OTTAWA, ON: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is pleased to announce that Harold Jonker, a trucking company owner, has been acquitted on all charges related to his peaceful involvement in the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa. The decision was delivered today by Justice Kevin B. Phillips of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Mr. Jonker, a trucker from West Lincoln in Ontario’s Niagara region, joined the Freedom Convoy as a “road captain” for the Niagara contingent and arrived in Ottawa on January 28, 2022. He remained in the capital for three weeks.
During that time, he parked his vehicle along Coventry Road—away from the downtown—and was not fined or charged with any offences while in the city.
Fifteen months after the protest ended, in May 2023, police charged Mr. Jonker with mischief, counselling mischief, intimidation, and counselling intimidation.
The allegations included that he helped organize and lead part of the Convoy, and that multiple trucks affiliated with his business, Jonker Trucking Inc., were present in downtown Ottawa during the protest.
Mr. Jonker’s trial took place from May 12 to 14, 2025, before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa. The Crown presented four witnesses, including two police officers and two civilians.
In delivering his oral judgment on May 20, 2025, Justice Phillips addressed two main themes advanced by the Crown.
First, the Crown argued that interviews given by Mr. Jonker during and after the protest amounted to counselling mischief. However, Justice Phillips found that Mr. Jonker was treated by interviewers like a “foreign correspondent”—someone describing events as he witnessed them. While supportive of the protest, Mr. Jonker’s words were expressions of opinion, not incitement to unlawful action.
Second, the Crown alleged that Mr. Jonker was responsible for Jonker Trucking vehicles that were observed in the downtown core. But the Court found insufficient evidence to show that Mr. Jonker had control over those trucks.
Justice Phillips noted that, in Crown-submitted videos, Mr. Jonker explicitly stated that his own truck was parked in a yard, not downtown.
Furthermore, the Crown offered no evidence regarding the corporate structure of Jonker Trucking Inc. that could prove Mr. Jonker had authority over vehicles belonging to the company.
Justice Phillips concluded that while the broader Freedom Convoy could be seen as a collective act of mischief, the Crown had failed to prove that Mr. Jonker was guilty of any of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Constitutional lawyer Chris Fleury welcomed the decision, stating, “Harold and I are elated with the outcome of his case. We agree with the trial judge that the Crown had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Following the acquittal, Mr. Jonker expressed his gratitude, stating, “We are very thankful for the excellent legal support provided by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, and thankful that the judge saw through the Crown’s weak case and had the courage to do the right thing.”
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