Category: Public Order Emergency Commission

Protest Would Have Been Cleared Without Emergencies Act, Says Ottawa Police Interim Chief

Had the Emergencies Act not been invoked by the Liberal government, the Freedom Convoy protest would still have been cleared by law enforcement, says Ottawa Police Service (OPS) interim Chief Steve Bell. “In the absence of the invocation of the Emergencies Act, the OPS, the OPP, the RCMP—as part of unified command—were going to clear…


Violence During Freedom Convoy Was Mostly ‘Felt’ and Not Actual, Says Ottawa Police Interim Chief

Ottawa Police Service (OPS) interim Chief Steve Bell said on Monday that when he refers to violence during the Freedom Convoy protest it’s mostly violence that was “felt” by the community and not as defined per the Criminal Code. Bell was testifying before the Public Order Emergency Commission, and throughout the day mentioned the protest…


NDP Unlikely to Withdraw Support for Liberals Regardless of Result of Emergencies Act Inquiry, Says Singh

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said it is unlikely that his party will retract support for the Liberal government even if the Public Order Emergency Commission concludes that the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act to deal with the Freedom Convoy protest earlier this year is unjustified. Speaking in an interview with CTV News, Singh said…


Lawyers for Emergencies Act Inquiry Summon Premier Doug Ford to Appear as Witness

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones have been summoned to appear as witnesses at the public inquiry examining the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act, after they declined to voluntarily appear. Lawyers for the Public Order Emergency Commission say they asked Ford and Jones to sit down for an interview on…


Ottawa Police Interim Chief Defends Initial Posture Towards Freedom Convoy

The Freedom Convoy was “extremely lawful” and “peaceful” before arriving in Ottawa, hence the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) adopted an adequate posture at the time, its interim chief said on Monday. “Their behaviour as it’s described within the intelligence reports and reports we had back [then] was that they were extremely lawful, that there was…


Opponents of Freedom Convoy Made Violent Threat Against Police, Ran Disinformation Campaign: Email

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) said on Jan. 26 that it was being targeted by a “disinformation campaign” by detractors of the Freedom Convoy and also threatened with violence, an internal email reveals. Then-OPS chief Peter Sloly wrote to his team that there was information from his organization’s corporate communications and the Ottawa Police Association…


Opponents of Freedom Convoy Made Violent Threat Against Police, Ran Disinformation Campaign: Internal Email

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) said on Jan. 26 that it was being targeted by a “disinformation campaign” by detractors of the Freedom Convoy and also threatened with violence, an internal email reveals. Then-OPS chief Peter Sloly wrote to his team that there was information from his organization’s corporate communications and the Ottawa Police Association…


No Need for Emergencies Act, Says Senior OPP Officer Involved in Planning Freedom Convoy Removal

A senior officer from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) involved in planning the takedown of the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa last winter says that invoking the Emergencies Act was not necessary to clear the protest. “We had some help with [the provincial declaration of emergency] and the Emergencies Act, but in my humble opinion, we…


City Had Tow Trucks Lined-Up Before Invocation of Emergencies Act, Says Ottawa Police Dep. Chief

The Liberal government has claimed a number of times that it was necessary to invoke the Emergencies Act to compel towing companies to remove the heavy trucks from downtown Ottawa during the Freedom Convoy protest, but the city’s police deputy chief said on Thursday that tow trucks were on their way before the invocation. “You…


CSIS and RCMP Didn’t See Freedom Convoy as National Security Threat, Says OPP Intelligence Chief

Whereas the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) intelligence arm assessed at one point that the Freedom Convoy of last winter had the potential to become a “national security threat,” the OPP Intelligence chief Supt. Pat Morris says CSIS and the RCMP did not see it meeting that threshold. “I spoke about that with colleagues from the…