I’m at the courthouse in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Moments ago, I watched a judge convict Pastor Artur Pawlowski for giving a sermon to the trucker convoy near the Coutts border crossing last year.

Frankly, I’m stunned. Prosecuting and convicting Christian pastors for giving sermons is something you’d expect in a place like China, not Canada.

But Justice Gordon Krinke said that Pastor Artur’s sermon was not protected by freedom of speech or freedom of religion. And he said it wasn’t just “information”.

Even though the truckers had been blockading the U.S.-Canada border for days before Artur arrived, the judge said Artur “incited” them to break the law. The judge said that when Pastor Artur referred to Poland’s “Solidarity” movement — Pastor Artur is Polish himself — it was an incitement to paralyze the country, like they did in Poland during Soviet times.

And the judge said he was convinced “beyond a reasonable doubt” that all this was a crime.

I spoke with Pastor Artur immediately after the conviction. And he hasn’t given up. Remember, he’s been fighting for years — this is just the latest battle, not the end of the war.

For one thing, Pastor Artur is challenging the constitutionality of one of the laws used to get him — the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act. That’s a law brought in to fight against eco-terrorism, like if Greenpeace might vandalize a pipeline. The judge said that Pastor Artur’s speech incited truckers to block a highway, and that’s critical infrastructure, so he convicted him under that eco-terrorism law. Unbelievable.

But remember: Pastor Artur has lost before. Two years ago, a judge convicted him of opening his church during the lockdowns, and gave him a bitter sentence. But Pastor Artur kept fighting — and three Court of Appeal judges unanimously overturned his conviction.

And Pastor Artur made it crystal clear to me: he’ll keep fighting for freedom.

And we’ll keep reporting on his fight every step of the way — even as the CBC and the rest of the media party denounce him, and laugh at his persecution.

Yours truly,

Ezra Levant

P.S. This is disappointing. But no-one said fighting for freedom is easy.

P.P.S. How do you feel about a two-day trial going through a Christian pastor’s sermon line by line? That’s what Canada has become. Rebel News believes in freedom of speech and freedom of religion for everyone.