An Officer with a Conscience

OPP Superintendent expressed his dismay after the Ottawa protest was shut down.

Yesterday, I told you about Superintendent Patrick Morris, the head of the Intelligence Bureau for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). At the Emergencies Act hearing this week he declared that politicians and journalists were making outrageous statements about Freedom Convoy participants, despite a total lack of evidence.

During his testimony, we saw a portion of a tantalizing email up on the video screen. The full email is now available here. Addressed to his boss, and dated Tuesday, February 22nd, it reveals a man of conscience struggling to process the violent end of the Ottawa protest.

“I believe that law enforcement in this country is at a critical stage in terms of ethics…” he begins. “Stating my opinion is a matter of integrity - and is something I must do.”

Superintendent Morris’ team had gathered extensive information about the Freedom Convoy before it arrived in Ottawa. It continued to closely monitor the situation while the protest dragged on, sharing its assessments daily with senior officers representing multiple forces. Yet even “some police leaders” were making “outlandish, inaccurate claims,” entirely disconnected from the “evidence that I am privy to.”

Although many people publicly accuse the convoy of extremism, he says

I have not seen the evidence of this…It is not an ‘extremist’ movement. It is not comprised of Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremists (IMVEs). The actual leaders are not violent extremists with histories of violent criminal acts…. [bold added]

The words terrorism and sedition are also not appropriate, he says, yet continue to be cavalierly tossed around.

“I am sending this email because I believe we are at a turning point,” he writes. He says he’s deeply concerned about the future of policing, and has spoken “to several police audiences over the last two weeks [about] the need to be apolitical, objective and to view the events in context.”

This is a man who fears police are being turned into government goons. He knows what violent rioters and the destruction of property looks like - and he knows the Freedom Convoy was not that. Yet all around him politicians, journalists, and even law enforcement personnel are pretending otherwise. A politically driven narrative is riding roughshod over calm, quiet facts.

Concerned about about “deep divisions” developing in our society, he insists the police must remain neutral and independent.

Superintendent Morris is an honourable man.

A transcript of his testimony is here. The letter is discussed on page 295 of the PDF, numbered as page 290 within the document. The video of his testimony is here.