Cabinet told of possible 'breakthrough' with protesters night before Emergencies Act was invoked

On the night before Justin Trudeau took the historic step of invoking the Emergencies Act during last February's Freedom Convoy occupation of Ottawa, the prime minister's national security and intelligence adviser told cabinet there was "potential for a breakthrough," court documents reveal.

The office of Canada's public safety minister says the adviser was referring to negotiations led "principally" by the City of Ottawa that were "ultimately unsuccessful" after being "disavowed" by many associated with the convoy.

The disclosure about the potential breakthrough, contained in the summary of a cabinet meeting that took place on the evening of Feb. 13, 2022, comes in one of several heavily redacted documents recently filed in federal court. Civil liberties groups are legally challenging the government's use of the act, saying it went too far.

The Toronto Star first reported on the documents.

According to the cabinet meeting minutes, which are not a verbatim transcript, Jody Thomas — the former deputy minister of national defence and one of Trudeau's top advisers — told Trudeau and his assembled ministers that "law enforcement gains have been important and that there was potential for a breakthrough in Ottawa, Ontario."

Protesters were rallying against pandemic restrictions and blocked neighbourhood access and main arteries around Parliament Hill by clogging the streets with trucks and other vehicles.

The next day, on Feb. 14, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history. 

Doing so gave authorities sweeping temporary powers, including the ability to freeze the bank accounts and credit cards of protesters. Attending any event deemed an unlawful assembly, such as the Ottawa convoy protest, also became illegal.

The act also made it possible for officers from outside of Ontario to participate in the operation to end the protest.

The act went into effect immediately but the debate about its merits in the House of Commons and Senate stretched on even as police quelled the last remnants of the demonstration on Feb. 19. Trudeau revoked the act five days later. 

Sections of the document made available in the court documents do not include any details about the possible breakthrough cited by Thomas on Feb. 13.

But according to the statement from Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino's office, the adviser was referring to negotiations led by the City of Ottawa. 

On Feb. 13, the city announced it had come to an agreement with one of the leaders of the demonstration that would see hundreds of protest trucks to leave residential areas. 

The city's talks were ultimately unsuccessful, Mendicino's office said.