Public Safety Minister Says Police Request for Tools Led to Invoking Emergencies Act

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino rises during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on May 12, 2022. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)

A day after his deputy said he was “misunderstood” when saying the government invoked the Emergencies Act based on the advice from law enforcement, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said police requested certain tools that only the act could provide.

“Before we invoked the Emergencies Act, we consulted extensively and meaningfully with law enforcement precisely on the powers that were needed to restore public safety, which then found themselves in the Emergencies Act,” Mendicino told reporters on June 8.

“So in the course of those discussions, it was understood by all that you needed to invoke the act to give the police the powers that were necessary to fill in the gaps.”

Mendicino was addressing in part comments made the previous day by his deputy Rob Stewart.

“I believe that the intention that [Mendicino] was trying to express was that law enforcement asked for the tools that were contained in the Emergencies Act,” he said before the special joint committee of senators and MPs responsible for looking into the public order emergency.

Mendicino repeatedly said in the past that the public order emergency was declared based on advice from law enforcement.

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki had testified before the committee on May 10 that she did not request or advise for the act.

“We’re not in the position to provide influence on the government as to when and where they invoke a certain act,” said Lucki before the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency.

Current and former Ottawa police chiefs also recently testified they didn’t request the invocation of the act.

While addressing reporters, Mendicino made a reference to comments made by Lucki in committee to the effect that there was a difficulty in procuring tow trucks to clear blockades, whether in Alberta or Ottawa. Towing companies were reportedly refusing to collaborate with police at the time.

“That power found itself in the Emergencies Act and it could not be granted to the police without its invocation,” Mendicino said on June 8.

However, this claim is challenged by other comments from Lucki made during questioning by Senator Claude Carignan on May 10, when he asked Lucki whether anyone had been charged under Section 129 of the Criminal Code, which states that it is an indictable offence to resist or wilfully obstruct a peace officer in the execution of his duty.

Carignan asked how many towing companies were charged under Section 129 for not collaborating with police in removing obstructing vehicles at blockades.

“I’m not familiar with anybody being charged under that section of the Criminal Code,” Lucki said.

The government has previously defended not using existing laws to deal with the protests by saying what matters is not their availability, but rather their effectiveness.

“The determination that was made, as I understand it, was that the effectiveness of any statute that may have been on the books to potentially deal with [the demonstrations] was not available at the time the declaration was issued,” said Assistant Deputy Minister of Justice Samantha Maislin Dickson while testifying before the public safety committee on Feb. 25.

‘Misinformation’

Conservative MP Dane Lloyd asked Mendicino during question period in the House on June 8 to clarify his statements on law enforcement’s involvement in calling for the emergency measures.

“We now know that police did not make this recommendation and his own deputy minister said yesterday that he was misunderstood. When did it become acceptable for a minister of the House to spread misinformation?” Lloyd said.

“I am happy to give an answer by refreshing his memory and the memory of all members in this chamber that, last winter, we experienced an unprecedented public order emergency in the opinion of law enforcement, which is why, prior to invoking the Emergencies Act, we sought their advice on the powers that were needed to restore public safety,” Mendicino replied.

The government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 to deal with the Freedom Convoy trucker protest and related blockades demanding the lifting of COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. The emergency order was lifted on Feb. 23.

A special committee and an inquiry have since been established as per law to review the use of the extraordinary powers.