20Nov, 2022
‘Hard for me to say’ whether Emergencies Act was necessary: Ottawa officer

Canadian Press

Stephanie Taylor and David Fraser

Publishing date:

Oct 26, 2022  •  October 26, 2022  •  5 minute read

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Former OPP Chief Supt. Carson Pardy appears at the Public Order Emergency Commission, in Ottawa, Friday, Oct. 21, 2022.
Former OPP Chief Supt. Carson Pardy appears at the Public Order Emergency Commission, in Ottawa, Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. Photo by Adrian Wyld /The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The same day the federal Liberal government invoked the Emergencies Act, the Ontario Provincial Police warned in an internal intelligence report that those protesting in Ottawa were not going to leave voluntarily.

The Feb. 14 report, released through the Public Order Emergency Commission on Wednesday, showed the provincial police based their assessment on how long the blockades around Parliament Hill had dragged on, as well as the scope of the protest and “nature of the conflict.”

Police said the biggest barrier to having demonstrators leave was their stated objective, which was to see all COVID-19 mandates removed “and or dissolution of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.”

Although the

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