As the second week of the Emergencies Act inquiry begins, speculation is rampant about whether Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino will be the first casualty of the Commission.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the act in February for the first time in Canadian history to deal with Freedom Convoy demonstrators who were peacefully protesting COVID-19 restrictions like vaccine mandates in the nation’s capital.
The Act allowed the government to freeze the bank accounts of anyone associated with the protest and even gave the RCMP powers to crack down on crypto wallets, as exclusively reported by The Counter Signal.
Mendicino is a prime candidate to be thrown under the bus during this Public Order Emergency Commission, and not just because it’s convenient.
Mendicino lied to Canadians about the need to invoke the Act. He insisted for months that law enforcement requested that Trudeau invoke the law. There are numerous instances of Mendicino claiming that law enforcement asked for the Emergencies Act.
But Peter Sloly, interim Ottawa police chief Steve Bell, and RCMP Commissioner said Mendicino’s repeated claim was false.
The minister’s track record of being less-than-honest has been in the headlines more than once.
Of course, there was the time in February that Mendicino hosted a press conference and said protesters at the Coutts border blockade in Alberta — where guns were found — had ties with far right groups demonstrating in Ottawa during the Freedom Convoy. He was forced to walk back those claims after journalists pressured him to clarify his remarks.
And, earlier this month, Access to Information records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter revealed that Mendicino backdated government documents in an apparent effort to mislead the court.
In June, Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre called for the resignation of Mendicino for lying about the justification for invoking Emergencies Act in the House of Commons.
“It’s clear that (the) Minister made false statements in the House of Commons. And it wasn’t just about something trivial. He wanted to give Trudeau cover to invoke the Emergencies Act, freeze people’s bank accounts, and trample on civil liberties.”
“The Minister made false statements. If he messed up, then he’s incompetent. If he lied, then he’s dishonest. Either way, he can’t keep this important job.”
As time goes on and pressure mounts on Trudeau for invoking the Act, it’s possible Mendicino will become the scapegoat.
