made in admitting some evidence gleaned through wiretaps, "we would in any event admit the evidence obtained from the search of the Coutts property."

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In 2024, jurors convicted Carbert and Olienick of mischief over $5,000 and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Olienick was also found guilty of possessing a pipe bomb.

The men were found to have armed themselves "for the purpose of using those weapons against police," said trial Justice David Labrenz in his sentencing decision. Both men were acquitted of the more serious offence of conspiring to kill RCMP officers.

Before the trial, the defence applied to have evidence excluded, arguing the wiretap intercepts and search warrants breached Carbert's and Olienick’s Charter rights to be free from unreasonable search or seizure.

The trial judge ruled that the first 24 hours of the emergency wiretaps were justified but found that after that period, the RCMP should have sought warrants for the intercepts. The judge excluded all communication intercepted after the first day.

In her appeal arguments, Carbert’s defence lawyer Katherin Beyak asked the panel of judges to overturn his convictions, arguing the search warrant that led to the seizure of key Crown evidence was unlawfully issued. She called the search a “ruse,” arguing investigators were not actually looking for information and data related to the illegal border protest; rather, they were searching for weapons.

While the Court of Appeal found that the wiretaps against Olienick were lawful, it ruled that in Carbert’s case, there wasn’t enough evidence to justify the interceptions.

But that finding was not enough to exclude the evidence that led to the convictions, the court ruled. "Even after accounting for this, there was ample evidence not obtained through [wiretap] interceptions to support the subsequent warrants."

The court then considered the impact of the wiretap breaches. It found that “the wiretap breaches colour and exacerbate the search warrant breaches” but ultimately ruled that excluding evidence, firearms and related items, seized during the searches was not in the public interest.

"The strongest consideration in the circumstances is the public interest in the prosecutions proceeding with the benefit of the evidence," wrote the court. "The prosecutions aimed to deter and denounce dangerous forms of public protest that are squarely antithetical to Canadian democratic values. The truth-seeking function of the criminal trial is best served by the admission of the evidence."

The pair faced the most serious charges among the more than a dozen people charged in connection with the weeks-long protest against COVID-19-related restrictions and vaccine mandates at the border crossing in January and February 2022.

During the on-and-off blockade, protesters used trucks, farm tractors and other vehicles to block traffic at the busy Sweetgrass-Coutts border crossing on Highway 4.

Carbert and Olienick were arrested after RCMP found guns, ammunition and body armour during searches of trailers near the blockade. Originally, four men were charged with conspiring to murder police officers, but before the trial began, two pleaded guilty to lesser offences.

At the time of their sentencing, Carbert and Olienick had nearly four years credit for the time they spent behind bars pending trial.

In Parole Board of Canada documents released before the appeal hearing, Carbert was noted to have dedicated himself to personal growth and education while incarcerated. He was described as "quiet and respectful" and has called his attendance at the Coutts protest "the worst decision" he'd ever made.

The board noted that Carbert was "self-radicalized from internet search" during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carbert’s sentence was paused in June 2025, when he was released on bail pending the outcomes of his appeals. In January 2026, Olienick was released on bail pending the outcome of his appeals.

The men have also asked the court to reduce their sentences. A separate hearing is expected to take place for those appeals.

With files from Calgary Herald, CBC News and The Globe and Mail