Evidence of meeting #5 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 question.
A video is available from Parliament.
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
All right.
Minister, I'd like to know what takes precedence when you make your decision. Is it the written opinions in question that you receive and the origin which we don't know, or is it the act, under which you're required to consult the provincial premiers.
My time is up. Will you answer my question?
Bloc
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
That's what I suspected.
Thank you, Minister.
Mr. Green, you have the floor for one minute.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Thank you.
This question is for Commissioner Lucki. On February 15, 2022, a video surfaced of the RCMP shortly after they found a weapons cache and were clearing out the Coutts blockade. The RCMP were shaking hands and giving hugs to convoy members, which is in stark contrast to how the RCMP treat indigenous people protesting in relatively remote areas, such as the Wet’suwet’en, where firearms are not found to be present.
What do you say to Canadians who have called out this clear double standard? Also, could you please respond to the observations of the RCMP being sympathetic to the convoy, which may have affected how they chose to discriminately enforce the law?
Commr Brenda Lucki
Thank you for that question.
This convoy was particularly different in the sense that there were many people in and around the area. Not all people were involved with the convoy. There were citizens from the city of Ottawa who were not participating. Downtown—
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Specific to Coutts, Commissioner Lucki, there were weapons found at Coutts in the same location your RCMP officers were seen giving handshakes and hugs at a scene where weapons had just recently been found. Would you care to comment on that?
Bloc
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
Your time is up, Mr. Green.
Can you answer with a yes or a no, Ms. Lucki?
Bloc
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
Thank you very much.
Through you, Mr. Chair, perhaps I could address my question to Mr. Vigneault. I can't see whether he's still on the screen or not.
Mr. Vigneault, you can advise. Were you surprised by the information you received with respect to the convoy and some of the issues that you saw as national security threats?
Director, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Thank you for your question, Senator.
As an intelligence organization, we are constantly looking at the movement of ideologically motivated violent extremists, so we have a fairly good understanding of the dynamics at play. I would not necessarily say that we were surprised.
We've seen in the past a number of these elements trying to use protests and demonstrations to infiltrate and take advantage by engaging in activities that can meet the threshold of CSIS to be a threat of terrorism. From that point of view, I would say that we are constantly on the lookout for these issues, and that's what we're assessing. Based on our information and advice, we provide assessments to the Government of Canada.
Bloc
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
Thank you, Senator. Your time is up.
Senator Carignan now has the floor for one minute.
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
Thank you.
Minister, which provincial governments told you before February 14 that they didn't have the necessary powers or tools to address the situation?
Liberal
Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
Before invoking the Emergencies Act, we had discussions with the provinces and territories so we could understand their needs. As I previously said, the Premier of Alberta requested additional resources. The discussions continued, but…
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
Perhaps I worded my question poorly.
I wanted to know which provinces asked you to invoke the Emergencies Act.
Liberal
Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
We had ongoing discussions with a number of provinces during the blockades.
Bloc
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
You're speaking time is up.
Thank you, Senator and Minister.
Senator Harder now has the floor for one minute.
Peter Harder
I'm going to follow up on Senator Boniface's question with David Vigneault.
Can you describe to us how resources allocated to ideologically motivated violent extremism have increased in the last, let's say, two or three years? Do you forecast an increase in the resources dedicated to this movement?
Director, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Thank you, Senator Harder, for your question.
Yes, indeed, the resources dedicated to investigating ideologically motivated violent extremists have increased at CSIS. I would say that close to 50% of our counterterrorism capacity is now devoted to that phenomenon, as opposed to the contrasted phenomenon of religiously motivated.... It is, indeed, one of the concerns we have. We see, in Canada and across the world, a convergence of ideology and use of violence to.... Canada has not been immune to that. Over the last number of years, we have seen a number of terrorist attacks in Canada in which people have lost their lives.
Bloc
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
Thank you. Your time is up.
Senator Campbell now has the floor for one minute.
Senator, British Columbia, CSG
This is for Commissioner Lucki.
Wellington Street is under the Ottawa PD. The Hill is your security responsibility. If it was such a high threat, can you advise why the RCMP-led PPS did not block off access to the Hill and only did so days after the EA was invoked?
Commr Brenda Lucki
Thank you for the question.
First, Parliament Hill is the responsibility of the parliamentary precinct. We do direct that, but it's their resources.
Wellington, as you said, is under the Ottawa Police Service. We were responsible for the area of Parliament we had blocked off to the public and protesters. Wellington Street was the responsibility of the Ottawa police.
Bloc
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
Your time is up, Mr. Campbell.
I want to thank the witnesses for being with us today.
We will now suspend for a few moments to allow the next witnesses to come to the table.
We are suspended.