Coutts protester facing 10 years in prison testifies | Recapping Trucker Commission Day 19

This inquiry is taking place because Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on peaceful protesters who were part of the Freedom Convoy in February 2022, who were simply protesting federal COVID-19 mandates. You can see and support our independent coverage at TruckerCommission.com. 

The witnesses who appeared in front of the commission were OPP Superintendent Dana Earley, a man named Paul who is an anti-mandate protester and took part in the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario connecting Canada with Detroit, and Coutts border blockade protester Marco Van Huigenbos, who took part in the blockade at the border between Coutts, Alberta and Sweet Grass, Montana.

All three gave interesting testimonies. Marco is still awaiting his trial since he was charged with mischief over 5000$. You can learn more and support him and his two other co-defendants at TruckerDefenceFund.ca. The crown wants him to spend 10 years in jail. 

Let’s begin by taking a short look at highlights from the three witnesses’ testimonies.

Superintendent Dana Early, from the OPP, was grilled by Alan Honner, lawyer with The Democracy Fund, a Canadian registered charity focused on civil liberties.

Now what is arguably the most interesting thing that came up was the evidence shown by Honner. Indeed, the document presented is the transcript of a phone call between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

In the document, you can see Trudeau deliver derogatory remarks regarding the protesters. He stated that he wondered if they were “less than intelligent” people. 

Ford also explained that he had trouble with the tools currently available to him and handling the Windsor blockade properly. Trudeau even reminded him that everything should be able to be taken care of with the resources and legal tools that were already available.

Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on the protesters in Ottawa days after. 

Following Earley’s testimony, Paul appeared in front of the committee, the protester who was at Windsor during the blockades. Paul claimed that the mainstream media exaggerated the number of trucks that were on the ground in Windsor. 

Paul, generally speaking, provided a short insight as to what the situation on the ground was, from his recollection, and explained that the allegations that protesters used children as human shields were false. 

Finally came Marco Van Huigenbos, from the Coutts border blockade.

Marco testified that he remembers Coutts protesters having a great ongoing dialogue with the residents of the village. Marco was not an organizer of the protest but was designated as a spokesperson for the truckers present there. 

Marco also stated that while the government seemed unwilling to discuss and negotiate with protesters, they were willing to discuss and create a plan and had a lawyer, Chad Williamson, with them to help negotiate.

We know from the testimonies we heard in the past four weeks that almost all levels of government were unwilling to engage with the protesters, while these protesters at Coutts were willing to engage and do so, like their counterparts in Ottawa. 

For more on the situation with the truckers who were at the Coutts border protesting COVID-19 mandates, which includes Marco, visit TruckerDefenceFund.ca.