Public Safety Minister Was ‘Very Persistent’ Speaking to RCMP About Convoy Protest: Lucki

Then-Public Safety minister Marco Mendicino speaks during question period in the House of Commons on Oct. 4, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino was “very persistent” in speaking with the RCMP about their handling of the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa after the Emergencies Act was invoked, according to RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki.

“My Minister very persistent,” Lucki said, as quoted in minutes of a Feb. 15 teleconference with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Ottawa Police Service (OPS), obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“Plan with engagement/reduce the footprint and a lockdown of the city for the weekend. Cannot have more people coming in,” Lucki also said.

The government had invoked the Emergencies Act just one day prior to the teleconference meeting. Lucki attended another teleconference on Feb. 15 with the same police forces, the minutes of which quoted her saying the Freedom Convoy protesters needed to be cleared faster.

“Haven’t seen movement—haven’t seen mission,”she said. “We don’t operate this way. Something needs to change. We have a law stating you cannot join in this. Let’s use it.”

“Reputation of policing is at stake here,” she added.

Mendicino told the House of Commons public safety committee in February that he never tried to direct any police services during the convoy protest.

“Invoking the Emergencies Act did not give the federal government the authority to direct the police services of any jurisdiction,” he said on Feb. 25, adding that “the federal government was very present and supportive of local police” during the protests.

“You heard the commissioner say that she was in touch with the city to offer that support,” he told the committee.

‘Never a Question’ of Requesting Act: Lucki

Both Mendicino and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later said the government only invoked the Emergencies Act because police officials advised them to do so.

“The government remained engaged with law enforcement throughout to ensure that they had the support and the resources they needed. However, when efforts using existing authorities proved ineffective, the advice we received was to invoke the Emergencies Act,” Mendicino told the parliamentary joint committee on the declaration of emergency on April 26.

“We invoked the act because it was the advice of non-partisan professional law enforcement that existing authorities were ineffective at the time to restore public safety.”

Trudeau said in the House on April 27 that “it was only after we got advice from law enforcement that we invoked the Emergencies Act.”

Mendicino recently reiterated in the House on Oct. 28 that the government invoked the Emergencies Act “on the advice of law enforcement.”

However, Lucki has denied ever asking the government to invoke the act.

“We’re not in the position to provide influence on the government as to when and where they invoke a certain act,” Lucki told the joint committee on the declaration of emergency on May 10.

Sen. Vernon White asked Lucki if the RCMP ever requested from the “government or representatives for invocation of the Emergencies Act.”

“No, there was never a question of requesting the Emergencies Act,” Lucki replied.

Noé Chartier contributed to this report.