No Basis in Fact
Head of police Intelligence Bureau: public figures said things about the convoy starkly at odds with available evidence.
The week I spent in Ottawa photographing the Freedom Convoy was a stressful one for my husband back home. Nearly every day, one or more politicians would make extravagant accusations about hate, violence, harassment, or terrorism.
No matter how wild, the media dutifully parroted these statements. Gullibly. Uncritically. Which is a huge problem. Amplifying outlandish rhetoric undermines calm, rational thought. It raises tension. It fans the flames of conflict.
Because my husband was listening to the news, he spent a week concerned about my safety. The situation sounded explosive, dangerous. But every evening, when I’d video call him, he’d get an entirely different story. I’d describe camaraderie, hugs, fascinating people from different parts of the country - a giant block party. It was difficult for him to reconcile these two versions of reality.
The public examination of whether the Emergencies Act was justified has now completed its first week of hearings (there are five weeks more to go). But already it’s obvious the public was profoundly misled.
Superintendent Patrick Morris is head of the Intelligence Bureau of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). It was his job to constantly monitor the situation. He has now testified that he never saw any evidence that this was an extremist protest that posed a threat to national security. Rather than being concerned about organized armed insurrection, his intelligence gatherers worried about lone wolves. They also knew that, whenever large numbers of people gather, bad things can sometimes happen spontaneously.
In the video at the top of this post, Morris is asked whether politicians and journalists were spreading misinformation about the Freedom Convoy. The short answer: yes. Please listen to his full remarks, above, for yourself. Below is a condensed version:
I was concerned by comments made publicly, by public figures and in the media that I believed were not premised in fact…I was leading the criminal intelligence collection…so I believed I was in a unique situation to understand what was transpiring. So when I read accounts that the state of Russia had something to do with it or…that Donald Trump was behind it or that it was unCanadian or that the people participating were unCanadian and that they were not Canadian views and they were extremists I found it to be problematic…I did not see validation for those assertions.
Patrick Morris’s testimony is clear and succinct. I wonder whether the PM will somehow find a way to weasel out of responsibility despite the truth being told..this is what I fear.
Another great post Donna - thank you.