Alberta Court of Appeal Upholds Mischief Conviction of Calgary Pastor for Coutts Border Protest

Pastor Artur Pawlowski speaks at a rally in Edmonton on March 20, 2021, part of a protest against COVID-19 restrictions. Courtesy of Artur Pawlowski

Alberta’s highest court has upheld the mischief conviction of a Calgary pastor who was found guilty of inciting protesters to block the highway at the Coutts border crossing in 2022.

The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled Oct. 29 that Pastor Artur Pawlowski “did not act with legal justification” when he “incited” protesters to continue blocking Highway 4 in Coutts, Alta.

The province’s highest court issued its unanimous ruling seven weeks after final arguments were heard by a panel of three judges.

Pawlowski was sentenced to 60 days in jail in May of 2023 after Justice Gordon Krinke found him guilty of counselling mischief. The pastor was released following the verdict because he had already served 78 days in pre-trial custody.

The sentence was connected to Mr. Pawlowski’s 17-minute speech in Coutts, Alta., during the Freedom Convoy protests. The speech was delivered Feb. 3, 2022, the fifth day of the protests, when a border blockade had already been formed to protest pandemic-related mandates and restrictions.

A video of his speech served as a key piece of evidence in the case.

Defence lawyer Sarah Miller argued during the appeal that her client was merely communicating with protesters and did not instigate any obstruction of the highway.

The majority opinion, supported by a concurring decision from Justice Frans Slatter, indicated justices Alice Woolley and Willie de Wit found the grounds of appeal raised by Pawlowski’s lawyer to be invalid.

The pastor intended “to incite others to continue physically interfering with the highway” a goal they considered “fundamentally different” from one that is “solely communicative,” justices Alice Woolley and Willie de Wit wrote.

“A reasonable person would understand the appellant’s speech to be an active inducement of the illegal activity that was ongoing and that the appellant intended for his speech to be so understood,” the decision reads.

No Charter Justification: Judge

The protesters had made a deal with the RCMP to leave the border crossing and travel to Edmonton prior to Pawlowski’s Feb. 3 speech. But the pastor urged them to stay.

“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes,” Pawlowski said in his speech. “Don’t you dare go breaking the line.”

The protesters ultimately decided to continue the blockade for two additional weeks.

Miller argued that Pawlowski was within his legal rights to deliver the speech, citing his entitlement to freedom of expression under the Charter.

But Slater disagreed.

“The Charter does not provide justification to anybody who incites a third party to commit such crimes,” the judge wrote.

“While the appellant is correct that peaceful, lawful and nonviolent communication is entitled to protection, blockading a highway is an inherently aggressive and potentially violent form of conduct, designed to intimidate and impede the movement of third parties.”

Pawlowski said before his trial that if he were found guilty, it would mean “Canada is no longer officially a democracy, it becomes a totalitarian police state.”

Pawlowski said a guilty conviction could also mean politicians are subject to the same charges.

“Imagine a pastor giving a passionate speech in a church sermon. He could be liable,” he said. “Imagine a politician who comes in front of the people and says passionate things that the government doesn’t like. He could be liable. So the implications are unbelievable if I’m guilty.”

Pawlowski is the pastor of the Cave of Adullam church and founder of Street Church Ministries in Calgary.

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.