Trudeau minister makes highly anticipated appearance in this week’s emergency law inquiry

The emergency law probe enters its final week today, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and key Cabinet members invoking a previously unseen law last winter to address mass protests over pandemic measures. We will be answering questions about the decision.

Today, the Public Order Emergency Committee investigation is expected to hear from Canadian Security Intelligence Agency director David Bigeaux and other CSIS officials. It’s a schedule.

According to documents already filed in evidence, Vigneault did not believe the self-proclaimed Freedom Convoy constituted a threat to national security as defined by the CSIS Activation Act.

As the week progresses, the Commission is also expected to:

• Bill Blair, Minister of Emergency Preparedness.
• Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Security.
• Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominique Leblanc.
• Justice Minister David Rameti.
• Defense Minister Anita Anand.
• Minister of Transport Omar Al-Ghabra.
• Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
• Prime Minister’s Office staff Katie Telford, Brian Crowe and John Brodhead.

Trudeau defended the decision to invoke the emergency law, calling it a “last resort”.

Here’s what the commission has heard so far:

Testimony explains police dysfunction

The first two weeks of the commission focused on the police response to protests. Multiple officers from the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) and the Ontario Police Department (OPP) described chaos and chaos in Ottawa after protesters arrived in the first weekend and parked large rigs and other vehicles on downtown streets. explained.

Despite receiving several early warnings, Peter Slowly — the OPS chief during the protest — told the committee that even “hindsight” was not enough information he had before the protest motorcade rolled into town. , said he didn’t think the protesters were suggesting they dig in and stay. .

The commission said the OPP had warned Ottawa police intelligence reports that a “radical ideology” was active within the protest movement and that the organizers had no exit strategy to end the protest. I heard you pointed out.

Still, Ottawa police planned for the protesters to stay for just one week over the weekend. Instead, they said he stayed for nearly a month.

Actor OPS’s deputy commissioner, played by Patricia Ferguson, told the commission’s inquiry.

Officials from both the OPP and RCMP testified that they had no idea how the OPS intended to end the demonstration.

“I couldn’t read their minds as to what their plans were because I didn’t have a plan,” Supt said. OPP’s Craig Abrams.

Trudeau’s national security adviser, Jody Thomas, also testified about the actions of the country’s top mounties.

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lackey told Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s Chief of Staff on the eve of the federal government’s activation of the emergency law that police had exhausted all legal avenues to end the protests. He told the commission’s inquiry that he felt he did not.

However, Thomas said Lucky did not share the information at a meeting with senior officials on February 13.

“If you have helpful or important information, you should provide it whether you are on the speaker list or not,” says Thomas.

Thomas also said Rakki never notified the federal government that the police had solidified an operational plan to end the blockade.

“I don’t recall the cabinet being informed of this,” she said. “I was told many times that I had a plan.”

DISPUTE BETWEEN ONTARIO AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The committee also hears about friction between Ontario and the federal government over how to deal with the protests in Ottawa and the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario.

The Emergency Act is only to be invoked when a national emergency “cannot be effectively addressed by other Canadian laws.”

In a personal Feb. 8 phone call with then-Ottawa mayor Jim Watson, Trudeau heard that Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford accused him of hiding from responsibility during the Freedom Convoy protests.

See | What did the emergency law investigation learn last week?

“As you stressed, Doug Ford has been hiding from that responsibility for political reasons,” Trudeau said, according to a phone call readout, which is not an exact transcript of the conversation.

“The point is to make sure they can’t escape it.”

A few weeks later, the commission heard from a senior Ontario government official who claimed the federal government was trying to force the province to take the lead in ending the lockdown.

Ontario’s deputy secretary-general Mario Di Tomasso asked questions about the meeting whether Thomas would play a more active role in the Ottawa protests if they took place in Kingston, Ontario. told to

“The question, to my understanding, was about the federal government wanting to wash all this away,” Di Tomaso said.

Ford has said it supports the federal government’s decision to invoke the law.

What is a national security threat?

When she appeared before the investigation, Thomas said the criteria for invoking emergency laws should be changed.

To introduce a state of emergency law, the Cabinet must have reasonable grounds for believing that a state of emergency contrary to public policy exists. This emergency is defined in the Act as “resulting from a threat to the security of Canada which is serious enough to constitute a national emergency”.

This act follows the CSIS definition of a threat, which includes serious violence against persons or property, espionage, foreign interference, or intent to overthrow a government by violence.

Thomas and other officials told the commission that security threats have evolved in the 40 years since the emergency law was introduced.

According to documents submitted prior to the investigation, Thomas told the Public Order Emergency Committee “the whole set of circumstances that led her to believe there was a threat to the security of Canada and therefore [a] Security emergency. ”

what happens next

The commission will begin hearing testimony in mid-October and conclude on Friday. The study will then move to the policy phase, during which it will host roundtables and hear from experts and policymakers on issues relevant to its mandate.

Commissioner Paul Rouleau’s final report must be submitted to Congress by February 20.