Coutts 3 Trial: Publication ban, importance of juries and COVID-19 as an ‘awakening’

The jury is uh one of those important measures that we have thought so important that it was entrenched in our constitution in 1982 by way of section 11f such that every individual prosecuted of a crime which may be punishable by 5 years in jail or more

Has the option uh to elect to be Tried by 12 randomly selected citizens to ensure that Justice is carried out according to uh their fellow countrymen that forget about it and rely on everybody else to do it but it’s people that can hold the hold them to account

Accountability is what’s the main thing here that’s lacking in our society so we have a federal government that took it upon themselves to implement and use the highest Powers available to any government in this country by invoking the act and suppressing the rights the charter rights constitution rights of Canadians on information

That was false a publication ban has been applied upon the proceedings in the trial of the Cs 3 Alex Van herk George Jansen and Marco van hugan boss three men charged with Mischief for their involvement in the CPS blockade of 2022 Robert kichik here reporting for Rebel news in Lethbridge Alberta outside its

Courthouse the Cs blockade was a peaceful demonstration obstructing traffic across the US Canada Border located in CS Alberta between Alberta and Montana it occurred around the same time as the freedom Convoy demonstration in Ottawa Ontario and both shared the same goal they were opposed to orders edicts decrees mandates issued by

Various levels of government as part of what I refer to as the covid 19 Enterprise ostensibly for the purpose of so-called Public Health in response to covid-19 now folks please remember that we need your financial support to fuel to fund this sort of in the- field

Journalism on my part I came in from Ottawa so you guys can chip in to assist in my economy airfare my economy accommodation to help us keep doing this and you can also contribute to the defense fund for the three defendants and if you do so you’ll be issued a

Charitable receipt by the Democracy fund which is administering this fundraising effort so please visit Cs 3.com and help us as you can since the proceedings of this trial which began last week are under a publication ban issued by the judge we cannot disclose what’s going on inside the courtroom but

We can do which is still of interest and value to the dear Rebel news audience is speak in Broad terms about certain mechanics that are relevant to this case specifically we can discuss at some point publication bans and I was fortunate enough to speak with one of the defense lawyers Michael Johnston who

Explained the importance of juries in the context of Western criminal justice so Michael why don’t you talk to us about um why juries are important and how they might be a sort of Bull workk against tyranny or centralized government control I mean it’s a a very involved question I’m not sure how easy

It is to reduce to a couple of sound bites but I think In fairness for a long period of time uh juries have existed as you’ve said uh in their conceptualization as a a Bull workk against uh the oppressive machinations of the government um because 12 individuals are randomly selected from

Society and and brought forward in order to render a general ener verdict and in rendering a general verdict 12 ordinary randomly selected individuals uh determine according to the facts and and the law as it is given to them uh by their judge and uh by their conscience

What will ultimately be just in their communities in in society at large so uh historically since you know uh 1670 one of the famous cases uh in jury law is the case of William Penn and William me who were prose uted for unlawful assembly pursuant to I think it was then

The conventicle act that forbade more than five people uh publicly Gathering and so they were prosecuted for this they were uh Quakers and and they were meeting for religious purposes and uh ultimately the jury that was uh determining their case refused to convict them despite the suggestions by

The trial judge that they should do so the jury was ultimately imprisoned and fined because they refused to find the the individuals guilty though it appeared as if the facts and the law allowed of no other course and subsequent to that there is what’s known as bushel case which decided that juries

Could not be punished or fined for acting in accordance with their conscience uh there’s certainly been a lot of other jury decisions that are notable in the United States or in the American colonies before the Revolution there was the case of John Peter zanger in Canada in 1835 there was famously the

Case of Joseph how who had uh published some things that were critical of the local conary and and the local Judiciary and at the time uh publishing lials did not allow for example for truth to be a defense and uh in his defense when he represented himself before the jury he functionally said

That what he had published was true and he was simply seeking to to be critical of of of the local government and given uh the problems that there in existed he he had no other option but to publish these things and the jury in that case

Fa famously refused to convict him um Dr Henry Morgan toer is one of the classic Canadian examples of where uh a jury uh several juries functionally refused to convict Dr Morgan toer where his uh actions could uh be said to have uh violated factually what uh the law was

Then with respect to the provision of abortion services and though the law would have required him to also be found guilty jur didn’t convict in in that case and so you have some examples for example largely hundreds of years ago uh people gathering in violations of certain laws or the

Publications of what was then uh seditious lials that didn’t provide truth as a defense or other actions that ultimately Society might not uh be in agreement with though the laws that have been passed on their behalf seem to suggest are problematic so the jury injects importantly a uh public

Conscience into the prosecution of laws because of course we elect individuals and uh the individuals act as our expedience to pass laws and and help organize Society but at the back end when those laws are being uh apply to certain scenarios and factual sets of circumstances uh Ordinary People are

Brought back into the equation to determine if what is happening is truly in Conformity with what they uh wish to have happen so in in some ways trial by jury remains an important affirmation of the notion of popular sovereignty I know that Frederick Douglas the the famous uh

American Thinker talking on on the subject of of slavery once said that a uh individual rights are importantly predicated on three boxes The Ballot Box the jury box and the cartridge box and um the jury is uh one of those important measures that we have thought so

Important that it was entrenched in our constitution in 1982 by way of section 11f such that every individual prosecuted of a crime which may be punishable by 5 years in jail or more has the option uh to elect to be Tried by 12 randomly selected citizens to ensure that Justice is carried out

According to uh their fellow countrymen I was also fortunate to speak with two of the defendants Marco Von hugan boss and also Alex Van herk the former reflected on the final days of the Cs blockade and addressed certain misunderstandings regarding the application of the emergencies act by prime minister Justin

Trudeau in relation to the Cs blockade specifically he explained that while the Cs blockade was used as a pretext or rationale for the invocation of the emergencies act the powers given by the emergencies act were not used to end the Cs blockade now the latter Alex Van herk

Reflected on what he sort of described as a political and philosophical Awakening that occurred within him and many that he knew as a function of the abuses and coercion of the covid-19 Enterprise and Alex I want you to speak to the audience about how the time that I describe as

The covid-19 Enterprise led to was sort of political philosophical Evolution or development for yourself and people that you knew did you see people’s minds being opened or changed based on what they were experiencing and dealing with oh definitely um I I feel covid was an Awakening for a lot of people uh this

Supression I feel people felt that there was something wrong and they knew that with the supression of what was happening that the only way they can change it is by standing up and and uh getting vocal about it and getting involved I look at what transpired after

CS I mean the the whole political movement in Alberta with Jason Kenny and and uh getting him ousted out of his as Premier and take back Alberta movement that started up so there was a big movement in our community and in our friends circle that got involved in the

Political um world of it and to this they are still involved and have realized that yes people can make change but you have to to be involved you have to take part whether it’s in a municipal level uh or or even in a Town Council libraries any any school boards anything

That you can get involved in to make change because the wokeness of the the left leaning people they have all the time it seems like to be involved and we’re too busy working and taking care of our families and doing things that we forget about it and rely on everybody

Else to do it but it’s people that can hold the hold them to account accountability is what’s the main thing here that’s lacking in our society so I’m here with Marco one of the defendants here this week Marco would you share some information with our audience about the timeline leading up

To the conclusion of the Cs blockade and things that might be of interest to the audience uh in regards to that yeah so the public perception out there is that um the EA the emergencies Act was invoked and that led to the resolution of the CS blockade and and that’s that’s

A false narrative the the Cs blockade was um Peace peacefully resolved the the protesters down there um after the arrests uh that happened in the evening of the February the 13th leading into the morning of the 14th decided that um what the the the objectives they were

Looking to achieve were no longer um were no longer possible due to the uh uh false narrative that the Legacy Media had spun at that time we at that time we didn’t know what was what was right and and and and what was the truth and the

Fact that that was a false false narrative that that has since come out over the last um year and a half two years but on the morning of the uh 14th we um worked members of the the protest worked with the RCMP to come to an agreement that would involve the

Blockade being lifted immediately and the protesters being allowed or having the official um approval to stay in the capacity lawfully uh at that location to uh leave the morning at 9:00 the morning of the 15th and in leaving um leaving behind nothing other than a possible oil

Stain on the middle of the highway so the the Cs blockade and the events of the the evening of the 13th and the morning of the 14th were a a big factor in the in in Ottawa um as a reason to invoke the emergencies act but the authority given the government under the

Legislation of the Act was never used in CS the the the information that the Alberta Government and the RCMP used during the poec was that the the Cs blockade was resolved and that they that that that was something they did but the real story is is that protesters decided

To to leave to to to leave peacefully uh as peacefully as they had been there for for those 18 days the duration of those 18 days and and that’s exactly what happened at 9:45 the morning of the 15th if I would have spoken to you let’s say

Five or 10 years ago or these people in your familial or friendship or professional circles five or 10 years ago would you say there was um perhaps a different perspective or a lower level of awareness of these things about which which you’re discussing oh 100% I think

Even myself 5 years ago I mean I guess we lived to through an era was probably one of to free Us erors in society the 70s and 80s were were the best I mean we could carry rifles in our back window and and I mean we were able to do

Anything leave your keys and your vehicle so we lived in a pretty uh free Society through them years it’s the 2000s is kind of where I started seeing some change and then the slower to change but we were still quite free but it was Co that really suppressed people

And woke people up to to what was happening and probably the biggest thing what changed was the mandating of these uh when they started mandating these vaccines is what really made change in Alberta when people most people you know your bodily autonomy is is up to you to

Your choice and when they started mandating that and and and I seen a lot of people that’s what drove the whole Convoy to to Ottawa was when the truckers were good enough to haul all the products and and they couldn’t go into restaurants or nothing for two

Years and then all of a sudden the truckers weren’t allowed to go anywhere unless they were vaccinated that’s when I said the tyranny of it the the the what’s the right word the Russian control yeah the control of it it’s like okay there’s there’s a different agenda

Behind this and I think a lot of people saw that and said there’s more behind it than just the the co and uh I think that’s what woke a lot of people up so definitely the change I felt Co really made a change in people to wake up and

Stand up so just to make sure I understand this clearly to summarize things the CPS blockade was not ended via the emergencies act Powers yet the Cs blockade was used by the government as a pretext for invocation of the emergencies act and that there’s this perception out there I

Think myself include I’m guilty of that I thought the emergencies act itself was used to empower police to end the cous blockade but that wasn’t the case no Ottawa needed um needed a a good reason to invoke the act right it’s it’s the highest uh legislative power available

To any government in this country and they needed um serious serious reasons to invoke the act and and the and the scenario and the details that came out of the Cs blockade were in their mind serious enough even though the recent Mosley decision determined that the government was unjustified in their

Invoc in in invoking the meres act um but like you just asked that is correct the resolution of the Cs blockade was a decision made by protesters in in um cooporation with the RCMP and the emergencies Act and the implementation of the act and even the rumors of the ACT being discussed that

Didn’t matter to us you got to remember this is Alberta and no disrespect to Ottawa but Alberta isn’t really overly fond of Ottawa and and and what Ottawa wants what Ottawa thinks doesn’t really have an effect in Alberta so um while being respectful we frankly didn’t give

A what Ottawa wanted and and what they thought at that time what we were discussing earlier regarding the photographic evidence of firearms versus the claims made by police to again justify the emergencies AC invocation can you share some information with our audience regarding a discrepancy of

Timeline yeah so so now two more than two years after the the blockades and the protests um there is now sworn evidence that states that the RCMP had no physical visual or factual evidence of firearms until the search warrants were executed on the morning of the 14th

Uh Western Standard time or or sorry Mountain Standard Time so Alberta time so we’re we’re in the 14th so let’s just stick to dates here uh what we also know due to the testimony given by cabinet ministers bureaucrats and even the prime minister’s office um during the poec was that on the

13th of February 2022 previous commissioner Brenda lucky informed previous Emergency Management Emergency Management Minister Marco medino that the volatile situation in CPS was due to Firearms weapons guns and that this was up until date up until now the most serious um situation of the protests and blockades across the country this was

The things were escalating and they used the the information that they had received at that time of firearms weapons and guns at Cs on the 13th we now have testimony that until the search warrants were executed on the 14th there was no visible factual or or physical proof of firearms so we now

Have evidence the public now has evidence uh sworn testimony that Ottawa that previous commissioner lucky previous Emergency Management Minister Mark rosino previous or current chief of staff Katie tford and the Prime Minister himself on the 13th during the IRG the incident Response Group leading into um a cabinet Minister uh cabinet meeting

Which then led to a uh first Minister’s meeting and then a Caucus meeting was based on false information we not only have court rulings federal court rulings that that rule the the implementation and and the execution of the act as unconstitutional we don’t have the grounds that the justification was based

On by this government fall away so never mind a government who feels they have the authority to invoke a a a legislation that is available to them we now know that the information they used and that the reasons and the evidence that they said they had this wasn’t rumor they didn’t say there’s

Speculation or there’s rumor or there’s hearing no this was factual this was information relayed to officials the highest Le highest levels of power in this country and we now know know that this evidence was false this information was false so we have a federal government that took it upon themselves

To implement and use the highest Powers available to any government in this country by invoking the act and suppressing the rights the charter rights constitution rights of Canadians on information that was false so so Michael you made some remarks earlier about um jury sort of being subsidiary institutions Downstream of democracy use

The term a little Parliament can you just elaborate on that because I thought that was great it sort of captures the the function the importance of juries oh well uh well I I was simply echoing the the the famous quote of a British judge uh Jus or Lord develin who

Uh in giving some lectures in 1959 known as the Hamlin lectures likened every jury to a little Parliament and suggested that uh the jury sense is much like the Parliamentary sense and that he couldn’t see one surviving uh if the other one died and uh I I believe I I’ve

Already made some remarks that that suggest that uh by involving individuals you know the the common people that we all are in the actions of the government at the front end at the back end we ensure that uh what is actually happening on our behalf is at all times

Kind of in in conform ity with what the people wish because governments are not instituted for the purposes of being bodies upon themselves they exist in order to facilitate and to benefit us the individuals so in terms of the idea that Parliament is ultimately constituted based on uh you know the

Election of individuals and then decisions are made uh by that body similarly uh trial by jury is constituted by a number of individuals that are randomly selected and they’re entrusted with making decisions uh that that create a check and balance on the powers of the government and at

Times we we talk about there being an important Democratic dialogue that exists between the Judiciary and uh uh Parliament and and so oftentimes we hope that the decisions that are made by the court or that emanate from the jury box uh can be heard by Parliament and that informs how

They legislate because we’re we’re not seeking to conflict with one another but hoping that that laws are as I think I I’ve said in Conformity with the wishes of the people to whom ultimately the government should be responding now folks please remember that we need your financial support to

Fuel to fund this sort of in the- field journalism on my part I came in from Ottawa so you guys can chip in to assist in my economy airfare my economy accommodation to help us keep doing this and you can also contribute to the defense defense fund for the three

Defendants and if you do so you’ll be issued a charitable receipt by the Democracy fund which is administering this fundraising effort so please visit Cs 3.com and help us as you can

| FULL REPORT:
Rebel News reporter Robert Kraychik reports on the pre-trial hearings of the Coutts 3 in Lethbridge.

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