“No idea too crazy” to end Freedom Convoy: PCO memo

“All hands on deck, no idea too crazy, let’s look at absolutely everything,” a 2022 Privy Council memo said of RCMP enforcement on the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy, Blacklocks Reporter reports today.  “Let’s look at every law we have.”

This extreme approach was being advocated despite the fact that an RCMP memo noted that it was “able to resolve numerous blockades in our jurisdiction, specifically those in Coutts, Emerson and the Pacific Highway, all within existing legislation.”

Janice Charette, then-Clerk of the Privy Council, said in a confidential February 14 memo the Prime Minister’s Office feared protesters threatened “Canada’s international reputation.” Charette later testified at a judicial inquiry that staff were expected to bring “the full power of the federal government” against the Convoy.

Blacklocks’ coverage then goes on to note that former and then-current Mounties were among the supporters of the Convoy protest outside Parliament, according to a newly-disclosed RCMP memo. The document said then-Commissioner Brenda Lucki tried to find Convoy sympathizers within the force.

“Due to the legitimate public interest in an impartial and effective public service, a public service employee’s right to freedom of expression is not absolute,” said the RCMP memo. “It must be balanced against the employee’s duty of loyalty to the employer.”

“Did the RCMP need the Emergencies Act to resolve the protests? Was it necessary?” asked the memo. “The RCMP was able to resolve numerous blockades in our jurisdiction, specifically those in Coutts, Emerson and the Pacific Highway, all within existing legislation.”

All internal RCMP documents disclosed to date conclude the Ottawa protest was peaceful, Blacklocks notes.  “There was no serious violence in Ottawa, the main reason for the Emergencies Act,” said a February 21, 2022 email by Deputy Commissioner Brian Brennan. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service similarly concluded the Freedom Convoy “never constituted a threat to the security of Canada,” according to a February 13 report to cabinet.

Federal judge Richard Mosely ruled on January 23, 2024 that  cabinet acted unlawfully in imposing the Emergencies Act. It “was not justified,” wrote Justice Richard Mosley. “The scope of the regulations was overbroad in so far as it captured people who simply wanted to join in the protest by standing on Parliament Hill carrying a placard,” said the Court. The finding is under appeal.

Blacklock’s Reporter publisher Holly Doan is interviewed in the Substack above.