But despite charges also being laid against the Ontario Provincial Police, the commissioner of the provincial force said no investigation is underway. Keith Wilson, a lawyer for some of the organizers, claimed on Wednesday that the convoy regularly received leaks from sympathetic officers about police operational plans. He made the claims while testifying at a public hearing of the Public Order Emergency Committee, which is tasked with assessing the federal government’s decision to invoke special emergency powers weeks after the protests. Interim Chief Steve Bell told a committee of MPs and senators that Wilson’s testimony contained “clear new information” and the Ottawa Police Service launched an internal investigation Wednesday night. Bell said the police department plans to contact Wilson “to get more information so we can look into this.” He gave evidence to a special parliamentary committee which is conducting its own inquiry into the government’s use of the emergency law. Both the committee’s inquiry and the committee’s study are legally required under the checks and balances set out in the act. Later at the same commission meeting, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Thomas Carrick said there is “no investigation underway at this time” into possible leaks from the OPP. At the commission’s hearing Wednesday, Wilson had described a “steady flow of information and leaks” coming from on-duty officers of the Ottawa police, Ontario Provincial Police, RCMP and security services. “At all times, there was a high degree of situational awareness of what the operational plans were for the police,” he said. The RCMP has not responded to a request for comment. Carrique said there were concerns that some officers were “sympathetic to the cause”. But he said he had “no evidence” of leaks during the motorcade. “There is no ongoing investigation at this time. There was never any evidence of leaks from the Ontario Provincial Police.” During the convoy, the OPP produced intelligence reports, submitted to the Public Order Emergency Committee, which outlined concerns about information about police action being made available to protesters. Carrique said he “shares the same concerns” and “it’s certainly a risk that needed to be addressed and mitigated.” But he said it hasn’t led to concerns on his part about OPP information sharing with the Ottawa Police Service and other police partners. Asked if Ottawa police were aware of any leaks prior to this week’s testimony, Bell said there had already been internal investigations and discipline into officers’ conduct, but that most of them related to donations made to support escort. “From the early days of the convoy, it’s been something we’ve been concerned about,” he said. “At every turn, as we received information to open an investigation, we did.” When asked how senior were the officers who had been investigated or disciplined, Bell said he could not comment on investigations and how they developed. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 3, 2022. With a file by David Fraser
