Convoy trucker ‘confident’ in face of four criminal charges (ft. Harold Jonker)
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Summary
Harold Jonker was a mainstay in the Freedom Convoy protest last year in Ottawa. Now, 14 and a half months later, he is facing 4 criminal charges for his role in this protest. Today, I speak to him from a truck stop.
Transcript
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Today, I wanted to speak to Harold Jonker, who is a man that may be very familiar to
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He was a mainstay, I think, in the Freedom Convoy protest last year in Ottawa.
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He's also had his run-ins in his town of, I think, West Lincoln, when a lot of people
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And now, 14 and a half months after the Freedom Convoy packed up and left Ottawa, he is facing
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four criminal charges for his role in this protest.
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Here's a clip of Harold Jonker after he checked in with the police in his area of Niagara region
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Harold Jonker here, and I just came out of the Niagara Police Station.
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I've been officially charged with four counts of criminal charges, one count of mischief,
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obstruct property, one count of intimidation by blocking or obstructing highway, and then
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two counts of counsel, counsel and uncommittable, no, sorry, counsel and uncommitted indictable
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We'll find out when we go to Ottawa, I imagine.
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Harold joining us now, I believe, from his truck, which is quite fitting, given what we're discussing
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I hope I have enough, good enough service here at Mazzaluna.
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Every eight hours, I've got to take a half-hour break, so I'm taking that half-hour break
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while I'm on the show here, so sitting here in a truck stop.
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Well, I'm honoured you're spending your break talking to us.
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We had a bit of a lag at the beginning, but it corrected at the end, so hopefully we'll
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I played the clip of you reading the charges, but did this come out of nowhere for you,
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It came as a surprise that 14 months later, they're still doing this, and we'll see.
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I'm very thankful the JCCF has been willing to take my case on.
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They were helping me with a few other lawsuits that we were named in, so yeah, we're going
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to be busy with lawyers for a while, so May 10th, I've got to turn myself in, and we'll
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You know, I mentioned earlier, and I didn't mean to downplay your role in this, because
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I know a lot of people speak very favourably of you.
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I know you were interviewed in my colleague Rachel Emanuel's documentary about the convoy,
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the freedom occupation, but you were never one of the most high-profile front and centre
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You weren't the one that was on TV doing the press conferences.
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Like what one of the other leaders said, too, it's like, you know, why are they going
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And, and, and, and yeah, like, why me out of everybody that was there?
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So it's, it's, it's kind of interesting to definitely scratch in your head.
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But at the same time, I was, I was Niagara's captain going in and it was, so yeah, interesting.
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Now, are you nervous about, and again, I don't know the nature of, of your trucking business.
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So perhaps you could elaborate on that, but are you nervous about the effect that these
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charges could have on your ability to do your work?
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I, I, I, I don't think, well, I know I'm not guilty.
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That's one thing, but to see where it ends up, if I do have criminal charges against me
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and I, and, and that sticks, then I don't think I'll be able to cross the border.
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I got other work that I can keep busy with in the office, but I do enjoy what I'm doing.
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And that's trucking across the continent and enjoying that part of the job.
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So there's some concern there, but at the same time, no, I'm not concerned.
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You know, the truth, like I said earlier, the truth will prevail and I don't, I, you
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But hopefully we, we can show to the judge, the end of the courts there that we're not
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guilty and continue on in our life of traveling of this continent into the U.S.
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as, as much as I do and crossing Canada as much as I do.
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So, um, yeah, if, if I do get charged, we'll, we'll have to adjust life somewhat, but not
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Right now you're, you're coming across as I'd say quite nonchalant about it.
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I know in that video, uh, the full version that I played the clip from earlier, you were
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cracking jokes about being a, you know, a mischievous person.
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How do you take this and not be upset about this?
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I mean, how do you just let this roll off your back as well as you seem to be doing?
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Um, I, my, my, my Christian background, I, um, I, I'm comforted in the fact that we, we
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So we're, that, that does give me the greatest comfort that, that anybody can receive.
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You know, we were called to, to do the best we can.
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And after that, we, we need to leave it in, in, in the good Lord's hand.
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Um, and yeah, it's, uh, it, it might be interesting where it goes, but life is supposed to be
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So looking forward to, to whatever the Lord decides to do with me.
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Uh, now you mentioned that the, uh, the justice center for constitutional freedoms is taking
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And I, I should just disclose to my audience as I do, whenever I bring up the, the JCCF
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that I am on the board of that organization, but that has no bearing on, uh, me doing this
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interview, uh, but I will say that the one thing we've seen in a lot of the cases that
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came up in the convoy, uh, a lot of the criminal cases that they've been quietly dropped.
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We've seen over the last 14 months, uh, in, in several instances of the crown, just withdraw
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And I do find it just baffling that they're still adding new charges when they've already
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decided that many of the previous people they've charged were not worth prosecuting.
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Um, yeah, that's where, when I talked to a few of, uh, the people that I trust in my
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life that I've met since, um, well, in the last year and a half, that's the same thing.
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They're, they're, they're, they're all struck, struck, scratching their heads going, why now
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and why you, and yeah, it is, um, something that, uh, is interesting, but definitely thankful
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for the, uh, the work that a bunch of, uh, lawyers are doing and are willing to do and
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what the JCCF is doing has been, um, it's been great.
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It's, it's, um, and, and that gives you that, um, that comfort, right?
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There's people out here that are willing to help.
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And I've been humbled by the amount of support I've been receiving from people across Canada,
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uh, people, uh, praying for me, people frustrated and angry and all kinds of emotions that you're,
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you're, and, and you're feeling them yourselves as well.
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And that's, what's been so, so beautiful about being where I am today is, is this country
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has a lot of great people and they're, um, they're, they're willing to help where they
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Um, I've been blessed with a wife for 25 years and she, she crackedly, uh, said a joke
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that, that, um, yeah, if you end up in jail, then, um, yeah, you're, you're, uh, whatever.
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But it was kind of funny that she actually, I think I know what the joke was and you're,
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But, uh, uh, Harold, I, I'm so glad you're, you're taking this as stride.
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I'm so glad you, you have that background and faith to, to guide you through this.
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And, uh, I'm very grateful, uh, that we, we got that connection working because it was
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a delight to talk to you and we wish you well in this.
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I haven't been able to read your book yet, but someday when my emotions have the energy
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to do it, I'll, I look forward to going through that.
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It's sitting on my, uh, my counter and, uh, it's going to have to be read sometime, but
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well, that's kind of you to say, and I think it's also an audio book.
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So if you want to listen to it on your drives, it, uh, it is available to you, but I appreciate
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Thanks for listening to the Andrew Lawton show.
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