Another week of anticipated police testimony as part of the Public Order Emergency Commission' inquiry into the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act got underway on Monday, with interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell appearing. From the legal guidance the police service was operating under, to the usefulness of emergency powers, here are some key moments from the hearing.
Another week of anticipated police testimony as part of the Public Order Emergency Commission' inquiry into the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act got underway on Monday, with interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell appearing.
"We've never experienced, and had no intelligence to indicate that it was actually going to be the leverage of the community and the activities of the protesters to use our community members through their activities, as the leverage point to be heard," Bell said. Another intelligence gap area that has already been well-explored in the commission's hearings to-date has been around how long officials anticipated protesters would stay.
Further, in describing the demographic of the protesters heading to the nation's capital, the report calls it "unusual." However, the OPS didn't stop the convoy because it hasn't been something they'd done with previous vehicle-based demonstrations. "I would absolutely agree, based on the intelligence we had. We didn't have legal authority to deny the protesters from a protest. All of the activity had been lawful and peaceful and there was no indication of anything contrary to that.