The trial for the Chilliwack man involved in a tractor crash on Highway 1 in Surrey in 2023 has been scheduled for February 2026.
Malkiat (Bill) Shoker was charged on Dec. 9, 2024, with assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, fleeing from police and dangerous operation of a conveyance.
Court services online indicate that the trial is scheduled at Surrey Provincial Court from Feb. 23 to 26, 2026.
On Nov. 25, 2023, BC Highway Patrol attempted to pull over Shoker, who was driving a tractor that was part of a convoy heading to Vancouver along Highway 1.
“(The) tractor rolled over after colliding with a police vehicle on the on-ramp to Highway 1 on 176th Street,” BC Highway Patrol Cpl. Melissa Jongema stated in a news release on Feb. 14, 2024.
Prior to the November 2023 police incident, Shoker posted several public videos to his Facebook page from the driver’s seat of a green John Deere tractor.
He narrated where he was on the highway and where he was heading before turning the camera to show his face.
Shoker said his name, his business name (Shoker Farms Ltd. in Chilliwack) and also explained the reason for the stunt, saying it was a protest against an educational resource called SOGI 123.
The tractor was one of several vehicles involved in a convoy that began in Chilliwack and was travelling into Vancouver.
In a previous interview with Black Press Media, Paul Dutt, his trial lawyer, stated that he believes his client is innocent of all charges.
"We are not only dealing with criminal charges, which we will vigorously defend, we are also dealing with an individual's right for freedom of speech," Dutt said. "Whether you're on either side of this, for Mr. Shoker he's on one side of it, but the main factor is that he was still protesting peacefully in his tractor, and he was able to do so, and he should be able to do so under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
-With files from Jessica Peters
