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.
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
Again, I don't directly have that information. That portion of the plan was executed largely by the RCMP.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
You say that freezing the protesters' funds helped resolve the situation.
Would I be wrong if I said that what you are saying is purely speculative, given that you have no idea how many accounts were frozen, nor do you know who this measure was aimed at?
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
I know it's information that we received back from the ground, from our police liaison team members. I would say that would be corroborated by some of the witness testimony that we're hearing this week at the Emergencies Act inquiry, where members who were on the ground, members of the occupation and the planning team, as well, have indicated that it did have an impact.
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
Thank you.
I will go now to Mr. Green. You have three minutes.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Thank you very much.
I want to redirect to some of the initial conversations on threat assessment.
Certainly we have discussed that weapons had been seized from persons of interest. To your knowledge, how many persons of interest and how many weapons have been seized, based on the information report and your threat assessment?
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
I'm sorry; I don't have that information. I can—
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
You will recall, of course, that in the first couple of weeks of February, at the Coutts blockade in particular, police officers were feared to be the target of an armed attack. Are you aware of that?
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Were you updated, and was that included in your threat assessments?
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
The information we were gathering was through joint intelligence-gathering with all of our national partners as that went on and as the occupation unfolded. I think it's important to remember that the Coutts blockade occurred and began after the Ottawa one had been established.
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
I also want to reference that in your January 29 intelligence assessment by Sergeant Kiez, he has, “Individuals and/or groups that could potentially pose a threat during the Convoy”. It's on page 6 of the threat assessment. He lists ISIS and the Islamic State and international threats, yet there's no reference to the Coutts groups that were targeting police within your own intelligence assessments. I find that incredible.
Could you comment on how you would have not had that information included in your threat assessments, when in the very next paragraph, sir, you have the threat level of “Medium”, meaning there is “the intent and capability to commit an act of terrorism in Canada”, in italics. It says, “ITAC assesses that a violent act of terrorism could occur.” It's right there.
How do you have that disconnect?
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
I don't know that it's a disconnect.
As you indicated, the intelligence that you're referencing, the information that came as a result of the Coutts takedown, was much later than when this intelligence assessment was authored. It was a week or two after that.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Okay. In your opinion, do you accept that there was a medium threat?
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
It's not for me to accept it. The threat level is identified through an integrated terrorist assessment centre. It's determined by our national security experts and provided to us.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Sir, you indicated on March 7 that you were “implementing new actions and measures, including...continuing internal investigations relating to inappropriate police member conduct”. Does that include potential leaked information or sympathies that had been uncovered through the operational planning for the convoy?
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
Every investigative lead that we were provided, we followed up on. I can't comment on the investigations as they unfolded. I can let you know that as there was discipline or hearings to be held around them, we did hold those, and—
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
Chief, your time is up. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Green.
Senator Carignan, you have three minutes.
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
Thank you, Madam Chair.
My question is again for Chief Bell.
About February 7, an injunction was issued by the Superior Court at the request of a citizen. I was surprised that a citizen had to ask for this. One of the issues was to stop the incessant honking, which violated just about every municipal bylaw.
How did you enforce this injunction, and what were the effects?
Interim Chief, Ottawa Police Service
I will turn it over to Deputy Chief Ferguson to talk about any efforts we made in terms of enforcement around the injunction.
What I can let you know is that, as that injunction was being heard, the Ottawa Police Service was party to it at the end, in terms of the enforcement provisions around it.
As we heard before, enforcement was a big challenge for us as we went through this. The injunction did provide further tools, some of which we utilized, but based on the resources, based on the complexity of the scenario that existed within the footprint of the “red zone”, as we called it, enforcing laws was very challenging and sometimes very dangerous for our members.
I can turn it over to Deputy Ferguson for any further enforcement measures that we did take.
D/Chief Patricia Ferguson
Thank you, Chief.
I think it was a tool that was used when it was safe to do so. The increased fines certainly were, I believe, helpful to our members.
When the injunction was passed, we did see on the ground a decrease in the amount of honking that was going on. There did seem to be a little bit more moderation, I would say, in the behaviour of the truckers as a result.
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
How do you explain the fact that the City of Ottawa applied for an injunction 10 days later, around February 13 or 14, and it was a resident who applied for it on February 7 or 8?
You did not join [Technical difficulty—Editor] the city in its application or support these injunctions?
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
Senator Carignan, your screen froze.
Can you repeat your question? We have stopped your time.
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
All right. Excuse me.
How do you explain the fact that it took the City of Ottawa so long to seek an injunction itself, especially since the [Technical difficulty—Editor] citizen's injunction had had an effect? As we heard in testimony, the noise of the horns was terrible, and I don't doubt that, but it took a citizen to seek an injunction, on February 7.
How do you explain the City of Ottawa's decision to apply for one only on February 13?