Son of Canadian pastor gets standing ovation in EU Parliament as he slams PM Justin Trudeau for taking ‘freedom and democracy’ away from citizens – as his father faces jail time for sermon to truckers blocking US-Canada border last year

By ANDREA CAVALLIER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM PUBLISHED: 14:49 EST, 16 July 2023

The son of a Canadian pastor who faces jail time for preaching to truckers who blocked the US-Canada border last year received a standing ovation in EU Parliament as he slammed PM Justin Trudeau for taking ‘freedom and democracy’ away from citizens. 

Nathaniel Pawlowski’s father Artur Pawlowski potentially faces 10 years in prison after he delivered a 19-minute speech to truckers who were protesting federal vaccine mandates by blocking the border in early 2022.

‘I am here today in desperation, a cry for help,’ Pawlowski, 23, told members of the EU Parliament on July 4. ‘I would like to stand here and tell you all the things about freedom and democracy that I like, but I no longer know those things.’

‘They have been taken away from us Canadians. Canada has fallen.’ 

Nathaniel also likened Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ‘a modern-day Caligula,’ saying that ‘We cannot allow these mad emperors to run mad. And remember, all of this is being done under the guise of health, safety and protecting us by stripping our rights and ushering in tyranny.’

Nathaniel likened PM Justin Trudeau to ‘a modern-day Caligula,’ saying ‘We cannot allow these mad emperors to run mad. And remember, all of this is being done under the guise of health, safety and protecting us by stripping our rights and ushering in tyranny’

Pawlowski was found guilty in May of mischief and breaching a release order. He remains under house arrest as he awaits a court date on August 9.

Nathaniel addressed the EU Parliament in Brussels on behalf of his father and it was followed by a video that showed his father comparing his situation in Canada to growing up behind the Iron Curtain in communist Poland. 

‘We no longer have freedom of religion, or freedom of speech, or the right to protest or assemble or associate or express ourselves or have free media or disagree with the government,’ Nathaniel Pawlowski said. 

‘Anyone who does so is arrested, charged and jailed as political dissidents.’ 

Pawlowski was arrested by the Calgary Police Service (CPS) five times after he continued to conduct services in defiance of a court order. 

His speech to truckers was at the height of the protests against a Canadian mandate that forces truckers crossing the border with the U.S. to be vaccinated.

Pawlowski urged them to ‘hold the line’ against government overreach without resorting to violence – and advised them from traveling to Edmonton, fearing a government crackdown like what happened in Ottawa.       

A few days later, Pawlowski was arrested at his home and taken to Calgary Remand Centre, where the pastor spent 50 nights and  alleges he was mistreated by prison officials.

Nathaniel as also been charged for a sermon he delivered in April outside a drag queen story hour with children at the Calgary Public Library. 

He allegedly violated a municipal bylaw passed in March that prohibits protests within 100 meters of a recreation facility or library entrance, Fox News reported. 

Pawlowski’s speech was at the height of the protests against a Canadian mandate that forces truckers crossing the border with the U.S. to be vaccinated

Pawlowski was arrested at his home a few days after he spoke to truckers and taken to Calgary Remand Centre, where the pastor alleges he was mistreated

‘I myself have been charged for preaching and reading the Bible publicly because the government claims the Bible isn’t inclusive and is hateful,’ Nathaniel told the parliament. ‘This is what the Canadian government is doing to us.’

Artur Pawlowski told Fox News Digital that he is ‘enraged’ at how he and his family are being treated by Canadian authorities, whom he described as ‘monsters’ who ‘have no boundaries.’

‘I stood for my rights,’ Pawlowski said. ‘Now my son is standing for his rights, and they’re not satisfied with hurting the father. Now they want to hurt my children, my family, my wife. They are coming after our children, and those are the tactics of every totalitarian regime. The Gestapo did it. The KGB did it. Every totalitarian regime, every dictatorship has this playbook.’

‘They are monsters — sick, evil, wicked people,’ he added. ‘And if I could deliver a message to them, I would simply say that one day they will stand before the Judge of judges who does not take bribes, and they will give an account for every word that they said and everything they have done. One day justice will be served.’ 

The ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests, which started by Canadian truckers opposing a COVID-19 vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, have drawn thousands of people opposed to Trudeau’s policies. 

Trudeau said that invoking the Act would strengthen the police’s ability to impose fines and even imprisonment for protesters who blockade borders

Protesters camped in front of the Canadian Parliament, some of whom want the prime minister to meet with them, said the latest steps were excessive

The trucker protest in 2022 grew until it closed vital trade routes along the Canada-U.S. border and shut down key parts of the capital for more than three weeks. But all border blockades were ended on February 14 

The ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests, which started by Canadian truckers opposing a COVID-19 vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, have drawn thousands of people opposed to Trudeau’s policies. 

Protesters camped in front of the Canadian Parliament, some of whom want the prime minister to meet with them, said the latest steps were excessive. 

Trudeau told protesters at the time that they need to ‘go home now’ – but he’s held back deploying the military under the Act, which grants powers that have been used only once before in peacetime, and will now be used to tackle protests over COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions.

The trucker protest in 2022 grew until it closed vital trade routes along the Canada-U.S. border and shut down key parts of the capital for more than three weeks. But all border blockades were ended on February 14.