'We received no help': Texts shown at Emergencies Act inquiry show strain between Alberta, federal governments
Protesters against COVID-19 restrictions blocked the Coutts border crossing for more than 2 weeks
Text messages entered into evidence at the Emergencies Act inquiry describe a testy exchange between feuding Alberta and federal ministers around the time the act was invoked.
At the time, the province was struggling with a blockade near a southern Alberta village. People protesting COVID-19 restrictions used large trucks and other vehicles to block commercial traffic to and from the U.S. at Coutts between Jan. 29 and Feb. 14.
About a week into the blockade, Alberta turned to Ottawa to ask about the possibility of using Canadian Armed Forces tow trucks to remove the blockade vehicles after local tow operators rejected RCMP requests.
In a Feb. 5 letter to the federal government, provincial Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said the RCMP had "exhausted all local and regional options to alleviate the week-long service disruptions."
In a Feb. 8 text, made public by the Public Order Emergency Commission, federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told McIver he had conveyed his message to Defence Minister Anita Anand.
"Any update?" McIver said in a text to Blair two days later.
After 11 days of silence, McIver followed up that message with another one: "Still no answer." Blair then responded.
"You may be aware that we invoked the [Emergencies] Act," Blair told McIver in a text exchange. "Which addressed the tow truck issue quite effectively."
McIver wasn't impressed.
"We received no help until after the Coutts issue 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. Is your point that we should have invoked the [Emergencies] Act earlier," Blair asked.
"No," McIver responded. "You were too late and did the wrong thing. My point is saying nothing now would have been better than not telling the truth."
Around dawn on Feb. 14, hours before the federal government announced it was introducing special policing powers through the never-before-used Emergencies Act, the RCMP executed search warrants in Coutts, arrested more than a dozen protesters and seized a cache of weapons, body armour and ammunition.
The remaining protesters dismantled their protest camp soon after.
The exchange between Blair and McIver emerged as the commission continues its investigation of the federal government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act and the circumstances leading up to that decision.
Civil servant says trucks were being paid to not help
Meanwhile, an Alberta official who oversees the public security portfolio described for the commission some of the issues that faced the provincial government and law enforcement in Alberta.
Marlin Degrand, provincial assistant deputy minister of public safety and emergency services, said the RCMP advised him that tow truck operators were reluctant to help police clear the blockade.
Degrand sat for an interview with lawyers from the Public Order Emergency Commission in August. A summary of that conversation was made public Thursday.
"Some operators indicated to the RCMP that they were being paid not to assist law enforcement," said the document.
After being turned down by multiple tow truck companies, Degrand said, the province turned to Ottawa to ask about getting tow trucks from the Canadian Armed Forces. He testified that the provincial government got the impression that Ottawa was reluctant to offer military equipment.
In the end, Degrand said, the province ultimately was able to secure a number of tow trucks for the RCMP around Feb. 13.
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 worked on an accelerated safety inspection process for the trucks.
"The RCMP ultimately did not have to use that equipment to disperse the Coutts border blockade, as the protesters generally left of their own volition," said the report.
"Only three vehicles needed to be towed, and that was because they were seized."
Emergencies Act not needed, says official
Degrand said the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act may have hindered protesters near the Coutts border crossing but he doesn't think it was necessary.
"While Mr. Degrand acknowledges that the Emergencies Act may have had a deterrent effect on protesters, the Alberta government's position was that the Emergencies Act was not necessary as the Coutts border blockade was resolving prior to its invocation," said Degrand's interview summary.
"Alberta objected to its invocation on this basis."
WATCH | Alberta official on Emergencies Act
Degrand told the commission the province feared deploying the Emergencies Act would further inflame protesters.
Fort McLeod town councillor Marco Van Huigenbos, one of the movement's spokespeople, said the remaining 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 accused of the most serious charge to come out of the protests: conspiracy to murder RCMP officers.
"For me, it became very clear that every objective we were looking to achieve was no longer possible and our message had been lost," Van Huigenbos told the commission earlier this week.
Commissioner Paul Rouleau will continue to hear from witnesses, including Blair and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, until Nov. 25.
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