Two leaders of the 2022 Coutts border blockade have lost their bid to overturn their weapons convictions, despite Alberta’s top court finding further Charter breaches in the police investigation.
The Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed conviction appeals Thursday from Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick, who were convicted in 2024 of mischief over $5,000 and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Olienick was also convicted of possessing a pipe bomb.
Both men were acquitted of the most serious charge they faced — conspiring to murder RCMP officers.
Carbert and Olienick were among four men originally charged with the conspiracy. The other two pleaded guilty to lesser offences before trial.
The appeals focused partly on RCMP wiretaps and searches that uncovered firearms and other evidence near the blockade, according to CBC News.
The trial judge had ruled emergency wiretaps were justified for the first 24 hours but that police should have obtained warrants after that point, excluding communications intercepted later.
The Court of Appeal found further problems with the investigation, ruling there was insufficient evidence to justify wiretapping Carbert. The interceptions involving Olienick were found to be lawful.
The judges acknowledged the wiretap violations “colour and exacerbate the search warrant breaches,” but ultimately refused to exclude the firearms and related evidence.
Even after accounting for the breaches, the court found there was “ample evidence” obtained independently of the wiretaps to support the subsequent warrants.
“The strongest consideration in the circumstances is the public interest in the prosecutions proceeding with the benefit of the evidence,” the court wrote.
It added that the prosecutions sought to “deter and denounce dangerous forms of public protest that are squarely antithetical to Canadian democratic values.”
Carbert’s lawyer, Katherin Beyak, criticized the outcome.
“It’s troubling to me that the RCMP have been found to engage in repeated unconstitutional behaviour but our clients have been left without a remedy,” Beyak said.
Carbert and Olienick were arrested during the weeks-long protest against COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates at the Sweetgrass–Coutts border crossing in early 2022.
Police discovered guns, ammunition and body armour while searching trailers near the blockade. At sentencing, Justice David Labrenz found the men had armed themselves “for the purpose of using those weapons against police.”
Both men received six-and-a-half-year sentences, with nearly four years credited for time already spent behind bars awaiting trial.
Carbert was released on bail pending appeal in June 2025, followed by Olienick in January 2026.
Their legal fight is not over.
Thursday’s ruling resolves only their conviction appeals. Their separate bids to reduce their six-and-a-half-year sentences remain outstanding.
Beyak said she will wait for the sentence appeal outcome before deciding on any further challenge to Carbert’s convictions.
The courts are making it clear that our Charter is a meaningless document. And somehow, this is to assure us that justice is being served. If Chris and Anthony had used the race or poor upbringing defence they would have been freed long ago.
All I see is corruption in all aspects of this government