Dispute over mask results in five-month prison sentence

A Fort Mcmurray man has been sentenced to five months in prison after a 2020 dispute with municipal staff about wearing a mask led to a confrontation outside an elementary school and a police chase.

Provincial court judge Stephanie Cleary said in her Wednesday decision that Philip Osborne, 33, showed no remorse towards his victim, RMWB planning director Brad Mcmurdo, or his family. She also rejected Osborne's arguments that police were guilty of misconduct during his arrest, or that a police presence put him in a “fight or flight” mode.

“It is one thing to have involved an innocent adult civil servant in his personal battle against the public health protections, but it's quite another to have involved his small children even if indirectly,” said Cleary.

“I just don't agree with what you said about how I dragged his children into it. That I did not do,” said Osborne.

Court heard the events that led to Osborne's arrest began shortly after the April 2020 flood. Alberta Health Services had allowed the municipality to open its Timberlea office if COVID -19 protocols be followed. That included wearing masks.

Osborne, an independent electrician, refused to wear a mask inside the building. He was asked to leave, but returned on several occasions and refused to wear a mask. Staff felt intimidated as he livestreamed his confrontations on social media. Police were called and Osborne was banned from the building.

On Oct. 29, 2020 at around 4 p.m., Mcmurdo noticed Osborne's truck was parked near the Timberlea office. Mcmurdo left the office shortly before 5:30 p.m. and saw Osborne following him. Mcmurdo called police as he approached the daycare at St. Kateri Catholic School in Eagle Ridge.

Police approached Osborne's vehicle, but he refused to follow their directions and sped off. While stopped at a red light, two police vehicles blocked his truck's front and rear sides.

Police tried arresting Osborne, who reversed his truck into the rear RCMP vehicle and sped away after ramming the front RCMP vehicle. Officers arrested Osborne after damage to his truck made him stop. Osborne damaged two RCMP vehicles, a privately-owned vehicle and a street light in the chase.

“The entire course of his interaction with the police was based on his personal desire to control the situation and force options on the police that were not legally available,” said Cleary.

Osborne was found guilty of criminal harassment, dangerous driving, mischief to property over $5,000, criminal flight and obstruction on Jan. 31. Mcmurdo told the court his family is leaving Fort Mcmurray after the experience terrified his family.

Osborne defied COVID -19 rules throughout the trial, which he attended mostly online because he refused to wear a mask. He once refused to turn on his webcam and argued he should not show his face to the court because Cleary wore a mask. Sentencing in April was delayed after Osborne's lawyer, Brent Corbin of Corbin Law, said he had COVID -19 symptoms.

Crown lawyer Morgen Patterson said that Osborne's behaviour had made the trial a “chaotic process.” Osborne attended his Wednesday sentencing wearing a face mask.

Osborne cannot contact Mcmurdo or his family, must complete an 18-month probationary sentence and give a DNA sample to police. He is banned from driving for 11 months and 15 days, and must stay 200 metres away from St. Kateri School. The municipality has banned Osborne from its properties and from speaking with most municipal staff. He is also banned from Fort Mcmurray Public School Division properties following separate incidents with their staff.