Roundup: City officials detail police incompetence

Posted on by

The day at the Emergencies Act inquiry was spent with city officials, and in particular the city’s top bureaucrat and the mayor’s chief of staff. There was a lot of discussion about police believing it would be over in a few days in spite of the occupiers saying they intended to occupy the streets, and booking hotels for at least 30 days, but the police kept treating this like a non-issue until it was too late. They also insisted that the Ontario government rebuffed their calls for more police resources. At a press event in Ottawa that morning, Doug Ford professed that he supported the use of the Emergencies Act, but the testimony on display was that he was nowhere to be found in managing the crisis, having dropped out of tripartite calls, and his solicitor general shrugged and said that she can’t direct police. Out of desperation, those city officials turned to the offer from Ford’s former chief of staff, Dean French, to try and negotiate with the occupiers about moving trucks away from residential streets, and packing more of them on the Hill. Well, the Parliamentary Protective Service was outraged by that deal, particularly after they had done bomb assessments with regard to those trucks. The most hilarious revelation of the day was that city officials wanted the occupiers to park their trucks outside of downtown and to take the LRT into the city centre to protest. Laughable, and unfortunately not satire. Literally unbelievable.

Meanwhile, the CBC has a profile of Justice Rouleau, leading the commission. In pundit reaction, Matt Gurney notes that the Ontario government is not being summoned to the Emergencies Act public inquiry, in spite of their complete dereliction of duty. Susan Delacourt makes a similar observation, and in particular how Doug Ford is now presenting himself as being in lockstep with Trudeau on the invocation. Paul Wells gives his take on the day’s testimony, and what he reads into the responses.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 236:

The Russians continue to launch suicide drones on Kyiv, some of which seem to be targeting the city’s heating infrastructure. Because those drones are Iranian in origin, there is pressure on Israel, who has expertise on tackling the Iranian drone programme, to join the US and EU in providing military technology to Ukraine to fight those attacks.

Good reads:

  • While at the Nokia announcement on Monday morning, Justin Trudeau also encouraged Canadians to get COVID vaccine boosters and their flu shots.
  • Chrystia Freeland is warning of an economic slowdown in the coming months…which is what we want to tame inflation.
  • Freeland also sort of apologised for comments she made last week that African countries don’t fall into Russia’s orbit by accident and that they make choices.
  • Steven Guilbeault is calling on banks to more clearly label climate rebates when they are directly deposited into accounts as many say things like “Canada CAI.”
  • Mélanie Joly announced new sanctions against Russian “propaganda agents” including television channels, and personalities.
  • Marco Mendicino has signed an agreement with the Saskatchewan government and First Nations to find new ways to deliver Indigenous police services.
  • Canadian generals want the arms industry to go to a wartime production stance, but insiders say they won’t do that without federal government contracts.
  • CBSA has given a breakdown of the costs of the ArriveCan app.
  • RCMP documents show that they refused to release the badge numbers of officers who cleared the Ambassador Bridge blockade for fear they would be doxed.
  • Some Indigenous leaders have concerns about the proposed Reconciliation Council and how its initial members are chosen, and others want changes.
  • The NDP passed a non-binding Supply Day motion demanding action on “greed-flation” (which is a myth) and studying grocery prices at the agriculture committee.
  • Heather Scoffield points to the Nokia announcement in Kanata yesterday as an example of “friend-shoring” supply chains, and sending a message to China.
  • Matt Gurney discusses the drone warfare being waged in Ukraine, and its psychological effects akin to the V-1 bombing of London in the Second World War.

Odds and ends:

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.