Ray McGinnis is a graduate of the Centre for Christian Studies with a B.A. from the University of Toronto, McGinnis worked as an educator in the United Church of Canada for 18 years. For two decades he taught journal writing, poetry and memoir at writing workshops at churches, health care settings, grief support groups, professional development events and retreats across North America. During the Freedom Convoy, he began to write commentaries about the government and media depiction of the protests and the invocation of the Emergencies Act. His forthcoming book discusses these protests, the public inquiry and its report. Over the past few years, Ray has been interviewed by over 150 media outlets across North America and Europe. He is the author of Unanswered Questions: What the September Eleventh Families Asked and the 9/11 Commission Ignored (2021) and Writing the Sacred: A Psalm-inspired Path to Appreciating and Writing Sacred Poetry (2005).
Carbert, Olieneck were found not guilty of conspiracy to murder police.CBC 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...
Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick Courtesy Bridge City News/YouTube The Coutts trial may be over, but the questions it raises about justice and overreach continue. A jury in the trial of Chris Carbert and Anthony “Tony” Olienick rendered a NOT GUILTY verdict...
Imagine spending over two years behind bars, only to be told the evidence never supported the charges against you.
On Aug. 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, though they were declared innocent, the conspiracy charge was the basis for their being held in remand for at least 925 days. They were denied bail based on this charge.
The sentencing hearing for other charges against Carbert and Olienick is taking place this week.
Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert are on trial for conspiracy to commit murder and firearms charges in relation to the Coutts Blockade into mid-February 2022. In opening her case before a Lethbridge, AB, jury on July 11, Olienick’s lawyer, Marilyn Burns stated "This...
A Snapshot of Property Rights Protection in Canada After 10 years
The writ has been dropped and Albertans are off to the polls on May 29. That leaves just four weeks for political leaders and voters to sort out what is arguably the most divisive, yet significant, issue for this election - health care. On Day 2, NDP leader Rachel...
Introduction March 2024 marks the fourth anniversary of one of the most disastrous assaults on human rights in Canadian history. This assault was in synch with what unfolded in democracies across ‘the West.’ In her 2007 book, The End of America: Letter of Warning To A...
Twelve jurors have found the Coutts Three guilty of mischief over $5,000 at a courthouse in Lethbridge, Alberta. Marco Van Huigenbois, Alex Van Herk and George Janzen will appear again in court on July 22 for sentencing. Van Huigenbois, Van Herk and Janzen were each...
Big Topics & Big Ideas
Two of the four men at the Coutts blockade arrested in February 2022, accused of conspiracy to commit murder and mischief – Chris Lysak and Jerry Morin – are free men. They were released on February 6, 2024. They remained in custody in remand centres for 723 days....
Landmark ruling declares invocation of Emergencies Act outright illegal
Dr. Theresa Tam and senior federal health officials walked onto a stage this fall, socially distanced. Each wore masks, addressing an empty room. Have they been living in a bubble? The New York Times reported on February 21, 2023, that wearing masks did nothing to...
Jerry Morin, Chris Carbert, Chris Lysak and Anthony Olienick
Big Topics & Big Ideas
Ray McGinnis has been covering in depth the Trucker Convoy, and the tactics used by the Trudeau Government during the Covid19 Pandemic. He discusses his latest article on what he refers to "the Canadian Political Prisoners" that have now been held for 500 days...