Evidence of meeting #7 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 rcmp.
A video is available from Parliament.
9:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant, ON
All charges were Criminal Code-related and related to provincial highway traffic acts, or to municipal bylaws, correct?
9:05 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
Outside of Ottawa, yes.
9:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant, ON
Thank you.
Does the RCMP possess the technical capacity to detect explosive materials in a non-invasive fashion?
9:05 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
I don't get into specific techniques, but in certain circumstances, we do have capabilities.
9:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant, ON
Is it true that the RCMP denied or ignored requests from the OPS or the Parliamentary Protective Service—
9:05 p.m.
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
I'm sorry, Mr. Brock. You're well past your time.
Madam Bendayan, you have five minutes.
9:05 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Thank you.
I'll go quite quickly, commissioner and witnesses, because my time is limited.
Just picking up on this last line of questioning, it's my understanding that the Emergencies Act didn't create new criminal charges. Therefore, there was no ability under the Emergencies Act to do anything other than enforce existing criminal law or highway safety law.
9:05 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
We use the Criminal Code to lay charges of criminal nature, yes.
9:05 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Of course.
My colleagues also touched on the cache of weapons that was seized on February 14 by the RCMP in Coutts. That included 13 long guns, handguns, multiple sets of body armour, one large machete, a large quantity of ammunition and high-capacity magazines. Is that correct?
9:05 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
Yes, I believe so.
9:05 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Was RCMP Superintendent McKale correct in her statement when she said that smaller armed group arrived within days of the initial larger group of blockaders at Coutts, Alberta?
9:05 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
Yes.
9:05 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
After the seizure of this large cache of weapons, did you continue to be concerned about the safety of Canadians, Commissioner?
9:05 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
I'm always concerned about the safety of Canadians.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
I understand.
Did the cache of weapons increase your level of concern?
9:10 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
This whole protest raised my level of concern and, of course, past the seizure of those weapons, I was still greatly concerned, because we always have a one-plus-one rule: If there is one, there could be more.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Thank you.
Do I understand correctly that there is an ongoing investigation into that particular matter?
9:10 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
Yes, the investigation continues and it's before the courts.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
If the investigation continues, is it not correct that it is premature to opine about the possible links between that extremist group and any other group, including protesters and blockaders in Ottawa or elsewhere around the country?
9:10 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
Yes, and even if we had that information, I couldn't share that, because it's still under investigation.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Thank you.
If I understand your earlier testimony correctly, Commissioner, prior to the invocation of the Emergencies Act, it was difficult for your team to identify these smaller extremist groups that were essentially using the larger blockades as cover. Is that correct?
9:10 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
Yes. We had no level of certainty of who were involved with the groups at all the protests, because there are many groups that attach themselves to the cause and use that as cover for themselves.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
But after the Emergencies Act was invoked, it became much clearer for law enforcement, did it not, in ensuring that the blockades in and of themselves were illegal activity? That helped you enforce the law and ensure that these extremist groups were removed and thereby better protect Canadians.
9:10 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
Yes, it helped us to reduce the footprint so we could go into an enforcement mode, maintain and reinforce the perimeter, restrict the travel in and out, prevent children from coming in and secure that, so it gave us a lot of powers to work through that enforcement in the safest way possible to protect the safety of Canadians and police officers.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
I have one last question.
How important was removing the ability to access funds to ending the siege in Ottawa and preventing future blockades at our borders? Would police operations have been more difficult had those millions of dollars not been frozen, Commissioner?