Roundup: Occupation over, emergency orders confirmed

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The occupation of Ottawa’s downtown core by far-right extremists, grifters, and conspiracy theorists is at an end. The police action kept up all day Saturday, and by Sunday, they were into mop-up operations. In total, there were 191 arrests, some 400 charges, and 79 vehicles towed, but it will still be some time before barricades start coming down in downtown Ottawa, because they want to ensure that the same group don’t move right back in once the barricades come down. And indeed, while the occupation may be ended, the emergency measures will likely stick around a little longer in order to prevent a resurgence or similar attempts in other locations, particularly given that many of the participants are lying in wait just outside of the city in makeshift encampments on private property. Trudeau said the emergency orders will likely be lifted in a few days, but they’re awaiting advice from law enforcement.

In the meantime, the debate on the emergency measures carried on through the weekend and into Monday, and while I have a column coming out later today on just how bad it was, there is special mention to Conservative MP Mark Strahl for fabricating a constituent named “Briane” who apparently had her accounts frozen for donating to the occupation before it was illegal. Andrew Scheer went ballistic about how this kind of retroactive application of the orders was unconscionable, erm, except that it didn’t happen because Briane doesn’t exist, and if she does, then it’s someone catfishing Strahl, who is too gullible to check into a clearly bogus tale. To date, 76 accounts have been frozen, either from organisers of the occupations, or those who owned trucks on the streets. That’s it. But the Conservatives are trying to push a narrative that Trudeau is authoritarian and punishing dissent, even though none of this actually bears out in the facts or the political reality of someone in a hung parliament. They’re just so cartoonishly bad and transparent in their lies that it’s hard to actually believe they are that inept. And yet they’ll get away with it, because there are credulous media outlets taking it at face value, and even more that are both-sidesing, and trying to get confirmation no matter that the falsehood is obvious on the face of it.

The vote itself was not particularly close, given that the NDP had already signalled that they would support the motion, though that didn’t stop the Conservatives from trying to deride them for supposedly turning their backs on how Tommy Douglas voted against the War Measures Act, even though the Emergencies Act is not the same thing and does not suspend civil liberties. There was later some consternation that Trudeau indicated that this would essentially be a confidence vote, which frankly it should be. If you don’t think the government can handle emergency powers, that’s a pretty solid indication you don’t think they should be in power. After the vote, Candice Bergen was already read with procedural mischief to use the portion of the Act that can call for a motion to lift the orders with the support of 20 MPs, so that will go ahead once the sitting resumes in a week. The Senate still has to vote on the emergency order motion, probably later today, so the government is not in the clear just yet.

Good reads:

  • The National Post got some behind-the-scenes hints about the paralysis in the Ottawa police that led to the occupation, and the federal impetus to just end it.
  • The violence against journalists seen during the occupations is a concerning sign about the state of disinformation within Canada.
  • Mélanie Joly is planning a fact-finding trip to Asia before releasing the government’s new Indo-Pacific Strategy.
  • Tax filing season has begun, and the CRA ways it won’t extend the deadline this year in spite of the ongoing pandemic.
  • Maclean’s has a longread on the Winnipeg Lab investigation, and comes to some pretty worthwhile conclusions and ties in some good context.
  • Senator Michael MacDonald apologised after being caught on video supporting the occupiers and disparaging Ottawa residents.
  • Jason Kenney asked for federal help with the Coutts blockade, but is now planning to challenge the federal emergency orders in court, because he’s that duplicitous.
  • Kevin Carmichael reads through Stephen Poloz’s forthcoming book, and sees some of the themes that are emerging from it.
  • Althia Raj is dismayed by the tone and manner of the “debate” on the emergency measures in the House of Commons.
  • Colby Cosh makes the case against automatically sealing criminal records after a set period of time, preferring even more transparency on convictions.

Odds and ends:

I was on the Wyatt Sharpe Show to talk about the emergency orders vote.

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: Occupation over, emergency orders confirmed”

  1. So Michael MacDonald apologized. Why bother, it is not unusual that after a few martinis the true nature of a person reveals itself for all to see. The problem is, that there is an undercurrent of this within the majority of us and in politicians like priests is the most harmful of all. It will be very interesting if Mark Strahl has the courage to apologize also, however in his case his flaws are well known and accepted. The troubling part is his fabrication which if found true will forever brand him as a liar. In MacDonald’s case he was merely revealing his “own truth” in Strahls’ his character.

  2. Trumpism has arrived in Canada and gained a foothold in the “loyal” opposition that is just biding their time until the government’s “shelf life” supposedly runs out. The implications of this and now the gunman at the Rideau Centre make me sick. Gods help us all if we end up with Cheeto Mussolini in the US and his mini-me Pierre Putin Poilievre.

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