Steve Bell Witness Summary Day 8 of the Emergencies Act Public Inquiry

Witnesses Steve Bell , interim Ottawa police chief, Day 8 of Emergencies Act Public Inquiry. Key testimony from Day 8 of Public Hearings, October 24, 2022 Public Inquiry for the Invocation of the Emergencies Act.

Steve Bell interim Ottawa police chief testifies the truckers freedom convoy “what was known the day before is that a large number” “that the overall activity of the group that was moving across was extremely lawful and extremely law abiding”.

Steve Bell, Former OPS Interim Chief announced children would be taken from their parents in the convoy without first consulting with Children’s Aid Society and were quite unhappy about it. The plan was to remove the children from their parents in the protest and that the children would be kept in a gymnasium.

Steve Bell, Ottawa Police Interim Chief claims he was unaware that Freedom Convoy protesters were detained, driven out of Ottawa to a rural parking lot with no building, and left outside in the cold with no access to a phone.

Felt violence: Steve Bell testified that he is not using the term “violence” as it relates to the Criminal Code or CSIS act. Lawyer Brendan Miller: “So the violence that they felt, not actual violence, is that what you’re saying?”. Steve Bell: “That is correct.”

Re: Emergencies Act not needed – While viewing an email from Brenda Lucki to Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino, Lucki says that not all tools have been exhausted. Steve Bell testified that these abilities do exist in existing legislation. “We had a plan, we were going to execute that plan.”