Roundup: Lost faith in the Ottawa Police Service

Posted on by

Once again, a lot of threads to disentangle as the OPP Commissioner, Thomas Carrique, was on the stand at the Emergencies Act public inquiry, and what a lot of the day seemed to focus on (at least, from what I could tell from afar) were the texts he was exchanging with RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki. So, what did we learn? That the federal government had pretty much lost all confidence in the Ottawa Police and were discussing taking over the response to the occupation, even though Lucki was particularly reluctant to do so (and worried that the Emergencies Act would be used to make that happen). There was discussion about the OPP in particular taking over, and the Commissioner was ready to have that call before the Ottawa chief resigned. Once Peter Sloly was out of the way, an integrated command was set up. Also interesting was the comment that the Act was used to compensate tow truck drivers more than it was to compel their services (which could be a signal to the provinces about how they may need to update their own emergency legistlation).

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1585629449038577664

Carrique defended his comments that the occupation was a threat to national security, and the way that the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor was handled differently than the Ottawa occupation. Documents provided to the inquiry showed that the FBI provided some support to the Ottawa Police during the occupation, likely around US-based support for it, so that lends some credence to the national security threat analysis.

https://twitter.com/acoyne/status/1585720241979629569

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 246:

Ukrainian forces attacked Russian forces occupying the southern city of Kherson, while fighting also intensified in the country’s east as Russians bombarded the city of Bakhmut. While Putin is denying he plans to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine (isn’t that a sign he will?), another mass grave was discovered in the village of Kopanky.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau, Chrystia Freeland and Mélanie Joly all had meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinkin in Ottawa yesterday.
  • Joly and Blinkin dodged questions about military intervention in Haiti, as Canada dispatched an “assessment mission” to that country.
  • The “dental care” kludge and rental supports bill passed the House of Commons.
  • Steven Guilbeault is waiting on proposals from provinces on their home heating assistance programme.
  • The final 2021-2022 federal financial statements show the deficit came in quite a bit lower than expected in the spring budget.
  • The Auditor General says the government is running out of time to legally collect some $500 million in Phoenix-related overpayments to civil servants.
  • The union representing Veterans Affairs employees is calling for the minister’s resignation as they claim he has not been responsive to their demands.
  • An investigation has been launched into the injury of that interpreter last week, which was the third hospitalisation in recent years.
  • Police chiefs around the country claim they are too thinly stretched to engage in the mandatory gun buyback, which sounds like they simply don’t want to do it.
  • Rogers’ mediation with the Competition Bureau was unsuccessful, and they remain opposed to the proposed merger with Shaw.
  • The Senate agriculture committee is calling for a comprehensive flood plan for BC’s Fraser valley after last year’s devastating floods.
  • The House of Commons passed a (non-binding) motion to recognise Residential Schools as genocide.
  • The Saskatchewan MLA who invited convicted murder Colin Thatcher to the Speech from the Throne now says it was an error in judgment. (You think?)
  • Danielle Smith has instructed her ministers to engage in childish temper tantrums when it comes to federal-provincial negotiations.
  • An Alberta judge ruled that it was indeed Cabinet who made the decision to lift mask mandates, not Dr. Deena Hinshaw (because that’s how our system works).
  • David Eby won’t be sworn-in as BC premier until November 18th.
  • Heather Scoffield hears from Senior Liberal Sources™ about the forthcoming Indo—Pacific Strategy, which will be more about diversifying from China than decoupling.
  • Althia Raj also gets leaks from Senior Liberal Sources™ that the government is looking to play hard ball with the provinces on future health transfers.

Odds and ends:

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