Officer who joined 'Freedom Convoy' in Coutts, Alta., allowed back with Edmonton police
An officer who participated in a "Freedom Convoy" rally, thanked protesters and posted a video suggesting vaccine mandates were "unlawful" and "unsafe" will keep her job after all.
A disciplinary hearing for Edmonton Police Service Const. Elena Golysheva wrapped up on Wednesday, more than a year after she was first "relieved of duty without pay."
Instead of being fired, she will now return to "active duty following her involvement in a reintegration program," an EPS spokesperson confirmed to CTV News Edmonton Thursday.
The video of a tearful and uniformed Golysheva first surfaced on Facebook and Instagram in February 2022.
It was shared thousands of times by people upset about vaccine mandates and COVID-19 public health restrictions.
"The very freedom that I moved to Canada for has been taken away, and Canadians who live here, were born here, are not recognizing that," Golysheva said in the video, referring to pandemic restrictions.
She warned she would not follow "unlawful orders" because she's for "freedom of choice."
Later that month, Golysheva and fellow EPS officer Staff Sgt. Rick Abbott spoke at a COVID-19 vaccine mandate protest in southern Alberta.
"I'm here because you have given me so much strength," Golysheva told a crowd in Coutts, Alta.
Both Golysheva and Abbott were placed on "administrative leave" following that rally. The service later confirmed that Abbott decided to retire.
"Const. Golysheva was relieved from duty without pay in March 2022 until January 2023, when she was relieved from duty with pay," Cheryl Voordenhout with EPS confirmed.
Voordenhout did not say why Golysheva's pay was reinstated or why she'll be welcomed back with EPS but that a timeline for her return has not yet been finalized.
When asked in 2022 about two of his officers participating in Coutts, police chief Dale McFee said, "that's not something we support or condone. Like, that's just not something that's allowed."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From essential goods to common stocking stuffers, Trudeau offering Canadians temporary tax relief
Canadians will soon receive a temporary tax break on several items, along with a one-time $250 rebate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
She thought her children just had a cough or fever. A mother shares sons' experience with walking pneumonia
A mother shares with CTVNews.ca her family's health scare as medical experts say cases of the disease and other respiratory illnesses have surged, filling up emergency departments nationwide.
Trump chooses Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Gaetz withdraws
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.
A one-of-a-kind Royal Canadian Mint coin sells for more than $1.5M
A rare one-of-a-kind pure gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint has sold for more than $1.5 million. The 99.99 per cent pure gold coin, named 'The Dance Screen (The Scream Too),' weighs a whopping 10 kilograms and surpassed the previous record for a coin offered at an auction in Canada.
Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can't stop
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Moscow has tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine, and he warned that it could use the weapon against countries that have allowed Kyiv to use their missiles to strike Russia.
Here's a list of items that will be GST/HST-free over the holidays
Canadians won't have to pay GST on a selection of items this holiday season, the prime minister vowed on Thursday.
Video shows octopus 'hanging on for dear life' during bomb cyclone off B.C. coast
Humans weren’t the only ones who struggled through the bomb cyclone that formed off the B.C. coast this week, bringing intense winds and choppy seas.
Taylor Swift's motorcade spotted along Toronto's Gardiner Expressway
Taylor Swift is officially back in Toronto for round two. The popstar princess's motorcade was seen driving along the Gardiner Expressway on Thursday afternoon, making its way to the downtown core ahead of night four of ‘The Eras Tour’ at the Rogers Centre.
Service Canada holding back 85K passports amid Canada Post mail strike
Approximately 85,000 new passports are being held back by Service Canada, which stopped mailing them out a week before the nationwide Canada Post strike.