Declaration of Emergency Committee on Nov. 3rd, 2022

[Chief Steve Bell]

No, I don't recall that request.

[Dennis Glen Patterson]

Okay, thank you.

[The Joint Chair, Hon. Gwen Boniface]

Thank you, Senator.

We'll now move to four minutes. We start with Mr. Brock.

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

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, for your attendance today.

I have a question for Chief Bell.

To invoke the Emergencies Act requires an emergency that arises from threats to the security of Canada that are so serious as to be a national emergency. As you know, Chief Bell, “threats to the security of Canada” has the same meaning as assigned by section 2 of the CSIS Act.

My question is for you and the deputy chief. During the entire period of this occupation and thereafter, there was absolutely zero evidence of any espionage or sabotage against Canada. Would you agree with that?

[Chief Steve Bell]

I have no information around that. We did not conduct any investigations into that.

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

There's no evidence of foreign-influenced activities within or relating to Canada that were detrimental to the interests of Canada and that were clandestine or deceptive or involved a threat to any person. Is that correct?

[Chief Steve Bell]

I don't personally have any knowledge of that.

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

There were no activities within or relating to Canada directed toward and in support of the threat or use of acts of serious violence against persons for the purpose of achieving a political, religious or ideological objective within Canada. Is that correct?

There was no evidence.

[Chief Steve Bell]

I think that one is more open to debate. We did see acts of violence that occurred during the convoy.

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

You saw acts of violence that resulted in four Criminal Code charges. There was no serious violence by way of aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm, attempted murder or murder. That is serious violence. You're a police officer. I'm a former Crown attorney.

Would you agree with me, sir?

[Chief Steve Bell]

We did not lay any of those charges, no.

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

Thank you.

Lastly, there's no evidence of any activity directed toward undermining by covert unlawful acts that were intended to lead to the destruction or overthrow by violence of the constitutionally established system of government in Canada. There's no evidence of that.

[Chief Steve Bell]

We did not investigate or lay any charges in relation to that.

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

Thank you.

My colleague, Glen Motz, indicated, and you confirmed, that you did not request the Government of Canada to invoke the federal Emergencies Act.

[Chief Steve Bell]

That's correct. There was no direct request made from the Ottawa Police Service.

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

Were you ever consulted by the federal government on its invocation?

[Chief Steve Bell]

That would be a difficult question for me to answer, as I only became the interim chief at a point at which the act had been invoked. Those conversations would have occurred with former Chief Sloly, if they did occur.

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

Thank you.

The Minister of Public Safety, Marco Mendicino, on 13 occasions in the House of Commons, in committee and in the press and media, confirmed that law enforcement asked for the invocation of the Emergencies Act.

Would you agree with me, sir, that both statements—your statement that you did not ask the government and Minister Mendicino's multiple statements that law enforcement asked for it—cannot be accurate and true at the same time?

[Chief Steve Bell]

I don't know what conversations would have been had between the former chief and the federal government. What I can say is that the Ottawa Police Service never made a direct request for it.

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

My point is that both statements can't be true at the same time. Would you agree with me that Minister Mendicino has lied to Canadians and perpetrated that lie on numerous occasions?

[Chief Steve Bell]

I don't think I can make that statement.

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

Further, Minister Mendicino indicated that we got advice from our law enforcement that we met the threshold to invoke the Emergencies Act. You will confirm that you did not indicate that, did you?

[Chief Steve Bell]

No, but again, I was not involved in those discussions prior to the invocation of the act.

[The Joint Chair, Hon. Gwen Boniface]

Thank you.

We'll move to Ms. Bendayan. You have four minutes.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Thank you, Deputy, and thank you, Chief.

I would like to begin by recounting a story I told previously in this committee.

I was in Ottawa for the three-plus weeks of the occupation. On several occasions, I was walking down the street and ran into OPS officers, and they were often either watching altercations between citizens or merely watching the huge trucks that were blocking all of downtown Ottawa. On several occasions I asked them why they were not enforcing the law, including the highway safety act, and I was told on more than one occasion that it was because they had instructions from their higher-ups not to do so.

Were those instructions provided by the OPS—by you, Deputy, since you were there at the time?