The Ontario Court of Appeal has convicted Freedom Convoy organizer Pat King for intimidation, and ordered him to return for a re-sentencing hearing at a later date.
King was previously convicted of several offences related to the 2022 trucker protests in downtown Ottawa, and received a conditional sentence and probation, but was acquitted of intimidation charges.
However, prosecutors appealed one of the acquittals, arguing that King’s sentence was too lenient, resulting in the appeal court’s ruling released July 17.
The Freedom Convoy was a loosely affiliated protest movement that saw participants park hundreds of trucks and vehicles in downtown Ottawa in early 2022 to demonstrate against restrictions and vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The blocking off of areas of downtown Ottawa by protesters lasted for about three weeks from late January until mid-February.
Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau broke up the protest by invoking the Emergencies Act.
King’s Case
Court findings describe King as a prominent Freedom Convoy organizer who helped lead vehicles to Ottawa, coordinated supplies, and used social media to direct protest activities.
In 2024, he was found guilty of five offences including mischief, counselling mischief, and breaching a court order.
King was given a 12-month conditional sentence for conviction on these five offences, with nine months credited for time already served and three months of house arrest, along with one year of probation.
The trial judge acquitted King of three intimidation charges he faced in 2024. However, the Crown appealed one of the acquittals finding King innocent of intimidation by obstructing a highway, and the appeal court agreed with the Crown.
“The freedom to protest does not include the right to engage in illegal conduct, and this protest evolved into what can fairly be described as an illegal occupation of a significant tract of downtown Ottawa,” the three-judge panel wrote in its ruling.
“Put simply, criminal conduct is not less criminal because it occurs during a lawful protest,” they added.
‘Lenient Penalty’
In their decision, the appeal court judges say King’s 2024 punishment was a “lenient penalty,” and note that the trial judge in 2024 had been concerned that a tough sentence against King might discourage people from making their voices heard in future political protests.
The appeal court rejected the previous judge’s characterization of the protests as lawful events that got “out of control.”
“This was not a peaceful protest that ‘unfortunately grew out of control and was allowed to go on and on and morphed into criminal activity,’ as the trial judge suggested in his sentencing reasons,” the decision said.
“Rather, this was, from the outset, a coordinated, targeted attack on Ottawa residents aimed at coercing change through highly disruptive criminal conduct.”
Separately, a federal court has ruled that the federal government erred in invoking the Emergencies Act to clear the protest, with an appeal court upholding that decision, saying the government overreached. The federal government has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada.
“The Federal Court of Appeal confirms that the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act was unreasonable and ultra vires [beyond their legal authority], and that it infringed paragraph 2(b) and section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” the Federal Court of Appeal ruled on Jan. 16.
A public inquiry, mandated under the Emergencies Act whenever it is invoked, concluded in 2023 that the government met the “very high” threshold required to use the act.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
