Secret cabinet minutes show Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was told most Freedom Convoy protesters, as many as 95%, were weary of the three-week protest and prepared to leave..“Public Safety Canada reported on a conversation with the lead negotiator (Ontario Provincial Police) who noted in Ottawa approximately 80% of protesters had a weak connection to the cause, 5% had a strong devotion to it and 15% were a swing factor,” said cabinet minutes. “The negotiator suggested the leaders of the protest could potentially be encouraged to leave and denounce the blockade in exchange for a commitment to register their message with the government.”.The document also showed Trudeau suggested using the Emergencies Act days before the extraordinary measure was invoked against the Freedom Convoy. Cabinet at the time was publicly assuring Canadians the Highway Traffic Act was sufficient to deal with protesters outside Parliament..“The prime minister set up the conversation to discuss two possible tracks: 1) actions that could be taken under existing authorities and 2) the process of invoking the Emergencies Act,” said minutes of a Feb. 10 meeting of cabinet’s Incident Response Group. Cabinet invoked the act days later on Monday, Feb. 14..According to Blacklock's Reporter, cabinet also discussed “other disincentives" to get the protestors to leave. Details were censored. Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair “reminded participants this is not the first significant protest to take place in Canada.”.Blair the previous day on Feb. 9 told reporters existing laws were sufficient to deal with protesters..“Authorities to deal with this unlawful protest reside in the provincial Highway Traffic Act and municipal bylaws,” said Blair, who previously described truckers as “heroes throughout the pandemic.”.“The police are working well together,” Blair told reporters. “We need to also ensure all three orders of government are working together.”.The confidential Feb. 10 meeting lasted two hours. Forty-four people attended, including RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki and Attorney General David Lametti, the prime minister’s chief of staff and his director of communications..Trudeau the following day on Friday, Feb. 11 said enforcement action against the Freedom Convoy would be incremental..“Police must use step-by-step measures to put an end to it,” Trudeau told a news conference..“We know with demonstrations, situations like that, it’s very important to go about it gradually,” said Trudeau..The prime minister on the morning of Monday, Feb. 14 called premiers to announce cabinet had opted to invoke the Emergencies Act.
