Northcott family calls prosecution on 'No More Lockdowns' rodeo 'tyrannical overreach'

Photo by Joseph Keil on Unsplash

• By Sheila Gunn Reid

Lockdown Amnesty

Lockdowns are over in Canada, but “offences” allegedly committed during those lockdowns are still being prosecuted to this day — against truckers, against businesspeople, against churches, against Pastor Artur Pawlowski, and so many more.

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Alberta rodeo legend Ty Northcott and Northcott Rodeo Inc. attended Red Deer court on Tuesday to face charges under the province's Public Health Act. The determination of the constitutional issues in the case will occur at a later date.

The RCMP said they issued a court summons to the Northcott family concerning a pre-advertised, maskless "No More Lockdowns" protest rodeo held in early May. They allege Ty Northcott and Gail Northcott, both from Bowden, Alberta, contravened the province's Public Health Act.

The court order permitted Alberta Health Services (AHS) and police to arrest and charge those who advertised 'illegal' gatherings that breached COVID-19 health restrictions. At the time, the health agency said there was an urgent need to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and to protect Albertans.

Even though rodeos occur outdoors, they faced the same restrictions under the government's lockdowns. In protest, the Northcotts organized a freedom rodeo rally protest on their property beside the QEII highway last year during the May 1-2 weekend.

Rallies and protests against lockdowns, masks and other COVID-19 regulations occurred regularly in Alberta throughout the pandemic. But the lockdown rodeo, in particular, drew thousands to the rally over two days. 

Between events, numerous speakers, including Ty Northcott, spoke out against government lockdowns and the violation of Canadians' rights and freedoms. "I don't care what anyone else is doing for the next couple of days," he said. "I'm rodeoing."

During the rally, which included a Sunday morning "Cowboy Church," police cordoned the area. AHS and the RCMP forced the Northcotts to move it from the Bowden Agricultural Society grounds after pressuring him and anyone associated with the event to try and force them not to go ahead.

On May 7, 2021, the RCMP returned to the Northcott Ranch to serve the Northcott family a summons to appear in Court on May 17, 2021, on charges of violating the public health order. The warrants ordered them to appear in Red Deer court on October 13, 2022, to face charges under the Public Health Act. 

While Crown Prosecutor Peter Mackenzie dropped all charges against Gail, Ty said he intended to plead not guilty but could face a fine if convicted.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Ty Northcott said he wasn't surprised by the decision to withdraw charges against his wife in a prosecution he called "tyrannical overreach." He added: "We still have a little trust in our judicial system, just not our political system."

The Justice Centre argued the Charter expressly protects the right to gather peacefully in protest and that the Northcotts' protest rodeo engaged that protection. "The right to gather outdoors to protest government violations of Canadians' rights must be defended against continued prosecution by the Crown," said Marty Moore, a Justice Centre lawyer involved in the case. 

But Court of Queen's Bench Justice John Rooke dismissed that argument in October. "They're not talking about a rally. They're talking about a rodeo," he said at the time.

"It could be a marathon, a walk in the park … it's permissible if it doesn't offend the orders."