Declaration of Emergency Committee on June 7th, 2022

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Commissioner Lucki has already said that she—

[Rob Stewart]

She was party to discussions with ministers.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

At that point, who should be providing opinions? You said there were people there advising the cabinet to make that decision, but who do you think should have been there? I guess my question really should be, were the right people in the room to make that decision, to advise cabinet before the Emergencies Act was actually invoked?

[Rob Stewart]

As you know, sir, the Emergencies Act was invoked some time after the blockades began and over the course of the two-plus weeks that they were in effect, we were gathering a lot of information and doing a lot of consultation.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

It was the cabinet's decision to invoke the act. How long before it was actually invoked on the 14th of February did the cabinet make that decision?

[Rob Stewart]

Not long.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

A day, a week, hours...?

[Rob Stewart]

It was not long before. It was made over the course of the weekend.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

Thank you.

We will now pass the floor over to Mr. Naqvi for five minutes.

Mr. Naqvi, sir, the floor is yours.

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair, and through you, thank you to the deputy and the ADMs for being here today.

I'm from Ottawa. I represent the riding that was under occupation for three weeks. I saw the mayhem, the chaos, the aggression towards people who live in this community and the many businesses that were shuttered as a result of it. I want to try to get a sense from you, from the inside, as that protest grew into an occupation and there did not seem to be an end in sight, what was the level of activity within the government to understand and grasp the nature of things that were happening on the ground here in Ottawa, for instance?

[Rob Stewart]

We were, for the most part, operating in consultation with the Ottawa police, who, in the context of the protests, were the people who were on the ground amidst the trucks and who had liaison teams talking to protesters.

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Was there fairly regular and constant interaction with Ottawa police, for instance, during that whole period?

[Rob Stewart]

Yes. The RCMP was part of an integrated decision centre ultimately, but even before that, it was very closely consulting with the Ottawa police.

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Did that interaction involve the sharing of information, and of course I'm not talking about operational issues but as to the nature of the protests, some of the challenges in managing that particular protest?

[Rob Stewart]

Absolutely.

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

During those conversations with the Ottawa police, for instance, or the RCMP or in case of, let's say, Coutts and Windsor, with the OPP as well, was there, over time, an understanding of where the gaps were in terms of what was required to put an end to these blockades and occupations?

[Rob Stewart]

Yes, there was an appreciation of the fact that law enforcement was struggling, in particular in Ottawa, to enforce the law—and I believe the former chief of police readily admits that—because of the unprecedented nature of the protest, but we also learned, through the CBSA, of our challenges of enforcing the law on access to the border.

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I'm trying to understand the question that is often asked regarding whether a particular police service asked for the invocation of the Emergencies Act, even though there is no requirement in the act or a necessity for that ask. When I look at the order and the regulations, I see very precise powers that have been given to law enforcement. They were all utilized, and that resulted in the end of blockades and occupation. I'm trying to understand how that list was derived.

My impression is that through those engagements and conversations, the government got a better sense of where the gaps may have been that were not sufficiently met with existing laws, and the invocation of the Emergencies Act was used to fill those gaps.

[Rob Stewart]

That's absolutely correct. For example, police forces across the country, and particularly in Alberta, Manitoba and Ottawa, were having trouble getting tow trucks to help them enforce the law. The removal of the need to swear in RCMP members, so that they could come to Ottawa and join the force here, was also one of the measures that was specifically suggested.

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Was there a fair bit of thought provided when decisions were being made as to what powers should be granted in terms of having a very surgical approach to what was necessary to find an end to the blockades and the occupation?

[Rob Stewart]

Yes.

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

As that approach was being developed, was there a fair bit of conversation with law enforcement authorities, like the Ottawa police, the Windsor police, the OPP and the RCMP, to determine whether the federal government was on the right track to give them the powers they needed?

[Rob Stewart]

Yes.

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

There was a clear understanding from them, I take it, by the action that was taken post-February 14, that this was the case, and it that would be sufficient.

[Rob Stewart]

The federal government was acting in the context of what was deemed to be a public order emergency, where the powers at the national level were not sufficient. The expectation was that the actions taken under the act would be what was helpful to stop the protests and deter further protests.