Ottawa police failed to be responsive to communities' needs during convoy protest : Bell
Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell is testifying before the Emergencies Act inquiry
The interim chief of the Ottawa police says the force did not anticipate how the demonstrations that gridlocked the city for nearly a month last winter were going to weigh on residents and cause "community trauma."
"The one thing I hear consistently after the removal of the occupation, and very rightfully, is that we didn't put enough emphasis as a police service on our community and the impact that it caused to them in the very early days," Steve Bell testified Monday before the Public Order Emergency Commission.
"The anticipation of the community trauma and violence to our community that did occur wasn't anticipated because nobody saw that coming. Nobody knew that that was going to be the tactic that the mob that got here was going to actually engage in."
Bell said that, leading up to the convoy protest's arrival, the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) was being advised on how to respect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and protect public safety while policing the protest.
But the OPS's intelligence did not properly anticipate the convoy's tactics, he said.
The commission is investigating the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act to quell the protests that gridlocked parts of downtown Ottawa for weeks.
As the commission has heard, the OPS believed the protests would only last three days and planned accordingly.
Instead, protesters entrenched themselves in the city's core for nearly a month, blocking access to main streets and idling vehicles. The start of the protest was marked by incessant honking, until a private citizen sought an injunction to silence the horns.
WATCH | 'We accepted that': Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell on the normalcy of large protests in the city
"We had never taken the view of making sure that the community and the surrounding areas, [that] we were as responsive to their needs," he said.
"We take that into account more than ever now."
OPS was 'unprepared,' says Bell
According to an intelligence report dated Jan. 28 and entered into evidence on Monday, the OPS's own threat assessment predicted that large, well-funded, disruptive crowds could shut down movement in the capital.
Bell said he and the rest of the service were under the impression only a small number of protesters would stay after the first weekend.
"I believe we were unprepared for what transpired," he said.
According to the threat assessment, written on Jan. 28, police felt that the "the convoy will be able to stop and effectively shut down movement if they desire."
"Therefore we expect to see a huge volume of vehicles and large transport trucks clogging city roads and the ability to communicate and move the truckers on may be hampered by the cell saturation," said the report, which was prepared ahead of the first weekend of protests.
"Convoy members appear to be stocking up on food and supplies, which would indicate that they have long-term plans to stay in Ottawa."
The protests started as a demonstration against vaccine mandates for truckers but grew into a larger movement against COVID-19 restrictions and the Trudeau government itself.
The Ottawa police threat assessment said those factors likely would inspire passionate emotions among protesters. It also noted that participants already had amassed millions of dollars through a GoFundMe page.
"The conclusion here is that large numbers could attend the city and we accepted that," said Bell, who served as a deputy chief and oversaw intelligence, information and investigations before taking over as interim chief.
He said the OPS expected "traffic disruptions, absolutely ... but not anything that would relate to the activity that we ultimately saw on our streets."
Report flagged concerns about firearms
The OPS's intelligence unit was also flagging the possibility that protesters with "extremist ideologies" and other instigators might latch on to the convoy movement.
Open source intelligence was "revealing the occasional (and not unexpected) online instigators, lone-actor instigators, who advise others to use violence if encountering police barricades," warned the document.
"The open nature of this event, coupled with the high concentration of attendees, may further add to potential appeal among certain individuals who may embrace extremist ideologies."
The threat assessment did note that there was no critical intelligence defining "a specific plan to violence."
One bolded bullet point in the threat assessment cited an "increase in social media posts from users suggesting that violence should be used if the government does not acknowledge the convoy. No threats or credible plans have been identified."
The report also noted some "persons of interest" were openly talking about bringing firearms.
The late January threat assessment called on the Ottawa Police Service to address staffing issues immediately.
Confusion about charter
The commission also heard Monday that police didn't believe they had the legal authority to block arriving protesters from parts of the city, despite a legal opinion that told police the Charter of Rights does not protect unlawful activity in the course of a protest — such as stopping traffic.
On Jan. 28, the police service's legal team put together a 15-page overview looking at Charter of Rights issues involved in policing protests — including the rights to freedom of expression and lawful assembly — and the lawful authority police could employ during the demonstration.
The document also advised police that the Charter of Rights of Freedoms puts limits on those rights and they do not extend to threats or acts of violence and unlawful conduct, including blocking traffic.
WATCH | A truck isn't a protected entity under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms': Bell
"These limits also prevent demonstrations from obstructing travel or roadways," said the legal opinion, made public during the commission's Monday sitting.
"As such, where individuals or groups do not hinder or obstruct vehicular traffic for extended periods, they maintain the right to protest in so far as that it does not engage or entail unlawful conduct."
In an interview he gave to the commission at the end of August, Bell said he "did not recall any discussions in which OPS considered preventing vehicular access to downtown Ottawa and permitting protesters to attend downtown Ottawa only on foot."
His predecessor as OPS chief, Peter Sloly — who resigned Feb. 15 — also told the commission there were no such talks.
"Chief Sloly was not aware of any plan that would have had OPS fully block access to downtown Ottawa or to block vehicle access to Wellington Street," said a summary of the interviews Sloly gave the commission, which was entered into evidence Monday.
"Chief Sloly was advised that based on the known intelligence reports, OPS did not have the legal authority to deny the Freedom Convoy access to downtown Ottawa simply because some people disagreed with the views of some participants."
Sloly is expected to testify on Friday.
Bell says Sloly over promised during enforcement
Bell told the commission a number of Sloly's announcements as police tried to contain the protest led to "trust problems."
For example, he said, Sloly announced a "surge and contain" strategy to flood neighbourhoods with officers to respond to events.
"While this was a great premise, there was no confirmation that it was attainable," said Bell's interview summary.
Bell also said he felt that police couldn't deliver on Sloly's announcement that Ottawa police would seize fuel canisters from protesters.
"This should not have been announced. This was very damaging," Bell told the commission.
Bell told the commission the OPS was struggling with significant turnover during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Many OPS members experienced with policing demonstrations left the force during the pandemic," says the summary of Bell's interview with the commission.
"Interim Chief Bell stated that many of the younger OPS members who remained were not experienced at policing large demonstrations."
A truck isn't protected under the charter: Bell
Bell said the force has learned its lesson when it comes to vehicles and protests.
"A truck isn't a protected entity under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. People are. That is something we had not exercised prior as an organization," said Bell under questioning Monday.
"I believe that we do have the ability and we've exercised it several times since then to prevent the vehicles from going down."
On Feb. 14, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, giving authorities new powers to freeze the finances of those connected to blockades and protests, ban travel to protest zones, prohibit people from bringing minors to unlawful assemblies and commandeer tow trucks.
The commission has been directed to examine the circumstances that led to the declaration of a public emergency, including the actions of police prior to and after the declaration.
Bell told the commission that those powers "were significantly beneficial" to police efforts to end the demonstrations.
On Friday, the Ottawa Police Services Board named a new Ottawa police chief: Eric Stubbs, an assistant commissioner with the RCMP in British Columbia.
He takes over from Bell next month.
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