Awkward text messages from the Attorney General of Canada, David Lametti, ‘jokingly’ offering to send in the army, calling the Ottawa police chief ‘incompetent’ and evoking emergency measures in the first week of the Freedom Convoy were read on Wednesday before the Rouleau Committee.
“This exchange must be understood as a joke between two friends,” explained the Minister of Justice to Commissioner Paul Rouleau. ” [Envoyer] the Canadian Forces were not an option. »
The giant screens of the Commission on the State of Emergency then displayed an exchange of text messages with his colleague from Public Security, Marco Mendicino. On the sixth day of the blockade of trucks in Ottawa, on the evening of February 2, Mr. Lametti wrote to him, in English: “You need to get the police moving. And the CAF [Forces armées canadiennes] if necessary. »
The message, which contains no overt clues in a humorous tone, goes on to say that people “who aren’t stupid”, like former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, are waiting for him to show leadership. After Mr. Mendicino asked him how many tanks were needed, Mr. Lametti replied sarcastically, “I think one is enough!” »
Dozens of messages sent or received by federal elected officials have been revealed as part of the Commission on the state of emergency, lifting the veil in an unprecedented way on private discussions between decision-makers.
The Rouleau commission must determine whether it was justified to invoke the federal Emergency Measures Act for the first time since its creation in 1988.
Emergency measures discussed from the start
The evidence shows that Minister David Lametti, who also acts as the government’s chief lawyer, began considering the use of this emergency law less than 48 hours after the Freedom Convoy trucks arrived in front of the federal parliament.
“Do we have an alternate plan to remove these trucks tomorrow or Tuesday. […] What authority do we have, is a decree necessary? LMU [Loi sur les mesures d’urgence] ? he texted an employee on January 30.
David Lametti explained that this request was only intended to be ready “for all eventualities”. He also said he was “frustrated” as a part-time resident of Ottawa to see city police standing idly by protesters who were carrying gas cans in defiance of the law. This justifies, according to him, his textual comment to his colleague Marco Mendicino, on February 4: “ [L’ex-chef de police d’Ottawa Peter] Sloly is incompetent. »
In another conversation, this time with an elected Quebec Liberal who was dissatisfied with his government’s actions so far, the minister wrote on February 13 that the emergency represented “the only other legal option” remaining. The MP for Hull–Aylmer, Greg Fergus, who is represented in Mr. Lametti’s contacts by a childish drawing of a drummer, then asks him for the presence of “a solid spokesperson” for the police or the armed in front of the media, “because the politicians have screwed up their credibility”.
The emergency measures, which had a “consensus” within the Liberal caucus, were invoked the next day, February 14.
You need to get the police moving. And the CAF [Forces armées canadiennes] if necessary.
Minister Lametti said he felt “vulnerable” during the three weeks of occupation of the streets of Ottawa. He notably left the federal capital for his home in Montreal to work remotely, and said he feared for the safety of the women in his office. Several messages threatening him with death were entered into evidence.
The Attorney General refused to answer many questions about the minimum threshold required to speak of a “threat to the security of Canada”, since his legal advice to the government is protected by solicitor-client privilege.
A small role for the army
The Canadian Armed Forces did play a role, albeit a minor one, in last winter’s crisis, the Rouleau commission heard on Wednesday.
As the government had constantly repeated during the events, the deployment of the army was not considered. “Our country’s soldiers are not police officers,” Defense Minister Anita Anand said in her testimony. The Canadian Armed Forces still stored no less than 1,800 individual meals in the federal parliament buildings at the request of the site security service, which wanted to prepare for possible confinement.
Alberta also tried unsuccessfully to get military tow trucks to move the trucks blocking the Coutts border crossing. “They’re made for pulling tanks out of a hole. It’s too big a piece of equipment,” explained Minister Anand.
Minister Marco Mendicino also stressed on Tuesday that the federal government was “reluctant” to ask the army for help during the events of last winter given historical precedents, including the October crisis of 1970.