Officer Lets Slip MJPS Liaised With National Security Agency About Freedom Rally
By Robert Thomas
For local conspiracy theorists who insist the police monitored and did perhaps more locally when it came to last winter's trucker Freedom Rally your fears just got a major boost.
At Tuesday afternoon's special meeting of Council a member of the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) inadvertently let it slip the local boys in blue may have been watching you. But it appears to be part of their regular duties.
“We liaison with national security regarding events such as the Freedom Rally or similar gatherings. And then we liaison with intelligence agencies throughout the province,” Sergeant Chad Schesky said during describing the various duties the Criminal Investigative Service (CIS) to Council.
Sergeant Chad Schesky from the MJPS’s Criminal Investigation Service gave a run down on the unit to Council at Tuesday afternoon’s special Council meeting - MJ Independent photo
The small and innocuous statement was made as part of the Moose Jaw Police Service’s (MJPS) 2023 budget presentation to Council.
Schesky did not state whether or not the MJPS had in fact been gathering intelligence on local participants in the Freedom Rally but his presentation did state the CIS section had been able to do surveillance and collect intelligence on a number of activities in the community.
People waited for hours on January 24, 2022 to greet the convoy in their vehicles- MJ Independent file photo
The Freedom Rally was an event officially led by truckers who conveyed to Ottawa due to grievances they had with the federal government.
The Freedom Rally tied up Ottawa in the Parliament Hill and other areas for weeks. In response the Trudeau government invoked the Emergencies Act on February 14, 2022.
The Emergencies Act gives authorities extraordinary powers in the areas of civil liberties, property as well as the use of force, if necessary, during times of civil unrest or armed conflict.
The use of the Emergencies Act was highly controversial with supporters of the Freedom Rally stating it was heavy handed.
While some opponents of the Freedom Rally stating the move was necessary because the Rally was actually an attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government.
At the present time an inquiry, as required by law, is underway looking at the reasons and justifications for declaring the Emergencies Act.
It needs to be noted Moose Jaw is a hotbed of support for the Freedom Rally and at least three local secret events drawing hundreds of participants have been held locally.
MJ Independent was not invited to nor did we attend the events. We heard about them afterwards from attendees as well as other reliable sources.
EDITOR'S NOTE: MJ Independent knows of at least five local citizens who went to Ottawa and participated in the events there.
We hold no opinion on the Freedom Rally just people's rights to peaceful freedom of speech and as such will not be releasing the participants’ names.
During the large parts of the events in Ottawa the writer of this article was in Ukraine.