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.
9:30 p.m.
Commr Brenda Lucki
I will pass that to Mike Duheme, because he dealt directly with that.
9:30 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
Senator Carignan, the information that was shared with the banks was what we had on record. Sometimes, we had only a licence plate. The information in the various files was shared with the banks so they could have a description of the individuals and decide whether or not to freeze the accounts.
9:30 p.m.
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
Did the information include dealings with the police, being suspected in other crimes or being witnesses to other crimes, or other types of dealings?
9:30 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
I would need to check on that with Superintendent Beaudoin. I believe that some of that information was shared because we had to send all information to ensure that it was the right person.
9:30 p.m.
Senator, Quebec (Mille Isles), C
Under the order, you could indicate that the person was suspected of committing other crimes, besides the simple fact that they were at an illegal gathering on Wellington Street. On what legal basis could you provide information other than that?
9:30 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
We provided personal information to the financial institutions to ensure that they had a description that would allow them to decide whether or not to freeze accounts.
9:30 p.m.
Senator, Ontario, C
Thank you very much, Senator Harder.
Deputy Commissioner Duheme, in relation to Wellington Street specifically, we heard a lot about funding that was frozen, which was being used to sponsor or at least support a criminal activity. Is that correct?
9:30 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
There was considerable funding aimed at supporting what was going on in the downtown core of Ottawa.
9:30 p.m.
Senator, Ontario, C
Could no other tool have been used, like civil forfeiture under the province, to secure those funds in an attempt to actually forfeit them to the Crown? Could that not have been used prior to the Emergencies Act?
If so, was that considered by the team that was working on developing a strategy?
9:30 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
The lead role with regard to the platform and the collection of funds was done by the OPP. I'm not quite sure if that was considered as they moved forward on that.
9:30 p.m.
Senator, Ontario, C
Was using provincial civil forfeiture never discussed at any of the meetings you were in?
9:30 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
No, not to my recollection.
9:30 p.m.
Senator, Ontario, C
Thank you very much for that. I appreciate it.
On February 12, were you confident that the police were at a point where their plan would be successful in removing, clearing and making whatever arrests necessary of the people who were situated on Wellington Street and beyond?
9:30 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
I was briefed on the plan on February 12. I was confident.
As I mentioned earlier, this was a plan that was in motion. It was dynamic. It was fluid because of what we were seeing on the terrain, but I was confident. It might have been tweaked a little bit as we moved to the kinetic portion, but yes, I was confident.
9:35 p.m.
Senator, Ontario, C
Certainly, you had no concerns that you didn't have the resources, the capability or the capacity to actually operationalize the plan.
9:35 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
We didn't have the capability to operationalize the plan sooner. As they were going through the plan, we noted that we needed additional special resources to address it.
9:35 p.m.
Senator, Ontario, C
It was not something you would need any other legislation to attain. You could access those resources through relationships.
9:35 p.m.
D/Commr Michael Duheme
We were planning with the existing authorities that we had to demobilize.
9:35 p.m.
Senator, Ontario, C
Thank you very much.
You said there was a solidification of the command about February 12. What caused the change for that command to solidify on February 12? What happened on that day that caused it to be in a better position?