Ontario police described Freedom Convoy in an internal memo as “gentle, festive, and family-friendly,” the same day the federal government invoked the emergency law.
The February 14 memo “Operational Intelligence Report” is included in the OPP Intelligence Briefing submitted to the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC).
“The speaker again told people to stay away from the agitators and thanked the police for keeping calm. , some even quoted from the Bible.
“The speaker also wished everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day,” he continued, later adding that “there were kids playing hockey on Wellington Street.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other members of the Liberal Cabinet have previously said they invoked the emergency law on the advice of law enforcement.
Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino, while testifying before a parliamentary joint committee on declaring a state of emergency, said: “At the time, the existing authorities were ineffective in restoring public safety. We invoked this law because it was advice,” he said. April 26th.
“When efforts with existing authorities proved ineffective, the advice we received was to invoke emergency legislation.”
Prime Minister Trudeau also told the House of Commons on April 27, “It was after receiving advice from law enforcement that we invoked the Emergency Act.”
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Hours before the Cabinet invoked the emergency law, RCMP commissioner Brenda Lackey emailed Mendicino’s chief of staff, saying police were planning to “exist” to clear protesters from downtown Ottawa. We had not yet exhausted the tools already available through the law of
“We may be able to prosecute under existing authorities for various criminal offenses currently occurring in the context of the protests,” Lucki wrote in an email dated Feb. 14. He provides an additional deterrent tool to your existing toolbox. ”
OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique told POEC on 27 October that he agreed with Lucki’s words in the email.
Carrique also agreed with the testimony of OPP superintendent Pat Morris, who told POEC on October 19 that no “reliable threat information” related to Freedom Convoy was found by the state’s Office of Operations Intelligence. Stated.
“I spoke to a colleague at the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency about it. [RCMP] Integrated National Security Enforcement Team [INSET]and they have not seen anything that has reached their limits regarding what they see as a threat to Canada’s security,” Morris told the commission.
Morris said the convoy “was distinguished by a complete lack of criminal activity.”
“If there had been a real threat, there would have been an investigation.
Omid Goreici and Noe Chartier contributed to this report.
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Peter Wilson is a reporter based in Ontario, Canada.