Alberta
What Was The Dangerous Purpose?
From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
By Ray McGinnis
During the trial, RCMP officers described what they found as “pipe bombs” in the Tony Olienick’s Claresholm, AB, property after his arrest. They alleged that these were to be used for a dangerous purpose. During the Coutts Blockade, the “explosive” device remained on Olienick’s property, a two-hour drive away.
On August 2, a Lethbridge jury found Chris Carbert and Tony Olienick not guilty of the most serious charge of conspiracy to commit murder of police officers. However, both were found guilty of possession of weapons for a dangerous purpose.”
After the verdict, Newsweek reported “documents obtained under an Access to Information and Privacy Act request showed that the RCMP had been profiling protesters by running license plates through databases, then focusing in on those who possessed federal gun licenses.”
Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose
Olienick’s lawyer, Marilyn Burns told this reporter of the charge, “I have not found a case where the charge of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose has not been twinned with an act of murder, violence.” This section of the Canadian Criminal Code, she explained, “has two categories: “dangerous purpose for the public peace” or for “another criminal act.” The charge brought by the Crown against Carbert and Olienick was for “possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose” being “dangerous for the public peace.”
Tony Olienick didn’t have any weapons while he was standing outside of Smugglers Saloon at the time he was arrested. He had a rifle and a 22, and had moved them from his truck to the trailer. There were several guns in the trailer Chris Carbert was sleeping in at the time of his arrest. However, when he came out of the trailer to be arrested, he was unarmed. During the trial, it was confirmed it’s not illegal to have firearms in your camper trailer. It’s legal to have firearms for self-defence in your camper trailer to defend yourself against a civilian intruder. No guns were seen in public. Carbert, Olienick (and Lysak) snuck the guns into the trailer when no one saw them to make it safe – so nothing would happen accidentally to someone in view.
What was the Dangerous Purpose?
Chris Carbert’s lawyer, Katherin Beyak, summarized, “The evidence wasn’t there for Chris needing to have a firearm for self-defence at the blockade, that evidence just didn’t come forward. That’s why I’m trying to figure out what the dangerous purpose was. Other than, perhaps, the jury didn’t think there was a valid purpose for having a firearm at the protest. I don’t know, and we can’t ask them (the jury).” Asked about the jury decision, Beyak said the jury decision may have been “more of a statement that this was supposed to be peaceful, and you shouldn’t have had firearms there.”
The message from this verdict to Canadians may mean even if you are unarmed, you shouldn’t have firearms in the vicinity of a municipality where there is a protest.
Explosive Witness Testimony
The jury also found Tony Olienick guilty of possession of explosives for a dangerous purpose.
Brian Lambert, a sandstone quarry owner and colleague of Olienick, testified at the trial. He described an explosive device, nicknamed “firecrackers” in the business, he observed Olienick use years ago. Lambert testified Tony Olienick use these “firecrackers” to dislodge stone that would get sold and repurposed for construction. Olienick’s father served as a peacekeeper in the Canadian Armed Forces in Cypress. A stone quarry in southern Alberta occasionally got drill bits stuck in the stone. Olienick’s father created an explosive device with plumbing pipe, ordinary gunpowder, and a fuse that can be purchased at a hobby store. It was used to dislodge drill bits from a stone. After he died, the “firecracker” device was gathered up by Tony Olienick along with other items from his father’s estate. The son moved it onto his property. While the late Mr. Olienick had a permit to use the device, his son didn’t renew the permit for the explosive device.
Marilyn Burns, lawyer for Tony Olienick, relates the RCMP went through everything to find that device in a pile of other belongings of her client’s late father. During the trial, RCMP officers described what they found as “pipe bombs” in the Tony Olienick’s Claresholm, AB, property after his arrest. They alleged that these were to be used for a dangerous purpose. During the Coutts Blockade, the “explosive” device remained on Olienick’s property, a two-hour drive away.
A Warning
One takeaway from the jury verdict: if you go to a protest, make sure any explosive device you have at your property has a permit. Otherwise, even if the device in question is a two-hour drive away, you could be found guilty of possession of explosives for a dangerous purpose.
This commentary is second of a three part series. Read part one here, and three here.
Ray McGinnis is a Senior Fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. His forthcoming book is Unjustified: The Emergencies Act and the Inquiry that Got It Wrong
Alberta
Danielle Smith confirms Alberta will introduce bill to ban men from competing in women’s sports
From LifeSiteNews
Proposed legislation would apply to ‘all competitive women’s and girls’ sports and all provincial sporting organizations as well as in our schools and postsecondary competitive sporting divisions,’ the Alberta premier said.
Alberta will soon introduce a law that bans gender-confused men from competing in women’s sports, Premier Danielle Smith announced.
“As it pertains to women and girls in competitive sports, proposed legislation will be tabled that prohibits individuals born biologically male from competing against women and girls in competitive sporting competitions,” Smith said earlier in the week in an announcement on her X account.
The new law will mean that women and girls in the province will be protected from having to compete against biological men who claim to be women in all sporting scenarios.
Smith, who leads the ruling United Conservative Party (UCP), said the new law will apply to “all competitive women’s and girls’ sports and all provincial sporting organizations as well as in our schools and postsecondary competitive sporting divisions.”
Smith noted that her government would “support the formation of additional” and possibly transgender-only “coed and recreational divisions so that all athletes have as many opportunities as possible to compete in their sport of choice.”
Smith said that before her new bill is tabled in the legislature she is looking to “depoliticize the discussion and focus on the well-being of the children and youth most affected by these policies.”
Earlier in the year, she said her government was looking to bring forth legislation banning gender-confused men from competing in women’s sports.
Alberta’s new law prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports comes after studies have repeatedly revealed that gender-confused males have a considerable advantage over women in athletics.
Indeed, a recent study published in Sports Medicine found that a year of transgender hormone drugs results in “very modest changes” in the inherent strength advantages of men.
Smith’s announcement about banning biological men from competing in women’s sports comes at the same time she promised a much-anticipated bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology will be tabled in the legislature in the coming days.
The news of the new bill also comes as the UCP looks to November to bring forth a resolution that calls on the government to introduce a law protecting “female spaces” for biological females and their children.
The UCP under Smith wants to bring forth laws focusing on parental rights as well as protecting Albertans’ general rights.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, part of Smith’s new bill would allow parents to opt their children into sexual education lessons rather than opt them out.
LifeSiteNews recently reported on forthcoming legislation to be introduced by the UCP that includes a provision that would cement parental rights as a “God-given right,” with the goal to prevent government overreach into parents raising kids.
It is expected that the UCP government will introduce its new “Bill of Rights” this fall. The bill contains a slew of pro-freedom proposals, including enshrining the “right to life” into law from “conception, gestation in the womb.”
The bill also includes a section that guarantees each citizen has the “right” to medical “informed consent” as well as the “right” to “refuse vaccinations.”
Alberta
Danielle Smith hits back at Liberal ‘gender’ minister who attacked Alberta’s pro-family legislation
From LifeSiteNews
The Alberta premier fact-checked pro-LGBT Minister of Women and Gender Equality Marci Ien’s condemnation of pro-family legislation, pointing out that children who undergo irreversible gender surgeries and drugs suffer from the repercussions for life.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith blasted a Liberal minister for spreading the false claim that legislation will hurt gender-confused kids.
In an Oct. 1 exchange on X, formerly known as Twitter, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith fact-checked pro-LGBT Minister of Women and Gender Equality Marci Ien’s condemnation of pro-family legislation, pointing out that children who undergo irreversible gender surgeries and drugs suffer from the repercussions for life.
“Premier Smith is doubling down on her plans to target trans youth,” Ien had written. “She says this conversation is only for ‘adults.’ That’s because she knows that if she listened to the people affected by these policies, she would have to face how many kids she is hurting.”
“Do you mean like listening to children going through this, @MarciIen?” Smith questioned, linking to a National Post article highlighting the pain and regret by detransitioners who made irreversible decision to take drugs and surgeries to change their bodies as young teens.
Do you mean like listening to children going through this, @MarciIen? 👇 https://t.co/S6jPYuoRGN pic.twitter.com/zldO6immhj
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) October 2, 2024
Later, Smith doubled down on her stance, saying, “In Alberta, we believe children should wait until adulthood before making physical changes to their body.”
“Furthermore, we believe in the rights of loving parents to be meaningfully engaged with their children’s education when sensitive issues are taught,” she continued. “And women and girls deserve the opportunity to compete fairly and safely in female-only divisions.”
In Alberta, we believe children should wait until adulthood before making physical changes to their body.
Furthermore, we believe in the rights of loving parents to be meaningfully engaged with their children’s education when sensitive issues are taught.
And women and girls… pic.twitter.com/pLeaYtkXqZ
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) October 2, 2024
Smith’s new legislation, which will take effect later this month, far surpasses other provinces in its protection of children and would make Alberta’s parental rights laws the strongest in the country.
Licensed doctors are prohibited from performing sex-change surgeries on youth under age 18 in Alberta. Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones will be prohibited for minors under the age of 16 unless the minors have already begun taking those drugs.
Those “born biologically male” will be prohibited from competing against women and girls in competitive sports. Parental opt-in will be required for “each instance” a teacher wishes to discuss gender identity, sexual orientation, or human sexuality.
Parental notification is required for “socially transitioning” a student — that is, changing a student’s given name or pronouns. Unfortunately, 16- and 17-year-olds are still allowed to decide to change their name or pronouns in school, but parents must be notified.
While Smith has received severe backlash from LGBT activists, she revealed in February that the new legislation was a result of hearing of the horrors that took place at the U.K.’s Tavistock Centre, the National Health Service’s “gender clinic” for children who believe they are “transgender.”
In 2019, the clinic was exposed for approving “life-changing medical intervention” for children and teens “without sufficient evidence of its long-term effects.” Shortly after, the clinic was forced to shut down.
Smith was especially touched by the story of Keira Bell, who was given puberty blockers and testosterone injections by the Tavistock clinic and underwent a double mastectomy at age 20. She now “very seriously regrets the process” and has joined a lawsuit against the clinic.
Unfortunately, Bell’s story is not unique, as overwhelming evidence reveals that those who undergo so-called “gender transitioning” are more likely to commit suicide than those who are not given irreversible surgery. A Swedish study found that those who underwent so-called “gender reassignment” surgery ended up with a 19.2 times greater risk of suicide.
In fact, in addition to asserting a false reality that one’s sex can be changed, transgender surgeries and drugs have been linked to permanent physical and psychological damage, including cardiovascular diseases, loss of bone density, cancer, strokes and blood clots, infertility, and suicidality.
Indeed, there is proof that the most loving and helpful approach to people who think they are a different sex is not to validate them in their confusion but to show them the truth.
A new study on the side effects of transgender “sex change” surgeries discovered that 81 percent of those who had undergone “sex change” surgeries in the past five years reported experiencing pain simply from normal movement in the weeks and months that followed — and that many other side effects manifest as well.
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