Security officials planning for possible new ‘Freedom Convoy’ in 2023: Trudeau advisor
Global News
Jody Thomas told a parliamentary committee this evening that deputy ministers are meeting to discuss the prospective demonstration for the first time this week.
The national security adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that senior officials are planning ahead for the possibility of another “Freedom Convoy” protest in early 2023.
Jody Thomas told a parliamentary committee Thursday evening that deputy ministers, some of the most senior civil servants in the government, are meeting to discuss the prospective demonstration for the first time this week.
Thomas said that Mike MacDonald, an assistant secretary to the cabinet within the Privy Council Office, has already chaired meetings “to start looking at how we’re going to respond.”
Earlier this month, James Bauder, the founder of the Canada Unity group and one of the original organizers of the protests that gridlocked downtown Ottawa for weeks last winter, announced that he is calling for a second round next February.
Bauder posted on Facebook that he wants supporters to mark their calendars for a four-day “olive branch edition” of the convoy from Feb. 18 to 21, with plans to be “wheels up” and returning home from Ottawa on Feb. 22.
Thomas and MacDonald both appeared at a special committee of MPs and senators who are investigating the federal government’s decision in February to invoke the Emergencies Act in response to the protests.
The committee study has been taking place separately from the Public Order Emergency Commission, a public inquiry digging into the same questions.
“We are absolutely learning from what has occurred and trying to ensure that we have incorporated where we saw deficiencies as we go forward,” said Thomas.
Regina police disciplined an officer for repeatedly accessing personal data of six citizens without authorization 67 times throughout the course of three years.
The list was chosen based on the scale of the devastation, the number of Canadians affected and the financial toll, with wildfires taking the top spot.
Manitoba RCMP say a fisherman is missing after his side-by-side went through the ice.
The population boom recorded in Nova Scotia since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have come to an end.
New data suggests the majority of Canadians support efforts to expand oil and gas development, including expanding and building pipelines — but within that, their support differs.
Hamilton police say they have arrested 21 people in connection with hundreds of 'organized retail thefts' at multiple Shoppers Drug Mart locations across Ontario, Quebec and B.C.
In October, U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled trade talks with Canada after Ontario aired an anti-tariff ad featuring former U.S. president Ronald Reagan.
Operations are set to resume Friday at the K3 potash mine in Esterhazy, Sask., after a fatal incident earlier this week.
Toronto is seeing a sharp 54.3 per cent decline in homicides and violent crimes this year, but police and a community leader warn the progress is fragile.
Data shared with Global News by the city shows Toronto is currently tied into eight separate private security contracts, predominantly for services relating to homelessness.
A Saskatoon woman has used naloxone kits multiple times to stop overdoses. Some experts say the kits are significantly helping decrease fatality in overdose cases.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told members of Congress this week that next year's joint review 'will depend on the successful resolution' of several issues.
The Appeal Court's three-judge panel has declared the Oath of Allegiance requirement unconstitutional and of no force or effect, meaning it is no longer required in Alberta.