Evidence of meeting #17 for Declaration of Emergency in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was emergencies.
A video is available from Parliament.
6:45 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
Through the chair, I can get you the specific numbers. I know we do have access to those.
What I can tell you is that there was an extremely elevated number of calls. Most problematic for us was the number of 911 calls we received that were specifically intended to disrupt our 911 systems.
6:45 p.m.
Liberal
Yasir Naqvi Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON
Thank you for reminding me of that. I had forgotten that there was a concerted effort to choke up the 911 system. That could have been extremely dangerous for the rest of the community in Ottawa. Am I correct?
6:45 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
That is correct. There were calls that did choke up our system. What I think is also important to recognize in that is the hardship our members suffered through that. There were people on the end of those calls in our communications centre who received those and who were greatly impacted by their conversations and interactions with the people who were calling in.
6:45 p.m.
Liberal
Yasir Naqvi Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON
Very quickly, I just want to confirm again—and you mentioned this in your opening comments—that the Ottawa Police Service did use the powers that were granted in the Emergencies Act, and that helped you put an end to that occupation.
6:45 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
We did leverage the authorities in the act and utilize them in ending the occupation, yes.
6:45 p.m.
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
Thank you very much.
We'll now move to Madame Normandin.
You have five minutes.
November 3rd, 2022 / 6:45 p.m.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I thank our two witnesses.
I'd like to ask them about the tow trucks since they mentioned them in their opening remarks.
I understand that Transport Canada had prepared a plan during the crisis that would have allowed the trucks that were blocking the streets of Ottawa to be moved without the need for emergency measures.
Is that correct?
6:45 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
I'm unfamiliar with that plan. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but I've never heard of that before.
6:45 p.m.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
So you are saying that, to your knowledge, if there was a plan, it was not shared with the police.
6:50 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
It was not sent in any area that I would have or did receive.
6:50 p.m.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
From your side, were there any questions as to what recourse would be available to get the trucks moved without the need for emergency measures?
6:50 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
Absolutely. What I can tell you is that in the very early days into this, how to leverage and access tow trucks was discussed as part of the planning. We looked at different options. As you have heard in testimony through the Emergencies Act inquiry, there have been several instances describing the great lengths to which we went to try to access tow trucks.
That was identified as one of the key challenges for us, and with the invocation of the act, that barrier was removed for us.
6:50 p.m.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
I understand that this is a barrier that was lifted, but, more specifically, did you analyze the possibilities of getting the trucks moved without even using, for example, tow trucks?
Did you analyze legal means, for example?
6:50 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
There were extensive conversations about alternative measures to actually move trucks. Those were considered, absolutely.
6:50 p.m.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Why were these measures not put in place, if they were studied?
6:50 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
By the time we executed our plan, the Emergencies Act had been invoked and we were able to access the tow trucks that were necessary under the provisions of that act.
6:50 p.m.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
If I understand correctly, plans were in place that could have caused the trucks to leave without the need for emergency measures, but they were not attempted because the Emergencies Act was invoked first.
6:50 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand the question. There was discussion and there were plans around how we could have alternate means to move vehicles. A range of options were considered.
Ultimately, the plan that was built was around tow trucks, and the Emergencies Act contained provisions for us to access those tow trucks.
6:50 p.m.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
I will rephrase my question.
You had a plan to move the trucks that did not require the invocation of the Emergencies Act, but it was not implemented because it was invoked first.
Does it make sense to say that you had not yet exhausted all resources, since you had not yet tried all possible measures before the Emergencies Act was invoked?
6:50 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
The plan we built ultimately to remove the trucks was based solely on accessing tow vehicles. Other, smaller operations that had been considered would use different means to remove the vehicles, but given the scale and scope of the operation we were mounting, it was identified that it was necessary to leverage tow vehicles.
With the invocation of the Emergencies Act, any barriers that existed were removed.
6:50 p.m.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
As I understand it, there were still measures available before resorting to the Emergencies Act.
6:50 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
There would be several different options. One of them was that the protesters could have driven out of the area on their own and left. We could have looked at accessing different ways to drive the vehicles out. There were several options. They were just determined to be unrealistic for us to use in the period during which we were undertaking the large-scale operation.
6:50 p.m.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
You also talked about accounts being frozen under the Emergencies Act. When was the first account frozen?
6:50 p.m.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
That's going to be a question.... As I indicated, most of those investigations were done by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It was a tool leveraged primarily by them, so that would be a question better directed to them, because I'm not sure of the date when that first occurred.