“The potential for serious insider threats exists,” says the Feb. 10 advisory from the RCMP’s ideologically motivated criminal intelligence team. “Those who have not lost their jobs but are sympathetic to the movement and their former colleagues may be able to share law enforcement or military information at the convoy demonstrations.” The document, obtained by CBC News through an access to information request, shows the RCMP are concerned some of their own may be working with the protesters who have blocked streets in downtown Ottawa for weeks. It was well documented during the protests that some of the convoy’s key supporters had prior ties to law enforcement — among them a former RCMP officer who worked on the prime minister’s security detail and a former military intelligence officer. This sparked concerns within the RCMP’s ideologically motivated criminal intelligence unit about convoy participants monitoring the way police operate. “Convoy supporters who previously worked in law enforcement and the military appeared alongside the organizers and may provide them with logistical and security advice, which may pose operational challenges for law enforcement if policing techniques and tactics are revealed to the participants,” says the unit. advisory. Barbara Perry, director of the Center on Hate, Bias and Extremism, said it’s no surprise the RCMP were concerned about members leaking information to the procession participants. “We have to look at what we know about sexism, misogyny and racism within the RCMP. And you know, that’s the bread and butter of the far-right movement,” he said. Perry said investigators have been able to delve into extremism in the Canadian Armed Forces, but investigating extremist ties to law enforcement has been more difficult. “That thin blue line is alive and the police are very wary of talking about these kinds of issues,” he said. Ben Froese, a crane operator parked on Wellington Street, is pepper-sprayed as police enforce security measures against protesters in Ottawa on February 19, 2022. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) “We haven’t really done a lot of research in the Canadian context, but in the US, study after study shows that law enforcement rates very high on authoritarian values, which is part and parcel of the far right as well. So I think there’s definitely overlap.” The CBC asked the RCMP if its concerns about “insider threats” ever materialized. The police force did not immediately respond to the publication. Michael Kempa, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, said concerns about information leaks may have played a role in how police shared information during the convoy seizure. “When the escort was established, there would have been concerns in all police organizations that there would be a small number of officers with sympathies for the escort,” he said. “That’s because there are those sympathies in our society. So yes, I would be very confident that police leadership would be careful in how they shared information with that in mind.”
Safety adviser ‘vague’ about OPS enforcement plan
The police response to last winter’s Freedom Convoy protests will come under the spotlight next month when a public inquiry begins its study of the federal government’s rationale for using emergency measures. Concerns about how information was shared between police and security forces were raised in talking points prepared for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security and intelligence adviser — also released to CBC News in the same access-to-information package. On February 9, according to the documents, the prime minister’s national security adviser Jody Thomas met with federal ministers of state to brief them on the protests and the police response. Jody Thomas, national security and intelligence adviser to the prime minister, arrives at the West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 10, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) By that date, a dedicated group of protesters upset with public health measures for COVID-19 had blocked city streets for nearly 13 days, forcing the city of Ottawa to declare a state of emergency. Mayor Jim Watson described the situation as “the most serious emergency our city has ever faced.” Peter Sloly, chief of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) at the time, told an Ottawa city council meeting on Feb. 7 that an influx of nearly 2,000 police and civilians was needed to “turn up the heat.” But Sloly’s plans for the future weren’t clear to everyone involved. “Throughout the two weekends and throughout the weeks, OPS brought in additional police resources from several Ontario municipalities and the OPP depending on the estimated and actual number of protesters,” Thomas notes. “However, the OPS has not yet shared its future plan for enforcement with partners and it is unclear if the plan has been developed. This has resulted in some resources being reallocated from the OPP and other municipal law enforcement agencies.” A spokesman for the Privy Council Office (PCO) said the term “partners” would refer to other security and policing agencies, including the RCMP and Parliamentary Protection Services. When asked for more details on the enforcement plan, a spokesperson for the Ottawa Police Service said the force would not comment “while the parliamentary review is ongoing.” The RCMP also would not comment on discussions the Mounties had at the time with OPS, the primary police force with jurisdiction over the Ottawa protest. “It would not be appropriate to comment on specific operational discussions held with law enforcement and security partners at this time, as that information will be disclosed in due course to the Public Order Emergency Committee,” RCMP spokeswoman Charlotte Hibbard said. “The RCMP has a longstanding positive relationship with the Ottawa Police Service and other law enforcement and safety partners within the National Capital Region.” An Ontario Provincial Police regular officer looks on from the top of an armored vehicle as protesters prepare to leave before police enforce an order against a demonstration blocking traffic on the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., on February 12, 2022. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press) Scott Blandford is an assistant professor and program coordinator for the policing and master of public safety program at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. He said when one police force sends help to another, they usually keep each other informed. “I personally cannot see one organization withholding information and intelligence when another organization has committed to providing assistance,” he said. “I think what happened here was that the situation was so dynamic, it was changing from day to day, not just the number of people involved and what their involvement was. And in many ways … the initial movement was chosen by a number of other organizations that continued to add new layers and new dimensions to it.” In such a rapidly changing climate, he said, policing plans may have to change daily.
US pushes Canada to use emergency powers: doc
Documents released to the CBC also show the government drew up a strategic action plan sometime between Jan. 24 and Feb. 11 that raised concerns about how police were responding to the protests. According to the plan document, the purpose of the plan was “to support a discussion by committee members on the strategic direction and ideas for federal actions to authorize the City of Ottawa’s decision on the ongoing demonstration.” (PCO did not identify the committee in question for CBC News.) “There is currently no clear path forward and the escalation of sympathetic protests across Canada risks further jeopardizing the national interest,” the document says. “The ineffectiveness of governments and law enforcement to resolve this situation draws public attention from the actions of the occupiers to the lack of response.” On February 12, OPS, the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP formed an Integrated Command Center to coordinate their response to the Ottawa protests. By that point, other protests against the pandemic measures were breaking out across the country. One closed the border crossing at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. Ont. — Canada’s busiest trade route. On February 10, the US urged the federal government to use emergency powers to end border blockades, according to a Privy Council Office national business briefing released as part of the document dump. On February 14, Trudeau announced the government would invoke the Emergency Act for the first time since it was created in 1988 — a controversial move that gave authorities temporary powers that included the ability to freeze protesters’ bank accounts and credit cards. Participating in any event deemed an illegal assembly, such as the Ottawa convoy protest, also became illegal. “It is now clear that there are serious challenges to the ability of law enforcement to effectively enforce the law,” Trudeau said during a news conference that day. The act was revoked on February 23 after police cleared the streets of Ottawa.
We are talking about a “discovery” the night before the invocation
According to previously released court documents, Thomas – who was the former deputy minister of national defense before becoming Trudeau’s top intelligence adviser – told cabinet there was a “potential for a breakthrough” with convoy leaders the night before from the invocation of the emergency law. These redacted court documents were recently filed in Federal Court as part of a lawsuit challenging the government…
