After three full weeks of public hearings by the Emergency Commission, Freedom Convoy organizers from various fringes and police officers from different departments expressed divergent, if not outright contradictory, views on the events. Halfway through the public inquiry into the invocation of emergency measures to dislodge the demonstration that occupied the streets of Ottawa for three weeks last winter, here is an account of the contentious issues.
What place did the controversial elements occupy in the convoy?
The organizers of the Freedom Convoy tried as best they could to disassociate themselves from the most criticized or extremist groups or individuals associated with their demonstration. The convoy was an “organic” event, they say, bringing together people they had no control over.
Leading heads of the Western Convoy, such as Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, downplayed influencer Patrick “Pat” King, whose inflammatory remarks risked tarnishing the image of the movement. Mr. King, for his part, claimed to have been at the head of the main convoy to Ottawa.
Similarly, several leaders rejected the strange manifesto of the group Canada Unity, which evoked the fall of the government and which was one of the justifications for the emergency measures. “I thought it was an internet meme,” said trucker Benjamin Dichter. The author of the manifesto, James Bauder, was present from the beginning of the movement. He claimed to have drawn 500 vehicles into the convoy.
What about the Diagolon group, the subject of numerous police reports qualifying it as an extremist group present in the convoy? “It’s a joke […]it’s not a real deal”, according to ex-military Tom Marazzo, one of the organizers of the convoy.
All the testimonies agree on one thing, however: the Quebec group of “Farfadaas”, recognizable by their clothes insulting the Prime Minister of Quebec, organized itself separately from the main convoy. Its leader, Steeve Charland, denied having blocked a strategic Ottawa street corner and estimated that his convoy to Ottawa was more than 100 kilometers long.
Were the participants in the convoy peaceful?
Organizers of the Freedom Convoy contradict several police reports indicating that violent incidents have occurred and that various crimes have been committed during the three weeks that the demonstration lasted.
“They were the sweetest, most caring Canadians. Everywhere you went, you got a hug. no one was violent […] It was Woodstock, ”wrote influencer Patrick King, one of the figures in the convoy. Several demonstrators instead denounced police violence.
Ottawa residents have other memories. The convoy “has become a violent occupation of our city,” said former city councilor Catherine McKenney, for example.
Such differences of opinion exist within the police. When asked how many laws had been flouted by protesters, former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly replied that “there are [avait] too many to list. Ontario Provincial Police intelligence chief Patrick Morris said “the low number of violent crimes [était] amazing”.
Documents show that police and city workers reported being intimidated by aggressively behaving protesters. The blockade at the corner of Rideau and Sussex streets is designated by the police as the most festive, but they add that the demonstrators had “an aggressive posture” towards them. One of them reportedly chained his vehicle to a lamp post.
When did gathering become illegal?
“At no time was it declared illegal! replied Wednesday Keith Wilson, the lawyer for the main organizers of the convoy. If parked trucks violated city bylaws, he said, it was because the police had parked them there, then cornered them behind concrete barriers.
Ex-Chief Sloly agreed on Monday that he never directly told occupants of parked vehicles that their presence had become illegal, at least before the invocation of federal emergency measures. However, according to him, no one could have believed that there was no illegality, given the media coverage of the event.
“If it was so important to them [les policiers]I would have thought that a liaison officer would have come to take me [un avis de rassemblement illégal] in person and explain it to me”, testified Tom Marrazo, one of the organizers. Leaders of the convoy say they even doubted the legitimacy of a letter that the police posted from February 16, after the establishment of emergency measures, which asked them to break camp.
Several police officers were questioned at length about the obvious lack of zeal in law enforcement with Freedom Convoy. The police felt they needed the reinforcements of 1,800 officers to operate safely, and did not want to inflame the “volatile” situation in the meantime by handing out fines or warnings.
“We tried to apply the law in various places, but we had mixed results,” acknowledged Superintendent Robert Drummond of the Ottawa police.
The Ottawa police chief, however, considered the demonstration illegal from the first Saturday, and used the term “occupation” from the following Monday, January 31. He hinted at his illegality in a meeting with elected municipal officials, reported by The dutyFebruary 2.
Was it possible to legally continue the demonstration?
Judge Paul Rouleau himself asked the question to representatives of the police. Put differently: was it possible to negotiate the end of the occupation?
Various testimonies and documents show that attempts at negotiation were made, but met with limited success. After an Ottawa police operation fell through due to internal disputes, the implementation of an agreement to move trucks from a problematic street corner to an area closer to the parliament was prevented by the crowd of demonstrators because of a misunderstanding.
Later, the establishment of another agreement between the City of Ottawa and Convoy leaders regarding the movement of trucks from residential areas was denied by other organizers, such as Patrick King, who denounced it on the social networks. A senior federal government official finally offered to meet the demonstrators, without however having the mandate to negotiate. The government gave up on it, judging that such a meeting had given nothing during the blocking of the border at Windsor.
The lawyer for the main organizers of the convoy, Keith Wilson, maintains that they would have wanted to continue their demonstration legally if they had been given the chance to negotiate the departure of the heavy goods vehicles.