Coutts protester Chris Carbert granted bail pending appeal
Bail pending appeal has been granted to one of two men serving a sentence for convictions related to the 2022 Coutts border blockade.
Author: Alex Zoltan
Bail pending appeal has been granted to one of two men serving a sentence for convictions related to the 2022 Coutts border blockade. Chris Carbert was previously acquitted, along with three others, of conspiring to murder RCMP officers but was sentenced to prison for mischief and a weapons charge.
Carbert, 48, is currently serving a sentence of more than six years for mischief over $5,000 and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
On Monday, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Jo-Anne Strekaf ruled Carbert can be released while he awaits the outcome of his appeal, which is scheduled to be heard in September.
In a 10-page written decision, Strekaf found that Carbert’s “detention pending his appeals is not necessary for the protection or safety of the public.”
“If the applicant and the Crown are able to agree upon a release plan and draft order to propose to the court, that is to be submitted by July 14,” Strekaf’s decision continued, with the terms of Carbert’s appeal not expected to be finalized until September.
The ruling marks a notable departure from previous court decisions involving Carbert and his co-accused.
Carbert was sentenced alongside Tony Olienick, 42, last summer, after a jury found both men guilty of mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. They were acquitted on charges of conspiracy to commit murder.
Olienick faced an additional charge of possessing an explosive device, after police discovered an old commercial firework — reportedly linked to a gravel pit — more than 250 kilometres from the Coutts protest site.
The men’s convictions stem from their involvement in a protest in southern Alberta that began as opposition to vaccine mandates and escalated into a blockade that disrupted cross-border traffic at the Coutts-Sweet Grass port of entry for over a week.
Carbert and Olienick were among 13 people arrested on the evening of February 13 and early morning of Feb. 14, 2022. The pair were charged with conspiracy to murder RCMP officers, along with Jerry Morin, 43, and Chris Lysak, 51.
Morin and Lysak were denied bail and held in custody for nearly two years before the Crown dropped their conspiracy charges, without explanation, in February 2024.
Lysak pleaded to the improper storage of a firearm charge. That charge typically results in a minor fine, not two years behind bars.
Morin, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms, whilst remaining steadfast that he never actually trafficked firearms.
Although both men pleaded guilty to lesser charges, they have both maintained their innocence, released after each spending 723 days behind bars.
As previously reported by True North, Carbert and Olienick were both denied parole, even despite the Parole Board of Canada noting no issues with their behaviour while institutionalized along with Olienick’s lack of any previous criminal history.