Ottawa police chief says he never asked Trudeau to suppress Freedom Convoy with Emergencies Act
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Interim chief Steve Bell explained that ‘we didn’t make a direct request for the Emergencies Act.’
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OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – Ottawa Police Service (OPS) interim chief Steve Bell acknowledged his department did not request that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoke the Emergencies Act (EA) in February to take down the trucker Freedom Convoy.
During a House of Commons affairs meeting Tuesday, questioned by Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP and former party leader Andrew Scheer if the OPS asked Trudeau for EA powers, Bell responded by saying he did not.
“So we were involved in conversations with our partners and the political ministries,” Bell said, adding that “we didn’t make a direct request for the Emergencies Act.”
Trudeau claimed on April 27 that the EA was needed and police had asked for it because “illegal blockades hurt workers and endangered public safety,” adding that “police were clear that they needed tools not held by any federal, provincial or territorial law.”
“It was only after we got advice from law enforcement that we invoked the Emergencies Act,” Trudeau said.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino also claimed that advice from law enforcement asked that the EA be enacted.
However, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) commissioner Brenda Lucki recently revealed to an inquiry that her police force did not request help from Trudeau in the form of the EA.
Lucki said last week, “No, there was never a question of requesting the Emergencies Act.”
Lucki also stated plainly that border blockades in Alberta and Ontario were dealt with a “measured approach and existing legislation.”
As it stands now, four legal organizations are challenging the Trudeau government’s use of EA, which was enacted by Trudeau on February 14 to shut down the Freedom Convoy.