I sure can.
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.
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.
9:25 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
I sure can.
9:25 p.m.
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
Do you have any sense, or could you perhaps tell us of a similar situation when you would have had that many people deployed in policing across Canada?
9:25 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
The only other situation I could compare it with is major events that we usually manage.
9:25 p.m.
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
Would that be things like the G8, the G20 and some of those historical events?
9:25 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
Yes. They are different in nature, but historical events as such would require a significant amount of resources.
9:25 p.m.
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
From a planning perspective, in your incident command and the three key agencies that you referred to—and I understand the coordination table as a framework—can you tell me what the timeframe was from start to finish when that team worked together?
9:25 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
Ottawa Police Service, RCMP and OPP always worked together, but it's really on February 12 when the ICC was created that it solidified, if you wish, the command structure as we move forward. OPS, as I mentioned, always had the lead. The OPP and RCMP were there, but this just solidified the command structure as we moved forward in preparation for the action plan on the 17th.
9:25 p.m.
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
As a reflection, a chance to look back, a “hot wash” or whatever we want to call it, would there have been advantages to having that team in place much earlier from an operational perspective?
9:25 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
I would say yes, but I don't know all of the elements. When OPS first started off, the convoy.... I don't know all of the elements that led us to the situation that we're in right now, but obviously the sooner the better.
9:25 p.m.
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
It would seem to me that from the experience with other issues like the incident you referred to, there would be some advantage for early planning no matter what the incident is, and this may very well have been one of them.
9:25 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
Yes, Madam Chair. I'll refer to the commissioner's comment. When you look at the incidents that took place in Toronto and in Quebec City, they obviously learned from what took place here in Ottawa when it came to the convoy.
9:25 p.m.
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
Isn't it also true that here in Ottawa this would have been one of the most complex operations in terms of putting together the step-by-step process that needed to take place once you made a decision that you would be moving people on, so to speak?
9:25 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
It was complex, in a sense, yes, and resource intensive. As we moved into that operational phase, there was no stopping. We had to continue. That was a complexity. Once we initiated the demobilization at each site, there was no stopping that momentum, if you wish.
9:25 p.m.
The Joint Chair Hon. Gwen Boniface
Would it also be fair to say that, in other incidents where you would have some experience in this—and you've had a lot of experience in it, I believe—these would not be cases, necessarily, that lasted as long as this one did or that were as entrenched as this one was and had the amount of resources required to mobilize over a single weekend? Am I correct on that?
9:25 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
Yes, you are correct.
9:25 p.m.
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
Thank you, Madam Chair.
My question is for Commissioner Lucki.
You said that you learned on February 14 that a state of emergency would be declared. On February 15, the Emergency Economic Measures Order was issued, making it possible to freeze individuals' bank accounts, life insurance, disability insurance, RRSPs, TFSAs and so forth.
Did the RCMP ask the government to give it that additional authority or to implement those additional measures?
9:25 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
No.
9:25 p.m.
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
There was the group of three, the RCMP, the Ottawa Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police. At your integrated centre that managed the crisis, did one of those three police services ask the government for that authority?
9:25 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
No, I don't believe so.
9:30 p.m.
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
I come back to the question that was asked earlier about communication with the banks. On the form, it was possible to share criminal records and indicate whether the person had been a witness to other crimes or had other incidents.
Can you tell us how providing that information to the banks was relevant?
9:30 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
I'm sorry; we didn't provide criminal records. We simply provided the names of the people who were within the illegal blockade who were refusing to leave. We followed up with the licence plates of vehicles that were there—the plates of the drivers and owners of vehicles. That information was provided to the banks.
9:30 p.m.
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
RCMP Superintendent Denis Beaudoin appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance on March 7, 2022. He said that the document could indicate the following information: “previous police dealings, or whether they were suspected in other crimes or were witnesses in other crimes or different types of dealings”. Is that statement correct?
