Four Alberta men in custody after an RCMP raid in Coutts Feb. 14 are accused of plotting to murder police and nine others face weapons and mischief charges in the connection with the protest at a border crossing with Montana over mandatory coronavirus vaccinations. Southern Alberta RCMP Chief Superintendent Trevor Daroux said Feb. 15 the raid had yielded firearms, ammunition, extended magazines and protective gear. [node:read-more:link]
Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly has resigned amid criticism of his handling of the ongoing trucker protests in downtown Ottawa. Citizens blocking demonstrators from bringing in more fuel and supplies to the occupied areas were asked by police to leave, while, on day 19 of the demonstrations, truckers continue to defy the law with only minor consequences. Sloly resigned from his position as Deputy Police Chief of the Toronto Police Force in 2016, and was selected as Ottawa's Police Chief in 2019. [node:read-more:link]
Ottawa’s police service, international airport and a city council meeting evidently were targetted today by groups opposed to mandatory coronavirus vaccination. The police said their 911 and non-emergency lines were flooded with illegal calls. Meanwhile, protesters circled around the airport’s main access ring for two hours, causing ground traffic delays but not affecting aircraft departures or arrivals, and the council meeting was hacked briefly. [node:read-more:link]
The Ottawa Police Service said today that it will increase its presence and further restrict access to the city's downtown core as it prepares for another weekend of noisy protests by anti-vaccination activists. The OPS “surge and contain strategy” will involve traffic control barricades and more aggressive law enforcement, including downtown neighbourhood patrols to address residents’ concerns about protesters’ abusive behaviour. [node:read-more:link]
The Quebec legislature is essentially surrounded by provincial police in anticipation of the arrival of a weekend “freedom convoy” opposed to mandatory coronavirus vaccinations. A convoy organizer said Feb. 3 that the weekend protest is not designed “to jam up the city” but simply to be “heard.” Premier François Legault said protests are acceptable but that the capital’s residents must not be prevented from “functioning normally.” [node:read-more:link]
Police in Waterloo, Ont. confirmed today that a man has been arrested after a bomb threat aboard a Flair Airlines flight scheduled to depart for Vancouver Dec. 13. “A passenger reported to staff that another passenger threatened that he had a bomb on the plane,” a police spokesperson said. No device was found during a search while Waterloo airport was locked down for several hours. [node:read-more:link]
With some studies suggesting that as many as half of civilian first responders such as firefighters and paramedics suffer from psychological trauma linked to their jobs, Wounded Warriors Canada is collaborating with First Responder Health Services in B.C. on a new digital mental health platform. The partnership is taking its training Canada-wide. [node:read-more:link]
Matthew Martin says he has never received so much as a parking ticket, yet his application to join the Saint John Board of Police Commissioners was rejected because he did not pass a “security clearance check.” As President of Black Lives Matter New Brunswick who has “never had any negative interaction with police”, he already sat on the chief’s advisory committee. While he was not given an explanation, Martin suspects that it was because some family members had criminal records. [node:read-more:link]
Two Montreal-area men have been charged after the seizure in Ontario of 59 restricted weapons and 110 large-capacity magazines. The RCMP, which worked with Ontario and Quebec provincial police and Akwesasne Mohawk Police, have confirmed that a boat, which was seen Nov. 26 with large sacks, had offloaded its cargo to a vehicle in Cornwall and was intercepted by the RCMP. [node:read-more:link]
The B.C. government has requested a federal exemption which would enable the province to decriminalize possession of small amounts of hard drugs. Some 7,700 deaths have been recorded since an overdose crisis was identified in 2016 and Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Services, said Nov. 1 that she hopes decriminalization would increase the likelihood of users seeking treatment. [node:read-more:link]
Record rain and flooding in B.C., which has washed out rail lines and highways in the Lower Mainland and resulted in evacuations elsewhere, has exacerbated already tight supply chains. Most highways in and out of Vancouver have effectively been shut down, bringing truck traffic to a crawl and all rail traffic in and out of the Port of Vancouver has been halted. [node:read-more:link]
The Remembrance Day ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa was delayed briefly while police investigated a suspicious package found minutes before the service was to begin. RCMP said its Explosive Disposal Union “cleared” the package a few minutes later. [node:read-more:link]
The RCMP is investigating after dozens of anti-vaxxers disrupted a Remembrance Day in B.C. “Kelowna RCMP officers support a person's or groups' right to protest, but when they choose to willfully interrupt the assembly of citizens at a Remembrance Day ceremony, this is a step too far,” Insp. Adam MacIntosh said, adding that the incident would be investigated “to determine what offence, criminal or otherwise, may have been committed and, if appropriate, the submission of charges or fines.” [node:read-more:link]
As a former police trainer in Afghanistan, I heard from one of my interpreters who was in dire and immediate fear for his life. Canada has forsaken its duty to protect those who had helped us at great personal risk to themselves and their families. [node:read-more:link]
A repeat offender commits armed robbery while on bail. Despite previous convictions and a firearms prohibition order, our system released him early from his latest offence. He has now violated that release and taken off. Revolving door indeed. [node:read-more:link]
