Fake security bulletin slandered convoy
The day before most of the truckers had even arrived, the feds falsely accused them of invading office buildings
Blacklock’s Reporter is a gem amongst Canadian news outlets. Its focus is on holding our federal government to account. Yesterday it published a bombshell story titled Gov’t Faked Security Bulletin.
January 28, 2022 was a Friday. That was the day before most Freedom Convoy trucks arrived in Ottawa. What did our federal government do on that Friday afternoon?
Just prior to 4 pm it issued a security bulletin that was 100% nonsense. This bulletin said Public Safety Canada had confirmed:
“that protesters have started to enter office buildings in the Ottawa downtown core and are allegedly causing damage. As a result, Minto Place is going into weekend lockdown mode…”
Blacklock’s unearthed this bulletin via an Access to Information request. Here’s the portion it made public:
Minto Place is an 18-storey building at 344 Slater Street currently leased by the federal government. An 8-minute walk from Parliament Hill, it houses the Canada Revenue Agency, the Human Rights Commission, the Refugee Board, and so on.
In Blacklock’s words: “There was no incident involving protesters in office buildings.” Not on that Friday, and not on any other day of the 3-week protest.
Well over a year later, Blacklock’s tells us, the government refuses to explain. But Canadians deserve to know:
- How information with no basis in reality ended up in a security bulletin.
- How Public Safety Canada received confirmation of something that never happened.
- Whether this bulletin was ever corrected.
- Whether thousands of public servants still believe this false and defamatory allegation.
Friday, January 28, 2022 was the day Freedom Convoy trucks from southern Ontario reached Ottawa. Two distinct arms of the convoy left home on Thursday. One from the Niagara area, one from Windsor (an additional four hours distant).
When these southern Ontario trucks arrived, police directed many of them to parking spots on Wellington street, in front of Parliament Hill. They were joined by other protesters, who traveled there independently in big rigs, pickups, vans, campers, and cars.
The western arm of the Convoy – those trucks that had been doggedly traversing the country for the past week – hadn’t yet reached Ottawa. They spent Friday night in Arnprior, an hour west of the city. Likewise, trucks from the Maritime provinces, from Quebec, and from Eastern Ontario spent Friday night in Vankleek Hill, an hour east.
Saturday was an absolute zoo. Highways in every direction were packed with thousands of big rigs and thousands of flag-bedecked private vehicles.
On June 7th, I discussed a security bulletin circulated by the federal government that falsely accused Freedom Convoy protesters of invading downtown office buildings well before most of the truckers had even reached Ottawa in late January 2022.
That allegation is a telling one. It exudes snobbery. It radiates disrespect. What do white collar government employees think of blue collar truckers? They think they’re uncouth. Undisciplined. Violent.
Rebel News has since made public five additional pages of documents related to this matter. Formally disclosed by the government, much has been redacted and the timeline is jumbled. But between this info and the bulletin made public by Blacklock’s, we can piece together a series of events:
Thursday, January 27th is the day before the first wave of protesters arrive. At 1:30 that afternoon, an email titled “DEMONSTRATION – NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION” is sent to dozens of Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) personnel. A similar message appears to have been sent two hours later to even more CRA personnel.
We don’t know what those emails said, but it’s clear government employees were talking about the truckers ahead of time. Which is a bit odd when you remember that the vast majority of those employees were still working from home, that downtown office towers were practically empty.
If you scroll down on this web page, you’ll find the CRA org chart. It tells us Harry Gill is the Agency’s Security Officer. The last page of the Rebel News documents contains part of an email. There’s no date, no time, or subject line. But the email uses the exact words Blacklock’s found in the defamatory security bulletin issued by Public Safety Canada on Friday, January 28th just before 4 pm:
“We have received confirmation that protesters have started to enter office buildings in the Ottawa downtown core and are allegedly causing damage. As a result, Minto Place is going into weekend lockdown mode…” [bold added]
Harry Gill’s name is beneath those words. They are not attributed to anyone else. They appear to have been written by him.
Several emails circulate amongst CRA personnel during the hours that follow. One – sent at 6:46 pm – says “all downtown landlords were contacted” and “buildings are on weekend mode or locked.” It’s only as an afterthought, apparently, that the same email’s recipients are advised:
“Also indicated the information about vandalism at Minto is not factual.” [bold added]
Talk about downplaying a vital datapoint. Wouldn’t something along these lines have been more appropriate: Sorry to have alarmed you. Our intel was faulty. No buildings have been invaded, no vandalism has occurred.
In any case, within hours senior officials at the CRA were quietly backpeddling.
The next day, Saturday the 29th, it’s reported that someone “checked with guards at Connaught: a lot of people and noise but all good for Connaught.”
That historic office building, five minutes from Parliament Hill, houses the CRA’s headquarters.
On Monday, January 31st, a reporter from Blacklock’s starts asking questions. Did CRA management claim “to have confirmation that protesters were looting office buildings”?
Internally, Christopher Doody, a CRA spokesperson, circulates the following in an email:
“Proposed response
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has no knowledge of any looting in CRA-owned, or CRA-occupied, buildings located in Ottawa this past weekend.”
What isn’t included, of course, is any acknowledgement that a mistake was made. Nor is there any apology. Apparently senior government officials can say defamatory things about their fellow Canadians and then shrug and walk away as if it never happened.
The bottom line:
- The false allegations in that security bulletin appear to have originated with Harry Gill, Revenue Canada’s security officer.
- Public Safety Canada appears to have taken the word of Harry Gill that certain facts had been confirmed, rather than verifying them independently.
- Senior CRA personnel knew, within hours, that the allegations were false.
- When given an opportunity three days later to take responsibility for this fake news, to apologize for spreading misinformation, CRA did nothing of the sort.
*****
Donna Laframboise writes a daily blog at ThankYouTruckers.substack.com. It is a first draft of her upcoming book that focuses on interviews with Freedom Convoy truckers. She is a former National Post and Toronto Star columnist, and a former Vice President of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
