Testimony by former Public Safety Minister Bill Blair was met with skepticism by two retired, long-serving Mounties, and an Ottawa criminology prof..Blair told the Public Order Emergency Commission Monday the police response to the trucker convoy was “textbook … proportional, measured, and Charter-compliant.”.Carleton University criminology professor Darryl Davies said he found Blair difficult to believe, given the policing record of the MP for Scarborough Southwest..“Many people in Toronto who hear Blair say he thought police handled the truckers protest well would be outraged. Blair is the same individual who was the chief of police in Toronto during the G20 when the largest illegal and egregious violation of civil rights of people by police occurred in Canadian history,” Davies told the Western Standard..“Blair is in no position to comment on how the police dealt with the truckers convoy as he has zero credibility. Informed observers might say given this track record, the fact he was even appointed Public Safety minister in this country defies logic and clearly demonstrates just how out of touch Trudeau is with reality.”.The 1,118 people arrested in relation to the G20 summit protests in 2010 was the largest mass arrest in Canadian history, according to Wikipedia. Only 231 people were charged, and 58 of these had their charges withdrawn or stayed. A class action lawsuit by those arrested resulted in a $16.5 million settlement in 2020..At a 2010 press conference, Blair displayed a number of purportedly dangerous items police confiscated. According to CBC, these included a “homemade shield, foam-covered baton, scale-mail vest, and roll of hockey tape” owned by a man who was on his way to a medieval role-playing game. Blair was later forced to admit that a chainsaw and crossbow on display had nothing to do with the protests. He also failed to clarify special powers to search and seize did not exist beyond the protest area..Ex-Mountie Larry Comeau told the Western Standard Blair may have a “different understanding” of “proportional,” given the events of 12 years ago..Comeau, whose 36-year career with the RCMP ended in 2001, said Blair “has been Trudeau’s go-to-guy in difficult political situations” and “obviously hopes to give Trudeau cover” for the response to the convoy..“I watched a lot of foreign media outlets during the put-down of the Freedom Convoy protest and the general consensus was disbelief this was happening in Canada’s capital. The scenes of truckers being physically pulled from their trucks, others being roughly taken down without having offered any resistance and the trampling of an elderly lady by a police horse were often commented upon,” Comeau noted..“In my many years of policing, including being involved in a number of very large protests on the grounds of Parliament Hill, I cannot remember any scenes resembling what happened during the takedown of the Freedom Convoy protest.”.Nova Scotia resident and former Mountie Leland Keane agreed Blair’s testimony lacked credibility..“Blair's characterization is a massive generalization which betrays his obvious lack of understanding of policing and the laws of Canada,” Keane told the Western Standard by email..“As a 32-year veteran of actual policing, I consider the unlawful use of regular, tactical and riot police on peaceful demonstrators a sign the political leadership in this country, including Blair, to be cause for grave concern for our God-given freedoms.”.Keane, a history major with a graduate degree in organizational management, said the Liberals chose to “prosecute war against its own citizens.”.He said that effort would be better directed against People’s Republic of China for its role in genocide, the Wuhan virus, fentanyl deaths, and attempts to compromise Canadian democracy..“My assessment of the use of the Emergencies Act against peaceful protestors is akin to the emergence of totalitarian ‘policing’ as seen in 1933 Germany and 1917 Russia,” Keane wrote..“The Government of Canada, as well as most provincial governments, broke the law and should be held accountable for their criminal actions against Canadians. Individuals who participated from ‘public health’, police, and even bylaw officers should all be investigated and prosecuted for breach of trust if the evidence supports it..“There should be a Nuremberg commission held in Canada to investigate such unprovoked violence and human rights abuses by those charged with public safety.”
