Pair sentenced for involvement in Coutts border blockade

Southern Alberta Newspapers

Two men convicted of mischief over $5,000 for their involvement in the illegal Coutts border blockade in 2022 were sentenced on Jan. 10 in Lethbridge Court of King’s Bench.

Marco Van Huigenbos was sentenced to four months in jail, while Gerhard (George) Janzen received a three month sentence that will be served in the community (conditional sentence order, or CSO) as well as an additional 100 hours of community service.

At trial in 2024, the Crown argued the pair were chief representatives and leaders of the blockade that disrupted cross-border traffic with the U.S. as part of a protest against COVID-19 pandemic rules and vaccine mandates.

A third man convicted in April 2024, Alex Van Herk, was also to have been sentenced Jan. 10 but Van Herk had recently fired his attorney and is being allowed time to secure new legal representation.

Prior to sentencing on Jan. 10, the Crown had been seeking nine months of incarceration for Van Huigenbos, and six months for Janzen.