Ottawa Police Service's control of convoy protest zone created 'challenges,' minister says

The Ottawa Police Service's control of the street directly in front of Parliament Hill created challenges in policing protesters who blocked the corridor for nearly a month earlier this year,says federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.

"I am aware now, as you all are, very painfully so, that Wellington Street is under the jurisdiction of the Ottawa Police Service," Mendicino told a special committee Tuesday night looking into thecircumstances that led the Liberal government to trigger never-before-used emergency powers to quell protests in Ottawa earlier this year.

"And that did, if I'm to be very candid ... present some challenges for all law enforcement in the response, certainly in the early days and into the period after that of the illegal blockade."

His comments come amid calls, including by Ottawa's city council,for a new model of policing for the core of the nation's capital followingallegations of a lack of co-ordination between the Ottawa Police Service and the RCMP to end to the protests.

While local police are tasked with policing Wellington Street, the ParliamentaryProtective Service,under theRCMP,is tasked with ensuring the security of the parliamentary precinct, including the Senate and House of Commons.

In February, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act during theFreedom Convoy, giving it temporary powers to deal with the blockades and protests against pandemic restrictions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argued at the time that it was necessary to invoke the Emergencies Act to address "serious challenges to law enforcement's ability to effectively enforce the law."

The unprecedented deployment of the Emergencies Act authorized a ban on travel to protestzones, prohibitedpeople from bringing minors to unlawful assemblies and allowedbanks to freeze the accounts of some of those involved in the protests.It also enabled the RCMP to enforce municipal bylaws and provincial offences where required.

Rise of ideologically motivated violent extremists a concern: CSIS

Along with policing issues, the federal government defended invoking the act by pointing towhat it called a
"concerning, volatile and unpredictable" situation.

"The protesters have varying ideological grievances, with demands ranging from an end to all public health restrictions to the overthrow of the elected government," read a government statement at the time.

"Ideologically motivated violent extremism adherents may feel empowered by the level of disorder resulting from the protests."

Thehead of Canada's spy agency testified Tuesday to the rise in ideologically motivated violent extremism in Canada. Canadian Security Intelligence Service director David Vigneaultsaid the content leading up to and around the convoy didn't surprise him.

"We are constantly looking at the movement of ideologically motivated violent extremists so we have a fairly good understanding of the dynamics at play," he said when answering a question fromSenatorGwennethBoniface. "So I would not say that we were surprised."

CSIS defines ideologically motivated violent extremism as motivated by a"a range of grievances and ideas from across the traditional ideological spectrum."

"The resulting world view consists of a personalized narrative which centres on an extremist's willingness to incite, enable and or mobilize to violence," the agencysays on its website.

Vigneault said,and the agency's annual reports confirm, that an increasing amount of CSISresources is dedicated to investigating ideologically motivated violent extremism.

"I would say that we are now close to 50 per cent of our counterterrorism capacity devoted to that phenomenon contrasted to the phenomenon of religiously motivated [extremism], and it is, indeed, one of theconcerns we have. We see [it] both in Canada and across the world."

Attorney general invokedcabinet confidentiality

During the second half of thecommittee meeting, Justice Minister David Lametti repeatedly invoked cabinet confidentiality under questioning about consultations before declaring an emergency.

The opposition is pressuring the Liberals to waive cabinet confidence and release all the information the government relied upon in making its decision.

"I think Canadians will understand that cabinet confidence is a critical part of our cabinet governance system," Lametti said.

"So the waiving of cabinet confidence is extremely rare."

NDP MP Matthew Green challenged Lametti, arguing he had "an opportunity to be honest with Canadians."

"You're certainly impeding the process through which we can get clarity," Green said during a round of questioning.

Separate inquiry officially launched

Tuesday's committee is separate from the inquiry announced Monday into the use of the Emergencies Act.

Trudeau named former OntarioSuperior Court justice PaulRouleauto lead that independent public inquiry the Public Order Emergency Commission as it looksintointo the events that led to the Emergencies Act being invoked and makes recommendations "to prevent these events from happening again," said a government release.

The Opposition Conservatives arguethat inquiry is overly focused on the actions of protesters and the role played byfundraising and disinformation in the event.

WATCH | Ministersays Emergencies Act allowed Ottawa to end protest:

Emergencies Act allowed police to end Ottawa protest convoy: minister

2 years ago

Duration 2:19

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says invoking the Emergencies Act gave law enforcement the necessary power to end the Ottawa protest convoy, in a special joint committee hearing looking into the federal governments use of the act.

"The Liberal government is doing everything in their power to ensure this inquiry is unsubstantial and fails to hold them accountable," said a joint statement from Conservative MPsRaquel Dancho,Dane Lloyd and Grard Deltell on Monday.

When asked what information will be released in the course ofthat probe, Government House leader Mark Holland said the government has to consider both transparency and national security.

The order in council thatsets outrules for the inquiry calls on the commissioner to avoid disclosing information that could be "injurious" to Canada's international relations, defence and security.

"We have two competing interests," Hollandtold reporters Tuesday before a cabinet meeting.

"The most important thing we can do is make sure the public has all the information they need to see clearly why decisions were made and how they were made. But we also know we have to protect national security. Those are difficult things to balance."

Rouleau's final report is due for release to both Houses of Parliament before Feb. 20, 2023.