SASKATOON — The trial for a former police informant is set to begin May 14.
Noel Harder is facing 26 charges after police received a call in the fall of 2018 about a man in a vehicle with a handgun on Powe Street and Rayner Avenue.
Police pulled over the vehicle and say they found a loaded 9 mm restricted handgun, an air-soft pistol, bear spray, a knife and an axe. Harder is also accused of having a single fentanyl pill in his possession and breaching probation.
At the time, his lawyer said police officers advised Harder to get a gun for protection because “dangerous people” were after Harder because he was an informant in Project Forseti – a 2015 investigation into organized crime.
Project Forseti led to 14 people being arrested including 11 members of the Fallen Saints Motorcycle Club and two members of Hells Angels. Police raided nearly 20 properties in Saskatchewan and Alberta and seized about 200 guns and $8 million worth of drugs.
His lawyer argued at a previous bail hearing that Harder thought he was legally allowed to have a gun he’s banned from possessing and needed it for protection from imminent danger.
Harder entered the Witness Protection Program and was living in Eastern Canada with the fear of being kidnapped and murdered, his lawyer said. He said Harder’s identity was discovered while living there and his door was kicked in and his wife assaulted. The family was kicked out of the program last year.
Harder has filed a lawsuit against the RCMP claiming he and his family were mistreated in the program. The claims have not been tested in court.
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Source: CTV News