The mayor of a southern Alberta town where a protest against COVID-19 restrictions shut down lanes of traffic in the U.S. last winter believed then-Premier Jason Kenney was ignoring the gravity of the situation , according to texts obtained by the investigation of the Law of Emergencies.
A text chain between Coutts Mayor Jim Willett and Alberta Transport Minister at the time Rajan Sawhney was released as part of the Public Order Emergency Commission.
The commission is investigating the federal government’s decision last winter to invoke the Emergency Act to deter protesters at border crossings and clear crowds in Ottawa, where protesters blocked the city center for weeks.
“If you get a chance, could you find out why the Prime Minister is ignoring the province being held hostage by domestic terrorists? And why hasn’t he labeled it as such? My rant of the day,” Willett wrote to Sawhney on February 12, in reference to Kenney.
Under cross-examination Wednesday, Willett said the protesters were blocking a commercial route.
Coutts Mayor Jim Willett exchanged texts with an Alberta cabinet minister in which he accused then-premier Jason Kenney of “ignoring that the province was being held hostage by domestic terrorists.” (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
“When I looked up the definition of a domestic terrorist, these people seemed to fit that bill, and yet no one labeled them as such,” he said.
“They were causing harm to the country.”
Before February 12, Kenney had publicly denounced the blockade near Coutts, Alta. — a town of about 224 people — where large trucks and other vehicles blocked commercial traffic there from the US between January 29 and February 14. On February 11, Kenney said it would be the responsibility of the RCMP to enforce the law at the roadblock.
Willett said he believes Sawhney was willing to talk to the protesters, but she told him “the boss won’t clean it up.”
The mayor told the commission during a September interview that he had a call with Kenney on Feb. 4.
He also said he had a call with the federal government — a virtual meeting with federal Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault on Feb. 2 about an unrelated matter.
“Overall, Mayor Willett says he didn’t get the kind of support he expected from the provincial and federal governments,” said a summary of that interview.
Willett says the RCMP was caught off guard
Willett said he believes the RCMP, which is Alberta’s provincial police force, had planned a slow protest but didn’t fully appreciate the threats circulating online to block the road.
On January 29, a convoy of trucks moved to block the access road to the border, the only 24-hour crossing in the province.
“When the trucks entered the median and across both lanes of traffic in both directions, it became apparent that no one was in control,” he said.
“Nothing happened other than turning on lights and talking to the guys, and it stopped and that was it.”
LOOK | “No one was in control,” the Coutts, Alta., mayor says of the lockdown
“No one was in control,” the Coutts, Alta., mayor says of the lockdown
Jim Willet, the mayor of Coutts, Alta., testified at the inquiry into the use of the Emergency Act. He says the RCMP was caught off guard by the lockdown in his town.
In an interview with the commission in September, Willett said it was his opinion that advance warning of an attempted blockade should have been enough to convince the RCMP to put up a stronger show of force from the start .
Mounties attended a city council meeting on Feb. 8 to address residents’ concerns and explain their transit plan.
Willett said the RCMP told the council their response amounted to “building the plane while you fly it.”
The mayor stated that since then he has learned more about what was going on behind the scenes and is less critical of the mountains.
“The RCMP handled themselves very well and I’m glad it’s over,” he said.
“He cheated on me and I found out”
On February 14, the federal government invoked the Emergency Act, which allowed temporary powers to manage ongoing lockdowns and protests against pandemic restrictions.
Earlier that same day, the RCMP executed search warrants at Coutts, arresting more than a dozen protesters and seizing a cache of weapons, body armor and ammunition.
Protesters at the border crossing near Coutts, Alta., walk past the Milk River roadblock site on Highway 4 on Feb. 15, 2022, as police officers look on. (CBC)
“The local lady arrested was very vocal at the council meeting Tuesday night and told everyone that they are all good people and can handle their own problems,” Willett wrote in a text to Sawhney on Feb. 14 .
“Beguiled and found out, I think the phrase is…!”
Four men arrested in the Coutts raid — Jerry Morin, Chris Lysak, Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick — are charged with the most serious charge in the protests: conspiracy to murder RCMP officers. All four men also face weapons and mischief charges.
Unsealed court documents show that when the charges were filedthe RCMP believed that Olienick, Carbert and Morin were part of a subgroup of protesters who were “arming themselves for a confrontation with the police.”
During his testimony, Willett said the Emergency Act didn’t have much of an impact on Coutts and it was the RCMP who put an end to the situation.
When the federal government invoked the Emergency Act, it cited the threat posed by the blockades at Coutts and elsewhere.
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Freeland says she is ‘delighted to have the opportunity’ to testify at the Emergency Act inquiry
After news that Ontario Premier Doug Ford may use parliamentary privilege to avoid testifying before the inquiry, Deputy Premier Chrystia Freeland says the right thing to do is to get involved so Canadians can understand what happened during the protests of the convoy
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland defended that decision during an unrelated news conference on Wednesday.
“What Canada faced earlier this year was a very serious challenge and threat to our national security and our economic security,” he said.
“It was a really big thing. I hope and I think it’s the kind of thing that only happens once in a generation, if that. I’m glad we got it done. That was big for Canada.”
In their opening day submissions to the Public Order Emergency Commission, lawyers for the Alberta government argued that the situation in Coutts was under control when Ottawa deployed the Emergency Act.
The protester says they wanted to meet with the government
Two Diagolon patches were found on body armor seized during the execution of RCMP search warrants on Coutts on February 14.
Some believe that the online community Diagolon is an American-style militia movement with white supremacist beliefs.
Diagolon founder Jeremy MacKenzie, who testified before the commission last week, has rejected those claims, arguing the move is an online prank created to troll the media.
A collection of weapons the RCMP said they seized during the Coutts raid. (RCMP)
Marco Van Huigenbos, a Fort MacLeod, Alta., councilman, told the commission Tuesday that he believes the weapons discovery tainted the movement.
“It became very clear to me that all the goals we wanted to achieve were no longer possible and our message had been lost,” he said.
Van Huigenbos, who called Chris Lysak “the biggest, gentlest giant,” said he felt the remaining protesters should distance themselves and leave the area.
LOOK | Coutts mayor emotional as he talks about the impact of the lockdown on the Alberta community
Coutts mayor emotional as he talks about the impact of the lockdown on the Alberta community
Jim Willett, the mayor of Coutts, Alta., was moved to tears as he described the effects the lockdown had on local residents, including increased anxiety and feelings of intimidation.
The councillor, who was charged with misdemeanors for his role in the Alberta blockade, also stated that he believed the blockades could have been resolved if the Kenney government had met with them.
“We were willing to sacrifice our own livelihood and more for the sake of contacting our governing body,” he said.
Coutts remains divided: Willett
Willett became emotional Wednesday as she described the impact of the lockdown on her community.
He said the majority of Coutts’ population is elderly and some residents found it intimidating to have to pass through the protest zone to travel to Milk River, a village 18 kilometers away, to access essential services.
He broke down before the commission as he described how an elderly woman curled up in a ball in the passenger seat as she drove through traffic jams on her way to doctor’s appointments.
Willett, who was the target of a death threat during the protest, said his town remains divided. He estimated that 70% supported the blockade and 30% disagreed.
“We still have neighbors who don’t talk to each other.”