Declaration of Emergency Committee on Nov. 3rd, 2022

[Chief Steve Bell]

No, I wouldn't agree with that, because I think there are many pieces within the intelligence that are very relevant not within the intelligence. That's extremely relevant—

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

Let's talk about the relevance of those pieces within the senior leadership team. There has been testimony here that there had been some friction on the senior management team. Did personal relationships get in the way of proper operational planning in the early days of the occupation?

I'm going to put that question to Deputy Ferguson.

[D/Chief Patricia Ferguson]

I would say that in the early days it did not.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

What about the later days?

[D/Chief Patricia Ferguson]

As people got more stressed and the situation was evolving.... I think the chief has already mentioned that these were very stressful times. We were not—

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

Did you have access to all the information and support you needed to have an operational plan, or was the gap between intelligence analysis and operations a continued obstacle for you?

[D/Chief Patricia Ferguson]

No. As we progressed and realized there were Hendon reports, at that stage, of course, our city was full of truckers and we were overwhelmed.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

So at that point it was too late.

[The Joint Chair, Hon. Gwen Boniface]

Your time is up. Thank you.

I'll move to Senator Cordy, to be followed by Senator Patterson.

Senator Cordy, you have three minutes.

[Jane Cordy]

Thank you very much, Chair.

Chief, you said earlier that the Emergencies Act gave a stable framework to police. I guess my question is, without the Emergencies Act, would the occupation have continued for a period of time?

[Chief Steve Bell]

That's a very difficult question to answer, because we relied on the frameworks that were provided to us. We were continuing to develop a plan. We would have executed a plan that would have been different from the one that we ultimately did under the Emergencies Act.

I can't answer the question about what would have happened in the absence of it, because it existed and it was utilized within our planning process and the execution of our plan.

[Jane Cordy]

I understand that hypotheticals are often challenging, but you did say that it was certainly helpful to provide a better framework for the police in dealing with the situation. Do you stand by it?

[Chief Steve Bell]

Yes, I do.

[Jane Cordy]

Thank you very much for that.

I'm also looking at the earlier questions that were asked about the threat assessment. Could you tell us how many and what types of weapons were seized by the police during the occupation?

[Chief Steve Bell]

I'm going to turn that one over to Deputy Chief Ferguson.

[D/Chief Patricia Ferguson]

Thank you.

I can tell you that a weapon can be many things. There's been a focus on guns in most of these conversations, but a weapon can be a knife or a tire iron. It can be a number of different things.

In terms of charges that we laid, we had an assault of a peace or public officer with a weapon. We had intimidation with weapons. We had carry concealed weapon charges. We had a carry weapon to a public meeting charge laid. There were a number of different offences involving weapons, but in terms of the number of guns, if that's what people are focusing on, I don't have a solid number on that.

There were threats or intimations that guns were in vehicles, as we've already heard discussed this evening. We did not search every vehicle that we cleared, as we had to move through the city fairly methodically and quickly for the safety of our officers and everyone involved. Many of those vehicles were not searched, so we don't know if there really were guns in them or not.

[Jane Cordy]

What types of weapons did you see or did you hear about?

[D/Chief Patricia Ferguson]

All manner.... A weapon is any object that can be used to threaten or assault somebody, so knives, tools, tire irons and those types of things were in the mix.

[The Joint Chair, Hon. Gwen Boniface]

Senator Cordy, your time is up.

Senator Patterson has passed on his questions, so let me take this opportunity to thank Chief Bell and Deputy Chief Ferguson for joining us this evening. It's very much appreciated.

Colleagues, we will take a five-minute break, and then we will move to our representatives from the OPP.

We're suspended.

[The Joint Chair, Hon. Gwen Boniface]

We will resume.

For our second panel this evening, we have with us, from the Ontario Provincial Police, Commissioner Thomas Carrique and Deputy Commissioner Chris Harkins.

Welcome to you both.

Commissioner Carrique, you have five minutes for opening comments. You can go ahead.

[Commissioner Thomas Carrique, Commissioner, Ontario Provincial Police]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good evening, joint chairs, vice-chairs and committee members. I'm joined here today by Ontario Provincial Police deputy commissioner of field operations Chris Harkins.

Under the Ontario Police Services Act, the OPP has a unique dual mandate. We provide frontline policing services to 330 municipalities across the province through five regional commands, each of which is led by a chief superintendent, plus a highway safety division. We're also responsible for providing various provincial services through our investigations and organized crime section, our traffic safety and operational support section, and a variety of other specialities. As well, we provide assistance and/or specialized support to municipal police services upon request. This year to date, we have satisfied over 230 such requests.

As it relates to the “freedom convoy” and the associated illegal blockades in the city of Ottawa, the OPP's provincial operation intelligence bureau commenced reporting to our policing partners on January 13, 2022. As of January 22, daily intelligence reports focused on the convoy headed to Ottawa and the anticipated protest movements across the province. We shared this with our policing partners. The intelligence reporting was received by more than 35 Canadian law enforcement and security agencies. As the convoy crossed over the Manitoba-Ontario border and travelled across the province until it arrived in Ottawa on January 28, OPP officers professionally fulfilled their duties without incident.

In support of the Ottawa Police Service, throughout the occupation, an increasing number of OPP officers and specialized resources from various services became engaged, ultimately contributing to an integrated plan and the establishment of a unified command. Simultaneously, our members responded to many other convoys and demonstrations that consistently and repeatedly emerged in communities across Ontario, including but not limited to critical blockades of the Ambassador Bridge, the blockade of Highway 402, multiple other attempts to block Canada-U.S. land border crossings, and demonstrations that posed a risk to the area of the Ontario legislature. In addition, from one day to the next, the convoy entered Ontario and we were responsive to the requests for assistance from other municipal police services. This was a provincial and national emergency that garnered international attention.

In response, the OPP and more than 20 other police services from across the country worked collaboratively to address the public order emergencies that were unmatched in recent history. Protests and demonstrations are often complex in nature. The role of the police remains that of protecting the public, upholding the law and keeping the peace. The Province of Ontario's critical infrastructure and highways regulation under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act was an effective supplementary tool that assisted with protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring the continuous and safe delivery of essential goods and services.

The Government of Canada provided additional tools through the measures enacted under the Emergencies Act, which assisted in preventing a surge in protest participants, protecting children from exposure to the occupation, enabling the assistance of service providers and providing them with indemnification, and restricting access to sources of funding for the illegal occupation by temporarily freezing accounts.

As the committee is well aware, along with the illegal occupation in Ottawa, there were critical events experienced in Ontario, as well as numerous other high-risk “freedom convoy”-related protests and blockades across Canada. The OPP worked collaboratively with the Ottawa Police Service, the RCMP and other police partners to develop a sustainable, integrated operational plan that was informed by effective practices from other high-risk critical events, available police resources, and concurrent and emerging operational requirements in a number of police jurisdictions. Sufficiently trained public order officers were amassed from throughout Canada and deployed in an integrated, strategic and measured manner over the course of two days, which resulted in the collapse of the occupation.

This situation and the associated events simultaneously taking place across Canada required unprecedented national collaboration to prevent injury, preserve life and protect critical infrastructure. As the commissioner of the OPP, I'm extremely proud of the remarkable professionalism and dedication of the officers deployed to Ottawa and to the other high-risk events simultaneously occurring across this province. Despite all of the challenges, while the entire nation watched live, our officers and those from a multitude of other Canadian police services remained committed to their roles and responsibilities and represented the entire policing profession with the utmost professionalism, discipline and confidence.

Thank you, merci, meegwetch for allowing us to join you here this evening.

[The Joint Chair, Hon. Gwen Boniface]

Thank you, Commissioner.

We will now start our rounds of questions.

We will start with Mr. Brock for five minutes.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to both witnesses for physically attending today at our committee. It's much appreciated.

Commissioner, you recently attended the commission headed up by Justice Rouleau and you swore to tell the truth. Do you remember that?

[Commr Thomas Carrique]

Yes, sir.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

In the course of several lawyers asking you questions, you confirmed that at no point in time did you or any member of your organization request that the Government of Canada invoke the Emergencies Act. Do you accept that particular statement today here at committee?