EXPANDING THE MEANING OF A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY

  A Justice Centre lawyer, Rob Kittredge, took  National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister Jody Thomas through the CSIS Act tests for declaring an emergency. She confirmed there was no espionage, no sabotage, no foreign interference.

But what about serious violence? Thomas replied: “There was continual violence in the streets of Ottawa…” Kittredge asked her to be specific about what she meant by “continual violence.” Thomas named “harassment, people being followed, people being intimidated, the noise, the pollution…” Yet, incidents of harassment, stalking, and physical intimidation are matters police address every day across the nation upon receiving a complaint. Eventually, Thomas conceded, “No, not serious violence.” But reframed matters stating, “A Public Order Emergency is broader as defined in the CSIS Act.” Thomas elaborated, “There’s a range of threats that need to be considered when you’re talking about this country, economic security; the threat of IMVE (ideologically motivated violent extremists); the rhetoric of threats against public figures; the inability to conduct a livelihood in the City of Ottawa — as an example, the Coutts border blockade if we’re going to speak about the specific example; the threat to public institutions and the undermining of the confidence in public institutions.”