The cuts at Bell Media hit @CTVNationalNews hard this week. A thread about the some of the staff we lost. We keep hearing about the cost of news- I want you to hear about the value.
We’ve lost passionate journalists- who put their heart and soul into their work- In the Parliament Bureau we lost @KGallagherCTV. He’s generous with his time and sources. And has a heart of gold. Last week a woman suffering from mental health issues called the office- he spoke to her w/patience compassion and directed her to help - while on a news deadline

day 17 POEC -cross examination of Tamara Lich
Paul Champ, lawyer for citizens of Ottawa.
Champ: You did all you could to use the money responsibly. And from what I've seen didn't divert money to yourself.
Lich: Yes. Champ: Once enormous funds started flowing in, it opened up other options for what the protest could look like..is that fair?
Champ: you were able to get stages, sound systems?
Lich: The description in fundraising was to get fuel

Day 16 POEC. Freedom Convoy Witnesses
BJ Dichter- Bitcoin enthusiast
James Bauder-Canada Unity
Tamara Lich-Raised $10M in GoFundMea before it was frozen

The commission likely to probe how Freedom Convoy was financed.
Bauder & Lich charged with mischief/obstruct peace officer Commission lawyer says Freedom Convoy raised $24M !!
From Go Fund Me, Adopt-a-Trucker, Give Send Go and cryptocurrency

Day 15 of #POEC. Freedom Convoy witnesses today include lawyer Keith Wilson, former military intelligence officer Tom Marazzo and Pat King. Keith Wilson will be the first witness today. He's a lawyer for the Convoy - what will be parsed today is his role in the back channel negotiations involving city of Ottawa officials and Dean French, Premier Ford's ex chief of staff

Day 14 #POEC testimony of Freedom Convoy organizers begins. Chris Barber in blue will be first organizer to testify Chris Barber is a trucker from Saskatoon. One of the lead organizers. As he gets up to testify- his supporters clap. He swears on the Bible

Day 13 of #POEC and former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly is being cross examined. First lawyer up is for the Ottawa Police. David Migicovsky. We are discussing OPP intelligence and what info OPS had Looking at Feb 12, 2022 Sloly notes.
OPS lawyer: I'm going to suggest to you-none of the Hendon reports were forwarded by you to your deputies."
Sloly: My understanding is that I did.

Former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly will begin testifying today at the Public Order Emergency Commission. Before it begins- here is a synopsis of the challenges he faced as the city’s first Black police chief. I wrote this in February.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1489429… Day 12 #POEC former OPS Chief Sloly arrives for his testimony at commission. He’s scheduled for two days on the stand

Day 10 of #POEC. Ottawa Police Supt. Robert Bernier testifying. He became "event commander" of handling the Freedom Convoy after 3 other Supts were relieved of roles. He also sent an email to superiors warning of a "bizarre disconnect" betwn OPP intelligence & OPS operations Supt. Bernier testifying that he was trying to limit Chief Sloly's interference in managing the protest. Bernier's intv summary says he was asserting his "autonomy." Pushed back against Sloly's attempt to establish timelines for action in next 24-48 hrs.

Day 3 of the Public Order Emergency Commission - Ottawa City Mgr. Steve Kanellakos is testifying. The Mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson and Former Police Board Chair Diane Deans are also scheduled to appear today Kanellakos gets an email from Jan25 from Steve Ball, president of Ottawa Hotel Assoc. The email has the plan- thousands of protesters, plan to chain their trucks together- booked hotel stays for at least a month. The email was passed on to OPS. The convoy arrived Jan28

A personal thread:
This is my last day reporting for CBC News. I am staying in journalism but leaving CBC Ottawa- a place I’ve called home for 20 years. So Im feeling a torrent of emotion - starting with an ache in my heart… I will be leaving a group of colleagues who are passionate about the issues they cover and the stories they craft.

Another case that falls apart on flimsy evidence. Yet police continue to conduct hundreds of no-knock raids each year, putting lives at risk. Here is Chris Woof's story - better known in Ottawa as rapper: Project Prezzy. Latest from @DubinskyZach and I.
cbc.ca/news/canada/ot… The information to obtain (ITO) document that was basis for search warrant relied on a paid confidential informant, assumptions from a music video and cops who saw a man leave Chris Woof’s home with “fist clenched”
From that @ottawapolice expected to find a drug den

Court is being shown photo of the teen and parents posing with Jacob Hoggard. The family ended up going to that concert in Quebec.They were gifted concert tickets and backstage passes to where band gets ready. Different than VIP or Meet and Greet .. those have to be usually have to be paid for. Photo shown in court of Hoggard posing w/ teen and her mom. He has his arms around them. She would be 13 in 2013. Says her Dad was given Hoggard's cell number. Mom would get it later

Good morning - I'll be covering the trial of Jacob Hoggard today. The frontman for band Hedley, has been charged w/ 2 counts of sex assault causing bodily harm and sexual interference. The accusations involve an Ottawa woman and teenager. Opening statements to begin shortly. The trial judge is Justice Jillian Roberts
Defence for Jacob Hoggard is Megan Savard
The Crown is Jill Witkin, she's also chair of the Criminal Law Division's sexual violence advisory group.

Jacob Hoggard arrives w/ his wife for the start of his trial. The lead singer of Hedley is accused of sexual assault involving a woman and a teenager in incidents from 2016. Hoggard has pleaded not guilty.
Jury selection begins this morning. Photo h/t to @AllieElwell @CBCNews Hoggard was arrested and charged in 2018. There have been several trial delays because COVID. The trial was supposed to start Jan 2021.

Thread: As the occupation of downtown Ottawa ends, I want to share some info that didn’t make it in my official reporting. Much of my focus has been on the Coventry logistics camp.
1) because it’s relatively close to my home
2) I was intrigued after I saw this on my 1st visit The man in the video is an Afghanistan veteran. After seeing how he was walking around -I wondered how much military expertise was involved. I was also getting sent names of anti-vax officers who were participating. That lead to this article cbc.ca/amp/1.6345854

The tents are coming down at Coventry Here is retired Windsor district fire chief Winton Marchant. He called me “fake news” but agreed to an interview. We were cordial.

I’m at Coventry Road supply camp. Protesters are tearing down as they just heard that police are coming here. There is confusion because even as people tear down, other supporters are coming into the camp asking for instructions on how to get downtown to support protesters

Before this massive show of force, policing this occupation was costing $800,000 a day. That was before the huge influx of officers we’ve seen these past two days.
So on day 22- that’s at least $17.6 million dollars. Former police board member @MeehanCarolAnne : Why were trucks allowed downtown in the first place? We’re going to have to question the intelligence former police chief received.

As police escalate their numbers in the downtown- they so far don’t have a presence at the supply camp on Coventry Rd- near the baseball stadium. There are families with children staying at this site. Thread on what’s there… There are several large tents. One houses a large dining space equipped with half a dozen bbqs. There are volunteer cooks

Ottawa Police weren’t allowed inside the Coventry logistics central camp to hand out warning flyers about imminent arrests if protestors don’t leave. Here’s how it went down around 2pm.
“This is not illegitimate” I was invited in by some protesters and asked if I wanted lunch and coffee. Fajitas were on the menu. Protesters didn’t seem worried about the police warnings

This is Ken Labrosse. He led a 6km long convoy of vehicles from Sudbury to Ottawa. He’s been here since the start of the occupation. Labrosse says he does not recognize the legitimacy of the warning flyers Ottawa Police handed out. Ken Labrosse who led the convoy from Sudbury, has been here from the start and doesn’t plan to leave. He describes how unified the protesters have been.