Less than a week after the Public Order Emergency Commission began hearings examining the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act, hundreds of documents have already been made public.
While a considerable portion of the documents provided to the commission so far are copies of pandemic public health orders and statements, as well as press clippings from media coverage of the “Freedom Convoy”, it there have also been transcripts or summaries of high-level phone calls. , e-mail and SMS exchanges, and internal reports, and probably many more to come.
The evidence submitted so far has shed new light on some of the internal machinations within and between different levels of government and police forces in preparing for and responding to the protests.
Here’s a look at some notable information gleaned from the documents to date.
CSIS CONCERNED OVER ‘RECRUITMENT’ PROTESTS
According to a summary report of a call between federal, provincial and City of Ottawa officials on February 6, midway through the “freedom convoy” protests, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) expressed concerns that the protests could be used as a “recruitment ground”.
CSIS Director David Vigneault, on the call with Rob Stewart, then Deputy Minister of Public Safety, Ottawa City Manager Steve Kanellakos, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, Ottawa Police Chief of the time Peter Sloly and others, made this comment in reference to the Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto and Alberta protests.
“There are individuals from other causes who are the hardened elements who are likely to use violence, but they see it as not being their mission… They don’t actively participate or organize and use it. probably as a recruiting ground,” reads the document.
Vigneault also noted that at the time the protest was “mostly an internal matter” and said that despite concerns to the contrary, CSIS did not see a major organization of American truckers showing up, and there was no no foreign actors identified as funding the convoy either. A separate Ottawa Police Service (OPS) document from a week later appeared to contradict this, stating that international “money and backers” had been identified.
During the call, the key group of emergency response officials also explained how at the time the number of trucks in the capital was “significantly below peak”, but pointed out that although some encampments were ‘locked down’, it was feared that the Rideau Street truck section blockading the area was run by ‘well-organized’ ‘bad actors’.
Additionally, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser, Jody Thomas, spoke about the negotiations at the Confederation Park encampment which she considered “a victory to avoid ‘guns pointed'” in the park. There have also been discussions on this call about a potential “interlocutor” to help continue negotiations with the protest organizers, with former Senator Murray Sinclair, Ambassador and former politician Bob Rae and the Names of former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbor mentioned.
In the midst of all this, Sloly seemed to suggest, according to the summary report, that at this point he was not interested in pursuing “mass arrests”, citing the experience of protesting the 2010 G20 summit and the “legal and human rights implications”.
OTTAWA POLICE WARNED OF “MARTYRSHIP”
Confidential minutes of a Feb. 5 Ottawa Police Services Board meeting revealed that at this stage of the protests, the OPS was cautious about continuing mass arrests of the anti-COVID-19 mandate and anti-government protesters, saying all the ongoing scenarios were “high risk”.
This was because intelligence from the service “suggested that [sic] some participants, being arrested, injured or even killed was seen as reaching a level of martyrdom rather than a deterrent. »
There were also indications that “fractures” were developing between the various protesting groups, with Sloly suggesting the SPO may be trying to “leverage” this.
“Chief Sloly raised the need for more levels of government to get involved in the unprecedented protests. He noted that the protesters do not have a single agenda and are a well-organized and funded group,” reads -on in another part of the minutes.
The minutes also note that the SPO had brought in a mental health specialist who helped liaise with teams in the field, “acting as a crisis management negotiator.”
“ZERO RESPONSE” FROM PROVINCIAL OFFICIALS: BLAIR STAFFER
On several documents submitted to the commission, it is evident that city and federal government officials were frustrated with what they saw as a lack of involvement by the Ontario government as the protests continued.
In addition to the notable exchange between Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and Trudeau in which the Prime Minister thought Ontario Premier Doug Ford was “hiding his responsibility on this for political reasons”, there is other examples of key players wondering where the province stands.
An example of this was in an iMessage exchange between Civil Protection Minister Bill Blair’s chief of staff, Zita Astravas, and Watson’s chief of staff, Serge Arpin.
On Feb. 8, according to screenshots provided to the commission — just days before Ontario declared a state of emergency — the two were discussing whether there were any indications the province was willing to join. at a tripartite table to talk about the situation.
“Not yet,” Astravas said early that morning. When Arpin followed up around 3 p.m. to see if the situation had changed, Astravas said then Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones was a “categorical no” and had received “no response” from officials.
She then discussed how they could strategize to bring the province to the table.
In separate evidence, according to a letter Jones sent to Watson and Ottawa Police Services Board Chair Dianne Deans in response to a request for additional police support, Jones wrote that she forwarded their ask the Ontario Provincial Police.
While pledging that her department was “committed to supporting our policing partners,” she wrote that at the policy level, the government would continue “to encourage all those participating in the Ottawa protests to govern their actions in a way that ensures that ‘they are peaceful’.
WEEKEND 1: ‘PEACEKEEPING OBJECTIVE’
While there have been a series of accounts and documents indicating differing views on the seriousness of the intelligence on how many truckers were coming to protest and how long they planned to stay, one thing is clear: Sloly seemed confident in the initial police response.
Despite indications that the OPS had blocked vehicle access to major downtown streets, protesters could not have cemented themselves in the downtown area, in a summary of a Jan. 31 meeting with the mayor , Sloly said the police effort had been a “huge success”.
In the same memo, however, Sloly reported that the protests were “escalating from protest to occupation despite negotiations.”
A day earlier, according to an email exchange entered into evidence, after Ottawa General Manager of Emergency and Protective Services Kim Ayotte updated city council on the first full day of convoy protests, Councilman Shawn Menard asked if the city was going to be ticketing and towing vehicles.
Ayotte said his opinion was that the police were doing a “great job of keeping the right balance between a peaceful protest and a potential riot”. He also suggested the intervention could be a “tipping point”.
Intervening, Kanellakos indicated that he agreed, asking “where would we put the vehicles that are being towed??? The goal is to keep the peace.”
“WOULD YOU HAVE THE POWER” TO DO MORE THAN WATCH
A thread in which Somerset Ward councilor Catherine McKenney expressed frustration at the “complete absence of police” on some streets in her ward amid protests said some councilors felt both helpless and sympathetic.
After sharing a response from Ottawa Police indicating they had 20-25 officers patrolling downtown over the February 4-6 weekend of protests – in addition to an unspecified additional cadre of reinforcement from other forces – McKenney balked that a friend reported not seeing any police officers visible during a walkabout one night.
Here’s how fellow board member and then member of the Ottawa Police Services Board, Carol Anne Meehan, responded: “I’m so sorry Catherine. I wish we had the power to do something besides watch.
Participants in this exchange included a mix of officials and councilors from the City of Ottawa, then Chief Sloly, as well as Ottawa Center MP Yasir Naqvi and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.
Councilor Mathieu Fleury then chimed in, adding Ottawa Vanier MP Mona Fortier to the thread and said, “No police in the Byward Market/Rideau either,” in connection with the CTV News coverage.
SHOULD TRUCKERS TAKE THE SLR?
One final item to note, especially for Ottawa residents, is that prior to the convoy arriving in town, city officials were discussing whether to use the parking lot at the Ottawa Baseball Stadium. on Coventry Road as a parking area for incoming haul trucks.
Of course, this area ended up becoming a stronghold for the protesters in the convoy; set up as a supply camp and closed to outsiders. But before this lot became an encampment, the city had suggested “if Wellington is too congested, they would ask vehicles to stop there and attendees could take public transport downtown”.
Described as an “overflow” for this first weekend, a city official said the parking lot was “ideal” because protesters would then be a “fast” light rail ride into the city center. There was no mention in the thread that a mask mandate — the kind of public health restriction truckers and their supporters have come to town to protest against — was in effect on Ottawa’s LRT at the time.
With files from CTV News’ Annie Bergeron-Oliver and Mackenzie Gray