The "Inquiry" Is Mired In Total Bunk

It's only purpose is to remind the ovine masses that its Vichy puppet-head was installed and isn't going anywhere (for now):

A police commander testifying at the Freedom Convoy inquiry said emergency powers were never needed to tow vehicles outside Parliament. The sworn testimony directly contradicted claims by Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino: “Did the police in Ottawa end up needing the Emergencies Act to tow vehicles?” “No.”

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A special joint parliamentary committee has voted to block the release of uncensored documents that detail the federal government’s rationale for invoking the Emergencies Act against the Freedom Convoy.

Sponsored by Bloc Québécois MP Rhéal Fortin, the motion that federal agencies “be required to provide the committee with unredacted versions of those documents” was defeated in a 6–5 vote, with Liberal MPs and Liberal-appointed senators voting against it on the night of Oct. 20.

The Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency was created to review the “exercise of powers and the performance of duties and functions pursuant to a declaration of emergency” after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, using it as a means to quash the protests against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions by truckers and their supporters in Ottawa and across the country.

As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, Fortin wanted the committee to have full access to the uncensored records.

“I think the motion speaks for itself. We need complete documents, and if they can’t be complete, there should be an explanation,” said Fortin prior to the vote.

On May 31, the committee requested that “all security assessments and legal opinions which the government relied upon” in deciding that the Freedom Convoy constituted a “national emergency” be provided. ...

Public Safety Canada subsequently released the documents but had “hundreds” of pages related to the security measures censored.

“I was trying to read the documents we received from the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, but there are hundreds of redacted pages,” Fortin told the committee on Oct. 6.

“What are we to make of that?” he asked. “I don’t know what information is being hidden or why it is being hidden, but this seems unacceptable to me.”

In the meeting on Oct. 20, Liberal-appointed Sen. Peter Harder said legislators were unrealistic in asking for the classified versions.

“I think we should be realistic as to what our expectations ought to be,” Harder said. “I think it is unusual and perhaps a step too far to ask officials to come with unredacted documents.”

Oh, do you think so, Mr. Harder?

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Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly pleaded with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to send him as many resources during the Freedom Convoy in order to kill off “the head of the hydra” and prevent other convoys from spreading elsewhere, according to a new testimony heard on Thursday.

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 Ford and Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones — who was the province's solicitor general during the protests — have been asked by the commission to appear a number of times, according to a letter from the commission's legal counsel which was provided to CBC.

"It was our hope that Premier Ford and Minister Jones would agree to appear before the Commission voluntarily," the letter reads.

"However, given that the repeated invitations were all declined, the Commission has issued summons this day to Premier Ford and Minister Jones."

The commission has the legal authority to call witnesses to testify before the inquiry. A spokesperson for the Ontario attorney general's office said the government will be challenging the summons, arguing that Jones and the premier are covered by parliamentary privilege.

"Overall, our view has always been that this was a policing matter and the police witnesses that are testifying can best provide the commission with the evidence it needs," the spokesperson said in an email.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, an advocacy group participating in the inquiry, called Ford's decision to challenge the summons "disappointing."

"The fact that the province of Ontario would go this far to ensure that the premier and former solicitor general Jones don't have to appear in person and give evidence is quite striking," said Laura Berger, a lawyer with the association. "It's disappointing and it seems like yet another attempt to evade accountability and transparency."

Justin is throwing you under the truck bus, Doug.