Mendicino says email from Lucki doesn't mean Emergencies Act was unnecessary

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is brushing off concerns about an email sent to his office by the RCMP commissioner the night before the government invoked the Emergencies Act last February.

The email from Commissioner Brenda Lucki shows she didn't think police had exhausted all available tools to end the ongoing occupation of downtown Ottawa by protesters demanding an end to COVID-19 restrictions.

The email was submitted as evidence at the Public Order Emergency Commission, which is investigating whether the government was justified in using that act to give itself and police temporary but extraordinary powers to bring the protests to a close.

The email released by the commission was time-stamped just before 1 a.m. on Feb. 14. The commission later clarified that reference is to Greenwich Mountain Time, meaning it was just before 8 p.m. ET on Feb. 13.

Mendicino said the government listened to lots of different advice but ultimately made its own decision to invoke the act.

He also said Lucki told a House of Commons committee in the spring that the act was needed to clear out protests.

Mendicino told that same committee that the federal Liberals invoked the act on the advice of police.