MOOSE JAW — In 1966, Buffalo Springfield released the protest song “For What It’s Worth (Stop, Hey What’s That Sound),” which contained the lyric, “There’s something happening here/But what it is ain’t exactly clear/There’s a man with a gun over there/A-telling me I got to beware.”
That lyric caused employees at Golden West radio station to fear for their safety in October 2023 after community activist Tannis Brideau requested the song, telling the radio DJ that the person holding the gun was her — “that’s me.”
During a multi-day trial at Moose Jaw Provincial Court, nearly a dozen radio station employees testified about how often Brideau harassed them — sometimes in person, but mostly by phone.
All witnesses said they were nervous, fearful, uncomfortable, apprehensive and dreaded coming to work because of Brideau’s harassment.
Brideau wanted Discover Moose Jaw to write a news article about the National Citizens Inquiry (NCI), which planned to be in Regina in May 2024 to hear from people about how pandemic measures affected them. However, the news agency declined because the event was not happening in Moose Jaw.
The radio station had been familiar with Brideau since 2021 because she called the business “relentlessly,” and while police told the organization to block her number, it was unable to do so technologically, the trial heard.
The intensity of her harassment began in September 2023 and “got completely out of control” in October 2023, said Leslie Campbell, general manager of Golden West. Some of Brideau’s actions included calling daily, protesting the business on the nearby service road, banging on windows and posting comments on social media.
Brideau sparred verbally and repeatedly with Campbell during the latter’s time on the stand, interrupting and insulting her. At one point, while the radio station GM was speaking, the activist screeched, “LIAR!” prompting the judge to take a short break.
On Oct. 3, 2023, Brideau called the building 20 times, while the next day, she called 10 times in the morning. She also protested in the parking lot with signs about the NCI and pandemic measures.
Campbell received one of Brideau’s calls that morning and repeatedly told her to stop harassing her staff. The latter’s comments focused on COVID-19, the vaccine, governments and health care.
“I’m willing to go to prison for five years … . You can’t threaten me with nothing,” Brideau said.
Crown prosecutor Tony Gerein played a 12-minute audio clip of the two women arguing in that phone call. He also played four other audio clips featuring Brideau — either a message she left or a conversation she had with DJs — that the business provided as evidence.
Campbell ordered staff to keep all audio clips with Brideau and email her every time the woman called. These clips and written records — eight pages worth — were included as evidence.
On Oct. 5, Brideau protested on the service road and yelled at Golden West staff as they entered the building. The next day, she called the morning disc jockey and asked for the Buffalo Springfield song. An hour later, she walked into the building, but Campbell walked her right back out.
“Her volume started normal, but then it increased as I walked her out. She was almost yelling,” the GM recalled.
Brideau stopped harassing the radio station about two weeks later after police told her to stay away.
The Crown asked Campbell what she thought of Brideau’s communications, with the GM replying emotionally, “It made me feel terrible because my staff were being harassed relentlessly and I could not do anything to stop it.”
“I am not to blame for her fear,” Brideau said, suggesting several times that the government’s actions during the pandemic were really to blame for employees’ lingering fear; Campbell and others said that was not true.
The court refused to play the Buffalo Springfield song for Brideau, prompting her to sing it; the Crown eventually played it on a smartphone.
She pointed out that the lyrics spoke against “The Man” (the government) and suggested that she was the person in the song holding a protest sign and not the gun. However, the court rejected this argument.
“There is no question in my mind I did the right thing,” Brideau said, adding the entire trial was a “witch hunt.”
Brideau is facing two counts of mischief over $5,000, one count of causing a disturbance — yelling and screaming — in a public place and one count of repeatedly communicating with other persons while prohibited.
Her trial continued from Aug. 27 to 29; MooseJawToday.com will have stories from those days.
