Declaration of Emergency committee  Sorry, I have one correction to my previous answer: We did have conversations with the City of Ottawa around their emergency, but not the other two levels of government. Could you just repeat your question for me, sir?

Declaration of Emergency committee  That's correct, sir.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Prior to the arrival, there were negotiations and communications between some of the convoy elements. Those communications included efforts from the Ontario Provincial Police and, yes, from the Ottawa Police Service, specifically our police liaison teams.

Declaration of Emergency committee  “Permissions” isn't a word I would normally use. There were communications and negotiations around how best to reduce the public safety impact of such a large gathering and demonstration in the city, and there were some successful and constructive efforts from both parties, both the police services and the organizers.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Dialogue and communication continued from the weeks before all the way through, to my understanding, until my last day in office anyway.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Ultimately, plans were updated on a regular basis, and the ultimate goal was to end the events here in Ottawa safely and successfully.

Declaration of Emergency committee  There were no explicit conversations that I had with other levels of government regarding declarations of the Emergencies Act at all three levels.

Declaration of Emergency committee  The primary requests that I made on a continual basis were for resources, particularly more police officers and police-trained personnel, and secondarily, access to tow trucks. It was predictable access to a large number of officers—1,800—and access to predictable, sustainable levels of heavy tow trucks.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Yes, sir.

Declaration of Emergency committee  We received supports from both provincial and federal governments right from the beginning. Prior to the arrival, we received OPP officers and RCMP officers, and we had that support throughout. After the official request for 1,800, there was a greater level of integration within our command structure, and we started to see a greater inflow of those resources, particularly over the last three to four days of my time in office, sir.

Declaration of Emergency committee  I wish I could have gotten it all within hours, but there were huge logistical challenges in gathering officers from across a country that was actually experiencing a national security crisis in various locations. I believe our policing partners, particularly the OPP and RCMP, did their very best.

Declaration of Emergency committee  The plan that was in place on February 9 was designed without the declarations of the provincial or federal emergencies acts. That said, components within both of those declarations were incredibly helpful in accelerating and safely ending the events.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Thank you very much, Chair. Good evening. I would like to thank the committee for inviting me to assist you in your important work reviewing the declaration of the Emergencies Act. The commission of inquiry chaired by Justice Rouleau will begin public hearings next week, and I will be a party to the commission.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, through you, that's an excellent question, and it's one that I hope this committee will really put its mind to. There are the physical threats and cyber-threats. I believe, in the long term, the greater threat to security and safety in our democracy and within the parliamentary precinct will be around the level of trust that people have in our institutions and in the information that might come from a source like the Ottawa Police Service, the RCMP or the Parliamentary Protective Service.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you. I won't repeat and will try to build on the excellent response you gave, sir. Chair, through you, there is a hyper-focus for a very legitimate reason on the large-scale event that just took place and the trucks in particular. The day-to-day threats to this environment are edged weapons, small arms, objects that can be weaponized by individuals if they choose and by individuals who unfortunately, increasingly, are suffering from a range of emotional, psychological and health-related issues that predominantly are things that victimize areas like this with regularity across the world.