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Questions linger after Coutts verdict

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Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick Courtesy Bridge City News/YouTube

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Ray McGinnis

The Coutts trial may be over, but the questions it raises about justice and overreach continue.

A jury in the trial of Chris Carbert and Anthony ā€œTonyā€ Olienick rendered a NOT GUILTY verdict on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder of police officers. Known as the Coutts Two, Carbert and Olienickā€™s trial lasted from June 6 to August 2, 2024. After two and a half days of deliberations, the jury also found the pair GUILTY of possession of weapons for a dangerous purpose, and mischief over $5,000. Olienick was also found GUILTY of possession of explosives for a dangerous purpose.

On February 13, 2022, Olienick was arrested outside Smugglerā€™s Saloon. Early on February 14, 2022, Chris Carbert was awakened from his sleep in a trailer by police loudspeaker.

Two Co-Accused Had All Charges Dropped in February

Conspiracy, possession of weapons, and mischief charges were also laid against Chris Lysak and Jerry Morin. Carbert, Olienick, Lysak and Morin, were dubbed the Coutts Four.

Lysak was arrested in Coutts late on February 13, 2022. Morin was arrested heading west of Calgary on Hwy. 22. He would work for a rancher near Priddis, a three-hour drive from Coutts. Lysak and Morin had all the original charges in the indictment dropped on Feb 6th, 2024.

Lysak pleaded to improper storage of a firearm. That charge typically results in a minor fine, not two years behind bars. Morin pled guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms, not to trafficking firearms. Two years in custody ā€” including solitary confinement and being witness to brutality between prisoners ā€” had taken its toll.

Tony Olienickā€™s lawyer, Marilyn Burns, told this reporter, Morin was not guilty of the new charge to which he plead. But this was the plea deal the Crown would agree to. Morin and Lysak wereĀ releasedĀ after 723 days behind bars.

Carbert and Olienick maintained their innocence. However, pre-trial deliberations in court dribbled out for over a year before the trial itself.

The Accused Were Unarmed
None of the original Coutts Four ā€” Carbert, Olienick, Lysak or Morin ā€” were armed when arrested. None had a criminal record. Three of the four are fathers with children. Before his arrest, Lethbridge resident Chris Carbert was a self-employed fisherman who also ran a landscaping and fencing business with nine employees.

Years before his arrest, Tony Olienick took part of the clean-up in High River, Alberta, after the 2013 floods. The self-employed gravel truck owner got contract work at a stone quarry.

Coutts Charges Cited to Invoke Emergencies Act

At the Public Order Emergency Commission inquiry in November 2022, several senior cabinet and government officials cited events in Coutts as one of the triggers for invoking the Emergencies [War Measures] Act on February 14, 2022. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland testified ā€œwe heard from the RCMP Commissioner about concerns that there were serious weapons in Coutts . . . that really raised the stakes in terms of my degree of concern about what could be happening.ā€

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated, ā€œthe occupation at Coutts seemed to be emboldened.ā€

Coutts Mayor, Jimmy Willett described the protesters as ā€œDomestic Terrorists.ā€ Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino testified ā€œthe situation was combustibleā€¦ individualsā€¦ involved in Coutts were prepared to go down with a fight that could lead to the loss of life, . . . would have triggered other events across the country.ā€

The Clerk of the Privy Council, Janice Charette, pointed to the ā€œseriousnessā€ and ā€œscaleā€ of the ā€œillegal activity,ā€ ā€œthe quantity of weapons and ammunition discovered by the RCMPā€¦ contemplated by people at Coutts.ā€ This confirmed her view that these people were insurrectionists, bent on ā€œoverthrowing the government.ā€

Yet, no bodycam footage and no recording entered as evidence in the trial substantiated claims by RCMP that Carbert or Olienick plotted violence against police. In January 2024, a federal court ruled the invocation of the Emergencies Act was ā€œunconstitutional.ā€ The August 2 not guilty verdict for conspiracy to commit murder adds to the perception of government overreaction to the protests.

A Surprise from the Crown
In its closing words to the jury, the Crown suddenly alleged there was a hand-off of weapons on February 11, 2022.

The Crown should provide full disclosure to the defence before the trial concludes so allegations can be tested in court. Never mind. This last-minute allegationĀ mayĀ have swayed the jury to find the defendants guilty of the possession of firearms charge and Olienick of possession of an explosive device for a dangerous purpose.

Sentencing and bail hearings were scheduled from August 26 to 30. The week of September 9, the judge at the Coutts Two trial will hand down sentences for both of the accused given their combination of i) not guilty of conspiracy to commit murder verdict by the jury and ii) guilty verdicts for possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and mischief, and for Olienick a separate guilty verdict for possession of an explosive for a dangerous purpose.

By then, the pair will have been in custody for 935 days.

This commentary is first of a three part series. Read part twoĀ here, and threeĀ here.

Ray McGinnisĀ is a Senior Fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. His forthcoming book isĀ Unjustified: The Emergencies Act and the Inquiry that Got It Wrong

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17-year-old died after taking COVID shot, but Ontario judge denies his familyā€™s liability claim

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

An Ontario judge dismissed a liability claim from a family of a high schooler who died weeks after taking the COVID shot.

According to aĀ publishedĀ report on March 26 byĀ Blacklockā€™s Reporter, Ontario Superior Court Justice Sandra Antoniani ruled that the Department of Health had no ā€œduty of careā€ to a Canadian teenager who died after receiving a COVID vaccine.

ā€œThe plaintiffā€™s tragedy is real, but there is no private law duty of care made out,ā€ Antoniani said.

ā€œThere is no private law duty of care to individual members of the public injured by government core policy decisions in the handling of health emergencies which impact the general population,ā€ she continued.

In September 2021, 17-year-old Sean Hartman of Beeton, Ontario, passed away just three weeks after receiving a Pfizer-BioNtech COVID shot.

After his death, his family questioned if health officials had warned Canadians ā€œthat a possible side effect of receiving a Covid-19 vaccine was death.ā€ The family took this petition to court but has been denied a hearing.

Antoniani alleged that ā€œthe defendantsā€™ actions were aimed at mitigating the health impact of a global pandemic on the Canadian public. The defendants deemed that urgent action was necessary.ā€

ā€œImposition of a private duty of care would have a negative impact on the ability of the defendants to prioritize the interests of the entire public, with the distraction of fear over the possibility of harm to individual members of the public, and the risk of litigation and unlimited liability,ā€ she ruled.

As LifeSiteNews previously reported, Dan Hartman, Seanā€™s father,Ā filedĀ a $35.6 million lawsuit against Pfizer after his sonā€™s death.

However, only 103 claims of 1,859 have been approved to date, ā€œwhere it has been determined by the Medical Review Board that there is a probable link between the injury and the vaccine, and that the injury is serious and permanent.ā€

Thus far, VISP hasĀ paidĀ over $6 million to those injured by COVID injections, with some 2,000 claims remaining to be settled.

According to studies, post-vaccination heart conditions such as myocarditis are well documented in those,Ā especially young malesĀ who have received the Pfizer jab.

Additionally, aĀ recent studyĀ done by researchers with Canada-basedĀ Correlation Research in the Public InterestĀ showed that 17 countries have found a ā€œdefinite causal linkā€ between peaks in all-cause mortality and the fast rollouts of the COVID shots as well as boosters.

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10 Shocking Stories the Media Buried This Week

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The Vigilant FoxThe Vigilant Fox

Measles, Fauci, Politics and Public Education. This is a fascinating readĀ 

#10 ā€“ ā€˜Measles Deathā€™ of 6-Year-Old Girl Exposed as a Media HOAX

The media claimed a 6-year-old girl died of measles, but ā€œshe did not die of measles by any stretch of the imagination,ā€ Dr. Pierre Kory says.

ā€œIn fact, she died of pneumonia. But it gets worse than that because she didnā€™t really die of pneumonia. She died of aĀ MEDICAL ERROR.ā€

Let that sink in.

What happened was a complete breakdown in basic medical care. The hospital failed to give her the appropriate antibiotic regimen to treat her pneumonia. By the time they corrected their mistake, it was too late, and the girl died ā€œcatastrophically.ā€

ā€œI mean, this is like medicine 101. You put them on two antibiotics to cover all the possibilities. Itā€™s a grievous error, and itā€™s an error which led to her death,ā€ Dr. Kory attested.

Not only did Covenant Childrenā€™s Hospital fail to provide the appropriate antibiotic, but when they noticed their error, they dragged their feet and took another 10 hours to administer it.

ā€œBy that time, she was already on a ventilator. And approximately 24 hours laterā€”actually, less than 24 hours laterā€”she died,ā€ Dr. Kory explained.

And she did not pass away peacefully. According to Dr. Kory, ā€œShe died rather catastrophically.ā€

And while her family grieved, the media hijacked her death to stir fear and push the vaccine narrative. Just another ā€œmeasles deathā€ used as a political weapon.

This is a case Dr. Pierre Kory calls ā€œabsolutely enraging.ā€

And it is. Just another example of how the media will shamelessly twist the story of a grieving familyā€™s loss to push Big Pharmaā€™s agenda. Thatā€™s not just dishonest.Ā Thatā€™s evil, plain and simple.

Follow @ChildrensHDĀ for theĀ full interviewĀ and more details on this enraging story.

(See 9 More Revealing Stories Below)

#9 – Bill Maher guest calls out Fauciā€™s ridiculous pardon, saying, ā€œThereā€™s a reason he was given a pardon back to 2014.ā€

ā€œThere is something very wrong going on here.ā€

ā€œEveryone knew it [gain-of-function research] was dangerous a long time ago. You go back to 2015, you will find a big meeting in London where they say thereā€™s one lab in the world most likely to have a problem with thisā€”Wuhan. Do you know who was the biggest supporter of gain of function research for the last 30 years? Anthony Fauci.ā€

It turns out that in 2014, 300 scientists warned Anthony Fauci would start a global pandemic.

RFK Jr. previously explained that following the high-profile escape of three bugs from U.S. labs, these 300 scientists sent a letter to President Obama, urging him to shut down Anthony Fauci’s gain-of-function research.

Obama issued a moratorium and shut down 18 of the worst projects by Anthony Fauci. In the end, he really didn’t shut them down. Instead, Obama moved the research offshore to places like Ukraine, the former Soviet State of Georgia, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China.

Now, it is widely accepted that COVID-19 originated from that very lab in Wuhan, China. The 300 scientists were right when they said Anthony Fauci would start a global pandemic.

#8 – Kevin Oā€™Leary delivers a harsh reality check to people burning Teslas: Youā€™re going to ā€œrot in hell in prison.ā€

ā€œAnd frankly, as far as Iā€™m concerned, thatā€™s okay,ā€ he said.

Oā€™Leary left no room for debate, making it clear that thereā€™s zero justification for the destruction:

ā€œWhen you set a car on fire, you should go to jail. Youā€™re a criminal. And I donā€™t think we have to talk about it in any other context.ā€

He also had a blunt message for those thinking theyā€™ll get away with it:

ā€œAnd all those cars have cameras in them, and those dealerships have cameras. Youā€™re beyond being stupid when you do that… Youā€™re going to spend five to 20 years in prison. If they get them on terrorismā€”which I think is a stretchā€”there will be no parole, no shortened sentence. Theyā€™ll rot in hell in prison for 20 years. And frankly, as far as Iā€™m concerned, thatā€™s okay.ā€

#7- Stephen A. Smith Rips his OWN STAFF while recording his show.

Smith grilled his staffā€™s loyalty to the Democratic Party after pitching this common-sense idea to Democrats: ā€œRather than telling us what we should vote against, maybe you should present us with options of what to vote for.ā€

ā€œI mean, my God. Are you okay, Michael, with me suggesting that? Are you okay with me, Sherry, suggesting that?ā€ Smith asked.

ā€œRashawn Galen and all of a bunch of leftists thatā€™s under my umbrella trying to act like theyā€™re independents when theyā€™re full of it!Ā Iā€™m talking about my own damn staff,ā€ he clarified.

ā€œIā€™m a centrist. I think my man, Rashawn, is a centrist. The rest of these damn people working for me. I mean, what left-wing party are you associated with? I mean, you gotta believe this stuff.ā€

#6 – Vivek Ramaswamy drops a game-changing idea for public education: merit-based pay for public school teachers.

ā€œPay for performance. Thatā€™s what businesses do. Thereā€™s no reason we shouldnā€™t be running our public schools in the same way.ā€

Vivek announced that he plans for Ohio to become the first state in the nation to adopt merit-based pay for every teacher, principal, and administrator.

He says that performance reviews should go beyond standardized testing, incorporating peer reviews, parent feedback, and student outcomesā€”with a clear goal of rewarding the best educators.

ā€œThe best teachers in the country right now, sadly, are underpaid. We need to fix thatā€”but fix it through meritocracy,ā€ Vivek said. ā€œThanks to President Trumpā€™s bold actions today, we can lead the way.ā€

While youā€™re here, donā€™t forget to follow me (@VigilantFox) for more weekly news roundups.

#5 – Tim Walz absurdly claims that Trumpā€™s plan to dismantle the Department of Education could take America back to an era of racial segregation.

ā€œAnd then itā€™s about the Civil Rights Department at the Department of Education that makes sure that we donā€™t have a situation where a Ruby Bridges is escorted to school with police. And so weā€™re back in an area where we can segregate,ā€ Walz said.

Somehow, giving control back to the states means weā€™re suddenly back in 1960. This is why no one takes Democrats seriously anymore. All they do is cry wolf.

#4 – Bill Maher believes JFK wasnā€™t killed by a lone gunmanā€”says a lot of people wanted Kennedy dead.

QUESTION:Ā ā€œIs it time to move on from this conspiracy theory?ā€

MAHER:Ā ā€œWell, I mean, do you think itā€™s a conspiracy theory? Plainly, there was not a single gunman, right?ā€¦ But the magic bullet. There could not have been a bullet that went through a guy, went around him, came back, went through the other guy, got lunch at the diner, came back, shot him in the back of the head. I mean, itā€™s just. Come on, everybody heard a shot from the grassy knoll.ā€

ā€œThe idea that the CIA is going to now suddenly go, ā€˜Youā€™re right, we had something to do with it.ā€™ Iā€™m not saying they did, but a lot of people wanted him [JFK] dead.ā€

#3 – Elon Musk sounds the alarm on ā€œmagic money computersā€ at the federal government that can ā€œsend money out of nothing.ā€

ā€œSo you may think that the government computers all talk to each other. They synchronize, they add up what funds are going somewhere, and itā€™s coherent that the numbers, for example, that youā€™re presented as a senator, are actually the real numbers. Theyā€™re not,ā€ Musk explained.

ā€œTheyā€™re not totally wrong,ā€ he continued. ā€œTheyā€™re probably off byĀ 5% or 10%Ā in some cases. So I call it Magic Money Computer. Any computer which can just make money out of thin air. Thatā€™s Magic Money.ā€

ā€œSo how does that work?ā€ Ted Cruz asked.

ā€œIt just issues payments,ā€ Musk answered. ā€œI think we found now 14 magic money computers.Ā They just send money out of nothing.ā€

This raises a critical question: If the governmentā€™s books are off by 5% to 10% in some cases, leaving up to hundreds of billions of dollars unaccounted for, where is all that money actually going?

#2 – The New York Times finally ADMITS the ā€œconspiracy theoristsā€ were right about COVID and that Fauci and the ā€œexpertsā€ misled the public.

ā€œPerhaps we were misled on purpose.ā€

I canā€™t believe they actually printed this. Hereā€™s what theyā€™re finally admitting:

ā€¢ Tony Fauci, Francis Collins, and Jeremy Farrar coordinated a media strategy to discredit lab leak discussions. Emails show they worked behind the scenes to smear and silence anyone who questioned the official narrative.

ā€¢ The Biden administration and intelligence agencies pressured social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to censor lab leak discussions and label them as ā€œmisinformation.ā€

ā€¢ Kristian Andersen, Robert Garry, and other scientists knew the truth but covered it up. Behind closed doors, they admitted a lab escape was likely. In public, they dismissed it as a ā€œconspiracy theory.ā€

ā€¢ WHOā€™s Jeremy Farrar got a burner phone to secretly coordinate meetings with Fauci, Collins, and top scientists, ensuring their discussions stayed off the record.

ā€¢ Kristian Andersen, Robert Garry, and Eddie Holmes strategized how to mislead New York Times reporter Donald McNeil Jr., making sure he didnā€™t dig too deep into the lab leak theory.

ā€¢ The infamous Proximal Origin paper, authored by Andersen, Garry, Holmes, Andrew Rambaut, and W. Ian Lipkin, was a coordinated effort to mislead the public. Private Slack messages revealed they believed a lab escape was not only possible but likelyā€”yet they publicly denied it.

ā€¢ Peter Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance helped cover for the Wuhan Institute of Virology, despite knowing their risky gain-of-function research could have caused the outbreak.

ā€¢ The Wuhan lab, run by Shi Zhengli (ā€œBat Womanā€), had horrifyingly lax safety protocolsā€”yet they expected the public to believe a leak was impossible.

And now, after years of smearing and slandering the ā€œconspiracy theorists,ā€ The New York Times is quietly admitting the so-called ā€œconspiracy theoristsā€ were right all along.

#1 ā€“ RFK Jr. Sounds the Alarm on Bird Flu Vaccines

The USDA plans to inject millions of chickens to stop the bird flu outbreak, but RFK Jr. says ā€œleaky vaccinesā€ could make things worse.

He breaks it down here. This is theĀ must-read threadĀ of the week:

Originals

RFK Jr. Issues Grave Vaccination Warning

Ā·
Mar 21
RFK Jr. Issues Grave Vaccination Warning
 

The USDA wants to vaccinate millions of chickens to stop the bird flu. They claim itā€™s the ultimate solution, but not everyoneā€™s convinced. RFK Jr., for one, is sounding the alarm.

 

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While youā€™re here, donā€™t forget to follow me (@VigilantFox) for more weekly news roundups.

 

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