A conditional sentence has been issued for a man charged in connection to the 2022 Coutts border blockade. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

COURTS

Coutts protester receives two-year conditional sentence

Aug 7, 2025 | 7:22 AM

One of the men who took part in the 2022 Coutts border blockade has learned his fate.

Evan Colenutt has been handed a two-year conditional sentence for one count of possessing a weapon dangerous to the public.

It means that he will serve it in the community, and for the first 16 months, he will be under house arrest.

Colenutt will also be faced with a variety of other conditions, such as being unable to change his address, having a mandatory curfew, not being allowed to leave Alberta without written permission from his supervisor or the courts, and not consuming alcohol or drugs.

He was one of several people who were charged in connection with the January and February 2022 protest near the Coutts border crossing, as members called for an end to COVID-19 restrictions and to show opposition to then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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The RCMP claimed that Colenutt was part of a smaller group within the convoy, who allegedly had a “militant mindset.”

Officers seized firearms, body armour and ammunition at the protest site, resulting in the arrests of 15 people, several of whom had their charges stayed.