The undercover Mountie asked if he had misinterpreted Coutts protest at the border

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — An undercover Mountie who infiltrated the Coutts border roadblock faced questions in court Thursday about her police work and whether she misinterpreted what was really going on.

The officer, who cannot be identified, was being questioned by a lawyer for one of two men accused of conspiring to kill police at the 2022 blockade.

Anthony (Tony) Olienick and Chris Carbert are on trial in the Court of King’s Bench on charges related to the blockade that snarled traffic at the Canada-U.S. border in Coutts, Alta., for two weeks to protest COVID-19 restrictions and of vaccination mandates.

The officer, identified in court only as HQ1298, posed as a volunteer at the roadblock.

She testified that Olienick told her he expected to die in the confrontation and planned to cut the police’s throats.

She said Olienick also referred to the police as the “arms of the devil,” which she explained was a way of saying the police were doing the bidding of “the devil” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Defense lawyer Katherin Beyak suggested to the officer that the focus of the protest — and most supporters — was anger at the government and not the RCMP.

“What I’m going to suggest is the frustration that was expressed, not only by Tony, but by other people … it was with the government as opposed to the RCMP. Would you agree with that?” Beyak asked.

“No,” the officer replied.

“The only person who talks excessively about the police or the RCMP is Tony.

“My conversations with Mr. Olienick are very focused on the existence of a war. No one else is talking about there being a war going on with the… RCMP”.

Beyak is Carbert’s lawyer, but most of the Crown’s testimony so far has focused on Olienick’s actions and words.

HQ1298 testified about his conversations and the subsequent notes he made of the conversations with Olienick

Beyak suggested that the notes lacked critical context as they only referred to what Olienick said and not what HQ1298 said.

“If I had said something significant, obviously I would have documented it,” the officer replied.

“My goal is to see what the truth is. Nothing more, nothing less.”

When it came to the second accused, Carbert, the officer told the court she was not introduced to him until several days into the undercover operation and her interactions with him were limited.

“During (the first two days) I understand you had no contact or even saw Mr Carbert. Correct? Beyak asked.

The officer replied that he did not know that he had seen Carbert once and would not have known who he was if he had been around on the second occasion.

“You obviously had no interaction with him,” Beyak said.

“No, I didn’t.”

A second undercover officer, known as HQ1516, took the stand in the late afternoon.

She said she has been working undercover since 2015 and spent just two days in Coutts. She was asked by Crown prosecutor Steven Johnston about undercover agents using love to get information.

“You will never violate anyone’s sexual integrity. You are not covered (legally) as well as morally. It’s just not something I would do for myself or anyone else,” HQ1516 said.

Olienick and Carbert were arrested after Mounties found a cache of weapons, armor and ammunition in trailers in the area.

The two are also charged with mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Olienick faces an additional charge of possession of a pipe bomb.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 13, 2024.

— By Bill Graveland in Calgary

The Canadian Press