Convoy supporters demand justice for ‘political prisoners’
By Lethbridge Herald on January 30, 2023.
Herald Photo by Justin Seward
The anniversary convoy to Coutts and fundraiser event saw a packed bay at B & D Walter Trucking on Saturday.Justin Seward
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
The anniversary truck convoy to Coutts and a fundraiser event were held on Saturday in support of four men who remain in custody accused of conspiring to kill RCMP officers during the protest at the Coutts border last year.
A truck convoy left Lethbridge at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning for the Coutts border, and upon returning in the afternoon this was followed by a silent auction and barbecue at B&D Walter Trucking.
The funds from the event are going to the four men – Christopher Lysak, Anthony Olienick, Jerry Morin and Chris Carbert – and their families.
Granny-Margaret Mackay was a voice for the four men and is a supporter through creating the “Alberta Political Prisoners” social media group.
“So as you know I started a bumper sticker campaign,” said MacKay during the Saturday event in Lethbridge. “We may not be able to be on mainstream media, but…we can be on every vehicle across this country. So please support the men and if you’ve got valuable real estate on your vehicle, use it. Let people ask you why those four men are in jail, and if they say anything to you or argue with you, you say ‘innocent until proven guilty’. End of story.”
Mackay estimated it might take $2 million to grubstake their legal defence and support their families for the duration.
“Now if you don’t have the money and can’t afford it, get on Facebook and start sharing,” she said.
“Get the message out there. You can go to Alberta Political Prisoners and just share, share the information, share their stories — but get it out there. I can’t do this by myself and with all of us, we can do this together, and always remember we are stronger together and it’s quite obvious right here. The day is going to come and you need to pay attention.”
Mackay added, “It is time these men were out with their families and their loved ones and they deserve to be with us. These are our four Alberta men; they are not the federal government’s Alberta men. They are ours.”
Christopher Scott related his experience of being arrested in 2021 for keeping his Whistle Stop Café in Mirror open in violation of COVID-19 restrictions, and compared what the four arrested men are going through right now to the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell.
“We found that some animals are more equal than others,” said Scott. “So we have criminals walking the streets, we have people out on bail all the time, they commit crimes against other people in society and they’re afforded the luxury of bail and this and that. But when people speak out against the government, it’s a totally different story. I spoke out against the government and the government put me in jail because I was protesting what the government was doing.”
Scott said these men were standing up and speaking out against what the federal government was imposing.
“They were not only advocating for, but condoning discrimination against members of one class over another, and in this case, it was the unjabbed,” he said. “They were saying ‘yeah we should discriminate against this class because their choices are different than ours’. These men stood up against the government and they protested. And now the government had dropped the hammer of God on them and they’re using the systems that are supposed to protect us as a way to punish people before they’ve even been found guilty in a court of law.”
Convoy anniversary organizer Chelle Landry said it’s been amazing.
“Like the emotion that comes with this kind of crowd — the unity, the love, the generosity and all of that — it really affirms for me that I’m doing the right thing and I’m helping people that need it,” said Landry.
There were about 235 automobiles in the convoy on Saturday.
18-17
Nothing like supporting people who planned on killing police officers for their own selfish gain. What crock. Keep them in jail…political prisoners BS.
Planned on killing police officers?? Completely unproven allegation.They should not be in jail.
To be precise, the four men in custody stand charged with criminal offenses. They are not facing allegations. It’s true they have not yet answered the charges against them, so have not been found innocent or guilty, but the serious nature of the charges, combined with the evidence presented in support of those charges, entirely warrant their present state of confinement.
What evidence??
How do you know they planned on killing police officers? Police officers have accused them of a crime, but no crime was committed, and no evidence has been presented. Nobody was murdered. In Canada, we consider people innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Our laws state that the accused must be granted bail unless it is proven that they are a danger to society. These men have not been shown to be a danger to society. They were involved in a peaceful protest against government mandates. People in Canada previously had the right to peaceful protest. The arrests were used as an excuse to do what Trudeau wanted to do all along – invoke the emergencies act. People who think others should lose their rights when they disagree with the government should be careful. Will anyone be there to protect you when the government infringes on your rights, and you disagree?
This truly shows just how far society has sunk into the abyss! Reading the comments from the convoy participants and supporters clearly shows they still have not understood the wrongs they committed, let alone the fact that you do not make plans to kill police officers.
What is even sadder is the Danielle Smith wanted to get the charges dropped.
We are at the crossroads of a fully involved world war III, technically we have been in a world war for several months by definition, but there is a limit to what Putin will take and when you have a madman with his finger on nuclear arms, even if it means nuclear retaliation by the west, it is possible.
What does that mean? US Malmstrom Airforce Base still has about 30 active missile silos in Montana and we are right next to it with some silos with 150 miles.
The examples we have seen in Ottawa and at the Coutts border are a good example of how people will become ‘extreme’ and how much US militias have had in recruiting right wing extremists.
The freedom of the non-convoy protesters is at risk from a group that represents less than 0.025 % of Canadians. This band of insurrections do not represent Canada or Canadian values and shows further the impact of social media military type PSY-OPS which has not only has US extremist authors, but reaches into China, Russia and Iran to weaken the Western countries without military intervention.
Canada it fracturing and these people who do not know what the term freedom means, are part of that problem.
The 4 criminals in jail are not political prisoners, they are murderers in my mind! The intent was there, the weapons were stockpiled for that reason!
You seem to know an awful lot. They are murderers in your mind? Generally we think of murderers as those who have murdered someone. Are you aware that sometimes the falsely accused are convicted and put in jail? These men didn’t murder anyone and they haven’t even been convicted. No evidence has been presented to the public or in a court of law.
What I just read is unbelievable! They simply do not see the crimes they committed or planned to commit, so additional charges should have been brought against them.
What evidence do you have that they committed or planned to commit crimes? Can you present us with this evidence?
Hysterics running rampant once again. No one was murdered no one was charged with murder. What did happen was; regular Canadian folk stood up and voiced opposition to a totalitarian regime.
Thanks to the Liberal reform of criminal sentences: serious violent repeat offenders, rapists, murderers, those charged with weapon offences, gang members, receive the opportunity for bail, are released and then often rearrested the same day. The revolving door problem with our justice system.
Yes, I agree weapons being found at the Coutts blockade is concerning and should be dealt with accordingly. But are all the facts known and public?
The individual’s charged will have their day in court and ideally the truth will come out and the justice system will function properly (we can always hope).
Yet these men who do not appear to be career criminals are not provided the opportunity for bail.
Thankfully, it appears more Canadian’s have woken up to the necessity of the Freedom Convoy Movement as there were many; peaceful Freedom Convoy Celebrations all across the country and once again recognized and encouraged internationally.
The governments use of more name calling and insults and draconian measures to control; exaggerates the threat they are encountering. The more they do it the more people may be attracted to the Freedom Movement. Just as the more who opposed Jordan Peterson’s lecture in Ottawa on Sunday, the more tickets he sold.
What remains unreal is; those unwilling to accept the real reason for this movement’s inception. Ask yourself honestly why…. what caused it?
It appears; McCarthyism, Antifa, and the Salem Witch Trials have returned with a vengeance and may be alive and well in Canada.
Camps are obviously entrenched, those willing to accept and live with the status quo. and those not.
Those willing to accept government handing over 100’s of Millions to consulting firms, or who accept $2 Billion dollars to be given to a corporation which hasn’t even been named yet during time of high inflation and a possible pending recession. Those willing to accept the findings of the Rouleau Commission report being handed to the Liberal government two weeks in advance of it being presented to the HOC and Canadians.
Where way too many regular average Canadians are struggling and suffering. Where the possibility of worse economic conditions may yet come: (increased layoffs, bankruptcies, mortgage foreclosures, automobile repossessions).
When I read some of the posts on this forum, I’m reminded of a favourite line from the short story, A River Runs Through it: “Once again, half as long.”