Declaration of Emergency committee  There was nothing to my knowledge. I think we need to be clear on mandates here. Strategic intelligence the OPP is providing is for our decision-making and our planning. That information is disseminated to CSIS, which is responsible for assessing it under the CSIS Act. That is not the responsibility of me, as the commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, or of the Ontario Provincial Police in general; nor do we have any assessment as to whether it meets the threshold for the Emergencies Act.

Declaration of Emergency committee  We have sought to get additional information or evidence. We do not officially have an investigation under way. There is no evidence for us. There is no official complaint. There is no actual evidence. There is no starting point for such an investigation.

Declaration of Emergency committee  It may have been. I'm not in receipt of any evidence of leakages coming out of all three levels of law enforcement. If that means municipal, provincial and federal, there have certainly been assertions and rumours of such. Through intelligence, we have sought to clarify any rumours and seek out any evidence, and there has been no evidence of any OPP officers being involved in any such conduct.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Yes. I had a reaction when I saw those types of things happening. I can tell you there has been formal discipline administered on 15 occasions by me to members of the Ontario Provincial Police. It's also important to note that sometimes those images can be out of context. Sometimes, when a police officer is deployed to a potentially dangerous situation, trying to de-escalate it, trying to build rapport and trying to get agreement for people to willingly leave what would be an unlawful occupation, there is some rapport building that goes on.

Declaration of Emergency committee  I'm sorry, Senator. I'm not familiar with where that information came from yesterday.

Declaration of Emergency committee  I'm always concerned about the level of trust and confidence in our police from our public. It is absolutely essential to be effective and to ensure that citizens and communities feel safe and secure. They have to have confidence in our police. However, in the absence of any evidence, a lot of this can continue to be rhetoric from those who were engaged in protest activity and those who continue to push out misinformation and disinformation to try to further a narrative.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Trust and confidence are absolutely essential to policing in a free and democratic society.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Certainly, a unified command was very clearly established on February 15. Chief Sloly resigned. I was not aware that he was going to be resigning on February 15. He was engaged in a police services board meeting. We had a number of questions that I was to take to Chief Sloly to determine obstacles that were perceived to be in the way of operationalizing the plan within the Ottawa police.

Declaration of Emergency committee  In the case of Ottawa, the request went from the mayor to the premier and the Solicitor General. In the case of Windsor, it came under the signature of the chief, after consulting with the mayor of Windsor. I then had direct conversation with both chiefs to make sure we were able to facilitate those requests for assistance.

Declaration of Emergency committee  I did have input into those. Those meetings commenced on or about February 10. I was able to provide some operational perspective and some guidance in terms of tools that I thought would be effective to immediately end blockades, and deter and prevent further blockades. I believe that our ability to clear the blockage on Highway 402 was a direct result of being able to reference the consequences for those participants not clearing that blockade immediately.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Did I share the same concerns?

Declaration of Emergency committee  Yes, I shared those same concerns.

Declaration of Emergency committee  It was certainly a risk that needed to be addressed and mitigated.

Declaration of Emergency committee  I have no evidence to say that there was leakage that took place during this time period. I agree with the sentiments and the statements that were made in the Hendon report at the time. There were a number of follow-up taskings that were issued out to try to determine whether the threats had actually been realized in terms of specific information leaked.

Declaration of Emergency committee  I had no concerns with sharing all of the intelligence we had with the Ottawa police or any of our other policing partners.