Protest by truckers in Ottawa: jurisdictional challenges, according to the minister

I learned, like all of you, and in a very painful way, that the street Wellington is under the jurisdiction of the Ottawa Police ServiceMendicino said Tuesday night before a special committee examining the circumstances that led the Liberal government to use its emergency powers in an unprecedented way to suppress demonstrations against health measures linked to COVID earlier this year in Ottawa.

And that did, if I have to be very frank, create challenges for all law enforcement agencies in their response to events in the early days and aftermath of this unlawful blockade.

His comments come amid calls, including from Ottawa City Council, for a new policing model for the heart of the nation’s capital following allegations of a lack of coordination between the Ottawa Police ServiceOPS and the Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceRCMP to end the protests.

While the local police are in charge of monitoring the street Wellingtonthe Parliamentary Protective Service, under the direction of the Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceRCMPis responsible for the security of the Parliamentary Precinct, which includes the Senate and the House of Commons.

In February, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act during the truckers’ protest, giving it temporary powers to deal with blockades and protests in downtown Ottawa.

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

The unprecedented deployment of this law has made it possible in particular to prohibit access to certain areas of the demonstration, to prohibit people from bringing minors to these gatherings which have become illegal and, for banks, to freeze the accounts of certain people involved in the protests. It also allowed the Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceRCMP enforce municipal by-laws and provincial offenses as required.

The rise of violent extremism is worrying, according to the Canadian Security Intelligence ServiceCSIS

In addition to policing issues, the federal government has defended the invocation of the Emergencies Act by citing a situation worrying, volatile and unpredictable.

The protesters have varied ideological demands, ranging from an end to all public health restrictions to the overthrow of an elected governmentcould we read, at the time, in a press release from the government.

Followers of ideologically driven violent extremism may feel empowered by the disorder that has resulted from the protestsaccording to the head of the intelligence service of Canada.

In his testimony on Tuesday, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), David Vigneault, spoke of a rise in ideologically motivated violent extremism in Canada. He said he was not surprised by what was said and happened around this movement.

We are constantly examining the movement of ideologically driven violent extremists, so we have a pretty good understanding of the dynamics at play.he said, responding to a question from Senator Gwenneth Boniface. So I wouldn’t say we were surprised.

the Canadian Security Intelligence ServiceCSIS defines ideologically motivated violent extremism as motivated by varied and very personal grievances who are not more influenced by a single definable belief system.

The resulting worldview consists of a personalized narrative centered on an extremist’s willingness to incite, enable, and/or mobilize for violencesays the agency on its website.

Mr. Vigneault indicated, and the agency’s annual reports confirm this, that an increasing amount of resources from the Canadian Security Intelligence ServiceCSIS is devoted to the investigation of ideologically motivated violent extremism.

I would say that almost 50% of our counter-terrorism capacity is now devoted to this phenomenon, unlike the phenomenon of[extrémisme] of a religious nature, and that is indeed one of our concerns. We see it both in Canada and around the world.

A separate investigation officially launched

Tuesday’s parliamentary committee stands apart from the investigation, announced Monday, into the use of the Emergencies Act.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appointed former Ontario Court of Appeal judge Paul S. Rouleau to lead this independent public inquiry.

It will examine the circumstances that led to the use of the Emergencies Act and make recommendations aimed at preventing such events from happening again.the Prime Minister said in a statement on Monday.

The conservative opposition argues that this investigation is too focused on the actions of protesters, the role played by fundraising bodies and misinformation.

The Liberal government is doing everything in its power to ensure that this investigation is not material and does not hold it accountable.reacted, in a joint press release, the Conservative MPs Raquel Dancho, Dane Lloyd and Gerard Deltell.

By law, such an investigation into the use of this measure must be initiated within 60 days of its revocation.

When asked what information would be released during this investigation, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Mark Holland, said the government must consider both the issue of transparency and security. national.

The order-in-council that establishes the guidelines surrounding the investigation asks the commissioner to avoid disclosing information that could be detrimental international relations, defense and security of Canada.

We face two opposing interestsHolland told reporters on Tuesday ahead of 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 these decisions were made and how they were made. But we also know that we must protect national security. These are two difficult things to balance.

Mr. Rouleau’s final report, which will be made of recommendations and will not be binding, must be tabled in the Senate and the House of Commons by February 20, 2023.

With information from Catherine Tunney and David Fraser of The Canadian News and The Canadian Press