At the time, the province was struggling with a blockade near a southern Alberta village. People protesting the COVID-19 restrictions used large trucks and other vehicles to block commercial traffic to and from the US in Coutts between January 29 and February 14. About a week after the blockade, Alberta turned to Ottawa to inquire about the possibility of using Canadian Armed Forces tow trucks to remove the blockade vehicles after local tow operators declined RCMP requests. In a Feb. 5 letter to the federal government, provincial Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said the RCMP “has exhausted all local and regional options to mitigate weekly service disruptions.” In a February 8 text released by the Public Order Emergencies Committee, federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told McIver he had conveyed his message to Defense Minister Anita Anand. Some of Alberta’s municipal affairs minister Ric McIver’s texts were released as part of the emergency law investigation. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press) “Any update?” McIver said in a text message to Blair two days later. After 11 days of silence, McIver followed that message with another: “Still no response.” Then Blair answered. “You may know that we invoked it [Emergencies] Act,” Blair told McIver in a text exchange. “Which dealt with the trailer issue quite effectively.” McIver was not impressed. “We didn’t get any help until after the Coutts matter was resolved and you know that,” the provincial minister wrote in a text to Blair. “Disappointed to hear you say otherwise.” Blair replied that he was disappointed by Alberta’s response. “To be clear. It is your view that we should have invoked it [Emergencies] Act sooner,” Blair asked. “No,” McIver replied. “You took too long and made the mistake. My point is saying nothing now would be better than not telling the truth.” Screenshot of the text chain between Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair. (Submitted to the Public Order Emergency Committee) Around dawn on February 14, hours before the federal government announced it was introducing special police powers through the never-used Emergency Act, the RCMP executed search warrants on Coutts, arrested more than a dozen protesters and seized a cache of weapons. body armor and ammunition. The rest of the protesters broke up their protest camp soon after. The exchange between Blair and McIver came as the committee continues its inquiry into the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergency Act and the circumstances that led to that decision.
Civil servant says trucks were paid not to help
Meanwhile, an Alberta official who oversees the public safety portfolio outlined to the committee some of the issues facing the provincial government and law enforcement in Alberta. Marlin Degrand, provincial deputy assistant minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, said the RCMP advised him that tow operators were reluctant to help police clear the blockade. Supporters watch as COVID-19 vaccine mandate protesters leave in a convoy of trucks after blocking the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., on February 15, 2022. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press) Degrand participated in an interview with attorneys from the Public Order Emergency Committee in August. A summary of that conversation was released Thursday. “Some operators reported to the RCMP that they were being paid not to assist law enforcement,” the document said. After being turned down by several tow companies, Degrand said, the province turned to Ottawa to inquire about acquiring tugs from the Canadian Armed Forces. He testified that the provincial government was under the impression that Ottawa was reluctant to provide military equipment. In the end, Degrand said, the province was finally able to secure a number of tow trucks for the RCMP around Feb. 13. A collection of weapons that RCMP said they seized during a search Sunday night. (RCMP) The Alberta government eventually found tow trucks by scouring websites like Kijiji and Truck Trader, according to a report the provincial government submitted to the commission. Alberta said it has been working on an expedited safety inspection process for the trucks. “The RCMP ultimately did not need to use this equipment to break up the Coutts border blockade, as the protesters generally left of their own volition,” the report said. “Only three vehicles had to be towed and that’s because they were impounded.”
The emergency law is not needed, the official says
Degrand said the federal government’s invocation of the Emergency Act may have stopped protesters near the Coutts border crossing, but he doesn’t think it was necessary. “While Mr. Degrand acknowledges that the Emergency Act may have had a deterrent effect on the protesters, the Alberta government’s position has been that the Emergency Act was not necessary as the Coutts border blockade was resolved prior to his appeal,” Degrand’s summary of the interview said. “Alberta objected to her invocation on this basis.” WATCHES | Alberta Official on States of Emergency Act
“Emergency law wouldn’t have changed anything,” says Alberta’s top bureaucrat
In testimony before the Emergency Act inquiry, Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Marlin Degrand says the Emergency Act was explored and ultimately rejected as a possible option to deal with the protest in Alberta. Degrand told the committee the province feared the implementation of the emergency law would further surprise protesters. Fort McLeod councilor Marco Van Huigenbos, one of the movement’s representatives, said the rest of the protesters left after the RCMP found the weapons cache. Four men arrested in the Coutts raid — Jerry Morin, Chris Lysak, Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick — are charged with the most serious charge stemming from the protests: conspiracy to kill RCMP officers. “For me, it became very clear that every goal we were trying to achieve was no longer possible and our message had been lost,” Van Huigenbos told the committee earlier this week. Commissioner Paul Rouleau will continue to hear witnesses, including Blair and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, until November 25.
