Officers weren't told of threats to harm police, says RCMP 'Freedom Convoy' report
CTV
An internal RCMP review of the force's response to "Freedom Convoy" protests found that some officers at the scene of an Alberta blockade were unaware of threats to harm police until after the episode ended.
An internal RCMP review of the force's response to "Freedom Convoy" protests found that some officers at the scene of an Alberta blockade were unaware of threats to harm police until after the episode ended.
The review report also describes "chaotic" efforts in early 2022 to mobilize officers in Ottawa, a lack of proper equipment, inadequate training, poor intelligence co-ordination and exceptionally long days that prompted some Mounties to sleep in their offices.
In addition, the federal government's "demands for hourly briefings" during the upheaval left no time for intelligence units "to prepare an assessment, nor to collect the most up-to-date information," the review says.
The Canadian Press used the Access to Information Act to obtain the 92-page national after-action review, part of a post-convoy effort dubbed Project Natterjack.
The review includes the results of a survey of 1,641 RCMP personnel involved in the response to the 2022 protests that paralyzed downtown Ottawa for weeks and jammed key border points.
In early February 2022, the national capital was besieged by protesters, many in large rigs that rolled into town beginning in late January.
Initially billed as a demonstration against COVID-19 health measures, the gathering attracted people with various grievances against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government.
