CSIS: FREEDOM CONVOY WAS NOT A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT

    OTTAWA — Canada’s spy agency told government officials — including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — before they invoked the Emergencies Act last winter that the Freedom Convoy protests didn’t pose a national security threat and weren’t supported by foreign state interference, according to a document made public Monday.
    Ultimately, no activities tied to the pandemic protests across the country ever met the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s definition of a national security threat, as defined by the CSIS Act, according to the summary of an interview of service director David Vigneault by Public Order Emergency Commission lawyers in August.
   It was the first time the act was invoked, and it can only be used in a national emergency when a situation “seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada” and cannot be dealt with by any other law. It specifically refers to the definition of a national security threat detailed in the CSIS Act.