Ottawa police thought allowing protest trucks on Wellington Street would protect rest of the city
CBC
The incident commander in charge of the protests in Ottawa last winter allowed trucks to park in front of Parliament Hill for the demonstrations because he thought that would protect the rest of the city from disruptions, according to documents table with the Emergencies Act inquiry this morning.
Ottawa Insp. Russell Lucas also told the Public Order Emergency Commission that he did not believe allowing vehicles to park in front Parliament Hill posed a risk because the House of Commons was not sitting that week and he felt he had enough staff in place if participants attempted to storm the Hill.
Lucas spoke to commission's lawyers this summer. A summary of that interview was entered into evidence on Tuesday.
"Inspector Lucas explained that he approved allowing Freedom Convoy trucks to park on Wellington St. to protect the rest of the City from disruption," it reads.
"There is a requirement to balance the needs of everyone. There is also a need to find the right compromise where protesters can get their message out without compromising safety."
The Parliamentary Protective Service met with Lucas on Jan. 27, before the trucks rolled in, asking the Ottawa police, the force of jurisdiction, to not allow convoy trailers onto Wellington Street, documents tabled with the inquiry show.
"Lucas determined that permitting Freedom Convoy trucks and vehicles to park on Wellington St. would not pose a significant risk because Parliament was not in session on January 29-30 and he believed that he had sufficient [public order unit] members in place to protect Parliament Hill if convoy participants attempted to storm it," he told the commission.
Lucas explained to the commission's lawyers he was concerned that blocking access to Wellington Street would "displace Freedom Convoy trucks and vehicles into other Ottawa neighbourhoods, where they could interfere with residents' daily activities, public transit, key bridges, and access to hospitals."
That ended up playing out as trucks parked both along Wellington Street but also in residential areas and blocked access to main arteries in the city for three weeks.
Lucas said the force quickly became overwhelmed and it felt like "drinking from the firehose" as vehicles arrived in Ottawa on Jan. 29.
Lucas and others within the service were under the impression that the protesters would leave after the first weekend despite warnings and intelligence reports that suggested some protesters were threatening to stay until there was change in government and vaccine mandates were dropped.
He told the inquiry the Ottawa Police Service's intelligence unit was understaffed and couldn't monitor social media.
"OPS does not have a dedicated social media monitoring team and a social media analyst employed by the Waterloo Regional Police Service shared information with OPS," said the interview summary.
"In his view, gathering and assessing intelligence about protest activities that could potentially threaten public safety and public order was a gap area that fell between the responsibilities of the OPS intelligence unit and the OPS special events office."