The Aporia · Alberta’s top court upholds convictions of leaders of the COVID-19 blockade

Alberta’s top court upholds convictions of leaders of the COVID-19 blockade

Read the original at The Globe and Mail ↗

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Graveland, B. (2026, October 1). Alberta’s top court upholds convictions of leaders of the COVID-19 blockade. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-covid-blockade-leaders-lose-in-court/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

The Alberta Court of Appeal has upheld the convictions of Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick, leaders of a COVID-19 border blockade at Coutts, Alberta. They were sentenced to six-and-a-half years for mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose after being convicted in 2024 following their 2022 charges. The court rejected the men’s appeal, which claimed that the trial judge made errors that undermined their convictions.

Written by AI on 2026-10-01, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

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Story summary

The Alberta Court of Appeal upheld the convictions of Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick, leaders of a COVID-19 border blockade at Coutts, Alberta, in early 2024. The two men were charged in 2022 with mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and were sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison. Their defense lawyers had appealed both the convictions and sentence, arguing that there were irreconcilable errors made by the trial judge. However, the appeal court rejected these arguments and upheld the original convictions. The jury acquitted them on a charge of conspiring to kill RCMP officers but found them guilty of the other charges.

Written for “Alberta Court Upholds Blockade Convic…” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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0 of 6 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

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not political

takes no side on a contested political question

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52/100

The Globe and Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

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Bill Graveland

19 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction

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All 19 articles by Bill Graveland →

Narrative

Claims (6 extracted, 0 hedged)

Alberta’s top court has upheld the convictions of two leaders of the COVID-19 border blockade at Coutts, Alta. asserted

court → uphold → Coutts

Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick were charged in 2022 and convicted by a jury in 2024. asserted

Carbert → charge → 2024

They were sentenced to six-and-a-half years for mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. asserted

They → sentence → purpose

Jurors found them not guilty on a charge of conspiring to kill RCMP officers. asserted

them → find → officers

Lawyers for the two men appealed both the convictions and sentence, saying the trial judge made irreconcilable errors. asserted

judge → appeal → errors

But the Alberta Court of Appeal, in written judgment, rejected their arguments. asserted

Court → write → arguments

Alberta’s top court upholds convictions of leaders of the COVID-19 blockade

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Claims (6 extracted, 0 hedged)