Declaration of Emergency committee  Are you asking the reason for my resignation, sir?

Declaration of Emergency committee  There are a number of reasons that go into any person's decision to resign, particularly from a high-profile public office. Many of them are extremely personal to me and my family, but the number one reason was for public safety. The reason for public safety was that there were increasing levels of doubt about the capabilities of the Ottawa Police Service, lowering levels of public trust in the midst of an unfolding local and national security crisis.

Declaration of Emergency committee  There certainly was a very complicated security risk assessment being done, literally on a daily basis. It was not until we were able to secure the ultimately 2,000 extra police officers that a level of scale on the policing side could match the scale and capabilities on the people side, particularly but not exclusively in the red zone.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Well, unfortunately the context in which I made my statement was clearly misunderstood. Let me be clear, and I said it again today: Institutions, public institutions, across this country were unprepared for what happened during those weeks. That included police services and national security organizations, and yes, that included the Ottawa Police Service, but there were structural deficits across multiple institutional lines.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Singularly, the difference in my statement that we were better prepared..., We had a significantly upgraded plan from almost a week before. That plan called for a massive incursion of resources. I had identified 1,800; ultimately, there were 2,000.

Declaration of Emergency committee  There were incredible ranges of actions by individuals across civil society that were problematic for what we were trying to accomplish, but there were far greater amounts of effort to safely and ultimately successfully resolve this national security crisis.

Declaration of Emergency committee  I was no longer in office when the situation was ultimately resolved. The plan we put in place on my last day in office considered whether or not we'd be able to have the resources to apply to private injunctions and the various declarations. Ultimately, the elements of the three levels of declaration of emergency were very much assisting with a faster and safer resolution of the circumstances here and across the country.

Declaration of Emergency committee  The red zone areas along Wellington over into Rideau and down through the parkway just west of us here were literally filled within minutes. Efforts were made to hold negotiations that were in place to allow for emergency lanes of traffic and to provide for a period of demonstration that would then end.

Declaration of Emergency committee  There was no further movement into those red zones, but there was egress from them when we could negotiate that, when people chose to leave.

Declaration of Emergency committee  The speed around which the main convoys settled in the red zone area was such that we were not able to move in with heavy tow trucks and sufficient personnel. The reactions and actions coordinated at a very high level by the early-arriving elements of the convoys were such that the level of escalations I referred to earlier increased the risk to public safety, which included officer safety.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Yes, sir. The issue was not access to tow trucks in the first few hours. While we didn't have a fleet of them, we had access to, I believe, between three and five heavy tow trucks that could have been staged and moved around the downtown core. The issue was not whether or not there was a bylaw offence taking place.

Declaration of Emergency committee  I appreciate the conversations you had. Obviously, I wasn't there to verify them, but I'll take your explanation at face value. There were clearly orders sent through for us to enforce the laws that we could. There was also a very clear understanding, which is borne out in multiple intelligence reports from multiple levels of security operations, including ITAC reports, that enforcement activity in any theatre across the country could have escalating impacts.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Thank you. I will repeat again that there was enforcement at all three levels every single day throughout my tenure in office. There were never any instructions to not enforce laws. There were careful threat assessments that were provided through briefings to the officers to make sure they had maximum discretion to make very important decisions on a day-by-day, interaction-by-interaction basis.

Declaration of Emergency committee  There were many such incidents like that.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Not that I'm aware of, sir.