Hundreds of pages of logs from the police liaison team were added in evidence on Friday to the Public Order Emergency Commission, which is investigating the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergency Act on February 14 to clear the crowds. The document includes the date and time of the file, the officer’s last name and badge number, and a brief summary of what each officer observed on a given day. During the first weekend of the demonstration, an officer reported that a police cruiser had been rammed by a protester near Elgin Street, according to the document. Their note said the driver refused to leave his car and needed police assistance. The logs show a rift between protesters and police that emerged after the agency announced plans to confiscate gas cans, propane tanks or fuel of any kind that protesters brought into the downtown core. “People are outraged,” one officer reported on February 6. Officers took notes when their conversations with those in the crowd turned aggressive. “When we left we were challenged and told the police have no right to walk between vehicles by a young white male who was very confrontational,” said an officer on Slater Street on February 8. “A crowd had quickly formed and was agitated,” said another log from the next day. On February 11, police reported that the crowd at the intersection of Wellington and O’Connor streets “had become verbally abusive and becoming abusive.” One officer reported that it became difficult to do their job. “This time the crowd was larger and would not allow anyone in and it was no longer safe for any officers,” a post later that day said.
Crowd ‘yelling and screaming’ at policeman: log
The tone appeared to escalate after the emergency law was invoked on February 14. Invoking the act gave authorities new powers, allowing them to freeze the finances of those associated with blockades and protests, ban travel to protest zones, ban people from bringing minors to illegal gatherings and tow trucks. Ottawa police issued notices to protesters warning them that they would face severe penalties if they remained inside the illegal protest sites. The delivery of the message was not always smooth. “The crowd was very upset and it followed [police liason teams] around yelling and screaming,” an officer reported on Somerset Street. “The crowd is not happy.” The liaison officer at the intersection of Nicholas and Waller streets reported that the crowd accepted the notices “but did not indicate an intention to leave until [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau was arrested.” The commission heard conflicting accounts of how the protest unfolded. Some residents have reported being harassed and feeling familiar. Organizers of the procession who testified this week described the protests as peaceful and loving. Organizer Pat King said it was similar to “Woodstock.” The logs reflect cooperative efforts between police and protesters. On February 4, an officer recorded that organizer Chris Barber was open to moving trucks from residential streets to more commercial areas. The officer said Barber said he wanted to work with police to find “crooks” in the series. Another officer reported that a captain near the church on Kent Street promised to clean up the area to look more presentable ahead of an upcoming funeral and wedding. A police officer looks for a place to leave a notice as he patrols the protest area on February 16, after invoking the Emergency Act. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Police also reported several conversations with protesters that almost resulted in traffic. For example, on February 7 an officer reported that the crew at Sussex Drive and Rideau Street was open to moving somewhere else downtown, but was also skeptical that police were trying to trick them. Police left those talks feeling they had options, the logs said. Officers sometimes recorded complaints they received from residents about what they saw as a lack of enforcement. Other times they were protesters voicing concerns for others in the crowd. One protester, for example, contacted officers that an arborist was parked near the downtown tent and was concerned about dangerous tools. Former RCMP sniper Danny Bulford, who acted as security coordinator during the protests, cited a tip he had heard that a bomb threat was being planned at a building at the corner of Catherine and Kent streets.
Different messages
Officers reported hearing different reasons for the stay. Many protesters said they would stay in Ottawa until the vaccine mandates were lifted, with one man telling a police officer he was willing to live in his truck outside Parliament for years. One officer recorded that one of the prominent organizers, Tom Marrazzo, told them “they want Trudeau removed from the leadership of the Liberal Party, similar to how Erin O’Toole was removed from the Conservative Party.” (O’Toole resigned after a vote to remove him.) Marazzo testified to the committee this week that the convoy protest organizers wanted to sit down with Trudeau and come to a conclusion “democratically.” WATCHES | What we learned from the testimony of the organizers of the truck convoy
What we learned from the testimony of the organizers of the truck convoy
National security professors Leah West and Stephanie Carvin comment on testimony heard this week at the Emergency Act public inquiry. Several marcher leaders testified to police leaks and gave a behind-the-scenes look at the protest that has gripped Ottawa for three weeks.
