(OTTAWA) One of the organizers of the “freedom convoy” told Ottawa police he wanted to meet with Governor General Mary Simon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Senate Speaker George Furey during a secret meeting, two weeks after the arrival of hundreds of trucks in the federal capital. He also admits that he was unable to control “the French group”, alluding to the Farfadaas.
Posted at 11:40 a.m.
His remarks are summarized in an email exchanged on February 12 between officers from the Ottawa Police Service. The document is part of the evidence presented Friday to the Commission on the state of emergency.
“This will give you a good idea of what certain groups/factions want,” wrote John Ferguson, who was then in charge of the liaison team with the organizers of the “freedom convoy”.
The name of this organizer, who was in the east end of downtown Ottawa, is redacted. The email reports that he contacted a sergeant to request a meeting with Governor General Mary Simon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Senate Speaker George Furey.
“He indicated that the meeting could be done in secret and be made public only if something good comes out of it,” says John Ferguson. The organizer did not want to provide a “sign of good faith”.
Before and during the first days of the demonstration, the group Canada Unity had circulated a memorandum of understanding to overthrow the government of Justin Trudeau with the help of the Governor General and the President of the Senate. According to the scenario devised by this group, Mary Simon and George Furey would have formed a committee with this group to govern.
Canada Unity then demanded the lifting of all health measures against COVID-19 and the vaccination obligation imposed on truckers who had to cross the Canada-US border, considered “a violation of human rights”.
CTV reported on February 8 that the memorandum of understanding had been signed by 320,000 people, but would be removed from the Canada Unity website by James and Sandra Bauder because it did not “reflect the spirit and the intention of the freedom convoy”.
No control over the Farfadaas
The organizer also told Ottawa police that he was “unable to control the ‘French’ group” set up at the corner of Rideau and Sussex streets. This is the Quebec opposition group to health measures, Farfadaas.
Acting Deputy Chief of the Ottawa Police Service, Patricia Ferguson, said Thursday that the group worries police because of the intimidating behavior of its members. She attributed the closure of the Rideau Centre, the city’s largest mall, to their presence.
A police operation to regain control of this sector of downtown on February 9, however, was aborted due to differences between the members of the crisis unit made up of several police forces, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Police Province of Ontario (OPP) and the Ottawa Police Service.
Disputes within the police command and tensions with the OPP poisoned working relations. Craig Abrams, a senior provincial police officer, testified Thursday that officers hurled insults at each other during meetings.