Nipawin Provincial Court (File photo/northeastNOW Staff).

By Aaron Schulze

Trudeau Threat Trial

Trial begins for Nipawin man accused of threatening PM

Sep 5, 2019 | 7:56 AM

The trial involving a Nipawin man facing charges of threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Parliament buildings will require another day of proceedings after hours of evidence and witness testimonies.

David Petersen, 53, appeared in Nipawin Provincial Court on Wednesday, Sept. 4 after he pleaded not guilty in April. He was charged after RCMP said in a media release that threats of shooting Trudeau and blowing up the Parliament buildings were allegedly made over the phone to a Canadian government agency employee on Feb. 12.

The employee mentioned, Paul Sveinson, was a collection content officer for the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) at the time of the call. He was the Crown’s first witness and appeared via video from Winnipeg.

Sveinson said in court that he and Petersen talked approximately 10 times between October 2018 and the Feb. 12 call. He said Petersen sounded depressed and distraught during the last call between them and he brought up Trudeau’s name after no previous mentions of politics.

Sveinson recalled Petersen’s exact words being “between you and me, I’d like to take a shot at Trudeau” and “I don’t want to be the guy that goes and blows up Parliament.” He added the sad, quick demeanour of Petersen’s voice caused him concern for Petersen’s well-being, which resulted in him contacting a manager of his department.

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During his cross examination, Petersen – who elected to defend himself – asked Sveinson if the comment regarding the Parliament building was negative considering he didn’t say he was going to blow it up, to which Sveinson responded ‘yes” due to the context of the quote and how he brought it up. Sveinson also testified that the call on Feb. 12 had initially been about his life insurance and that caused him to think it was a suicide call.

RCMP officers Const. Edward Ricalton and Cpl. Josh Martin of the Nipawin detachment and Const. Tanner Gillies from the Saskatchewan National Security Enforcement Section were the three other Crown witnesses.

The video of Gillies interviewing Petersen shortly after his arrest on Feb. 27 was shown during a voir dire (in-trial hearing to determine if evidence is admissible and can potentially be entered into evidence in the trial). The judge admitted the evidence.

Petersen told Gillies during the interview the “take a shot” comment he told Sveinson meant he would punch Trudeau in the nose if he was in front of him, not shoot him. He added that he wouldn’t shoot Trudeau due to his moral belief that killing another human is wrong.

Gillies said in court while Petersen appeared stressed, he didn’t think he was a threat to Trudeau. He added that Petersen was sober and there were no communication concerns.

Judge Hugh Harradence was satisfied with Petersen’s state of mind during the interview and determined he voluntarily gave his statement to Gillies without any influence.

Before the trial started, Petersen mentioned he wanted to get it out of the way due to promises he made to future employers that it would wrap up today. Harradence said he was the cause of the delay, but he wanted to ensure the voir dire was properly taken care of.

“I apologize to you and anybody else you promised, but the fact is I’ve got to a proper job,” Harradence said in court.

Petersen, Harradence, and Crown Prosecutor Lori O’Conner will briefly appear in Nipawin court on Thursday, Sept. 5 to determine the earliest date the trial can resume.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow