'A dangerous precedent': Lawyer for Calgary preacher appeals Coutts protest conviction

The lawyers for a Calgary pastor found guilty of mischief for encouraging protesters to continue blocking the Canada-U.S. border crossing in 2022 say he was communicating with attendees, not inciting them, and should have his conviction overturned.

On Tuesday, Artur Pawlowski's appeal was heard by a panel of three Alberta Court of Appeal judges.

Pawlowski was convicted of inciting mischief based on a videotaped speech he gave on Feb. 3, 2022, at the saloon near the Coutts blockade.

Defence lawyer Sarah Miller said her client gave a speech that should be looked at as communicating with protesters but "did not incite interference with the highway."

"The glaring absence of any reference to the blockade or the highway is fatal to the Crown's case and is an error in law," said Miller. 

"It would be a dangerous precedent to say you can't express support of protesters."

'Don't you dare go breaking the line'

On the day of the speech, protesters had made a deal to leave the border crossing and head to Edmonton. 

Pawlowski encouraged those protesting COVID-19 health restrictions to stay in Coutts and hold their ground. 

"The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes. Don't you dare go breaking the line," Pawlowski said in the video.

The protesters ultimately decided to stay and continue their two week on-again, off-again blockade.

Miller said the court was not being asked to approve of Pawlowski's speech, rather to consider it in the context of a "reasonable interpretation of the Criminal Code."

"An acquittal for Mr. Pawlowski does not mean he is standing on the right side of history."

Addressing another area of the appeal, Miller's co-counsel Evan Best argued that Pawlowski was "legally justified to give that speech" under the freedom of expression section of the Charter.

'It crosses a line'

But prosecutor Andrew Barg argued the defence position of legal justification under the free speech section of the Charter "is wrong."

"He can give a speech," said Barg. "But then there's a point where it crosses a line."

That point was when Pawlowski, in his speech, "intentionally incites these people to commit a criminal act," said Barg.

The trial judge, Justice Gordon Krinke, had found that Pawlowski "counselled other persons to interfere with the use of Highway 4 in a manner which rendered it useless."

The court of appeal reserved its decision. 

More than a dozen people were charged in connection with the protests and blockade, including four men accused of conspiracy to murder RCMP officers.

Those men were not convicted of the most serious charge, rather, two pleaded guilty to firearms offences and were released from jail with sentences equal to the time they'd already served. 

The other two were found guilty of firearms violations and mischief following a trial and were handed 6½-year sentences on Monday.