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Conservative MPs have questioned in the House of Representatives whether the liberal government has allowed illegal surveillance of protesters
Publication date:
May 16, 2022 • 10 hours ago • 3 minutes reading This satellite image taken by Maxar Technologies shows the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa in January 2022. Photo by Maxar Technologies via Storyful / Storyful News & Weather YouTube
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Canadian special forces operated a plane equipped with surveillance equipment over protests in central Ottawa, despite a military directive that was supposed to ban such activities.
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The January 27 directive stipulates that vehicles and personnel of the Canadian forces must avoid the protest in Ottawa, and Royal Canadian Air Force planes must not fly over the Freedom Convoy demonstration.
But Canadian special forces leaders have argued that they do not need to follow the military directive, as the surveillance aircraft they use is owned by a private defense contractor.
“The improvements provided by the RCAF through this directive do not apply to those training activities that have been agreed outside the RCAF,” national defense spokesman Dan Le Butilier confirmed to the newspaper.
The US-registered King Air aircraft flew in the air over Ottawa on January 28, January 29, February 3, February 10 and February 11, according to data collected by Stephen Watkins, an Ottawa researcher who tracks the movements of ships and aircraft.
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Watkins said the plane could fly anywhere in the Ottawa region if the situation required only regular training. But instead, the plane has participated in specific flight models showing ground surveillance, he said.
The flights became controversial, with conservative lawmakers raising questions in the House of Commons as to whether the Liberal government had allowed illegal surveillance of protesters.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that the flights were part of military training, but said the plane was not involved in monitoring the protesters. He said the Conservatives’ questions were “dangerously close to misinformation and misinformation”.
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When questions about the flights were first asked, the National Defense tried to avoid contact with the plane. The department then acknowledged that the flights were part of military training, including intelligence gathering and surveillance equipment.
It was only after military sources revealed that the plane was being flown by Canadian special forces that the national defense recognized the connection.
Following the publication of an article in this newspaper, other sources appeared, providing details of the January 27 RCAF directive, which bans military flights over protests in Ottawa.
Le Butilier said that the directive “was issued to reduce the risk of generating a false impression of the activities, personnel and presence of the CAF (Canadian Armed Forces) related to the internal event at the time.”
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“The Canadian Armed Forces regrets the timing of the CAF’s pre-planned training flight, which was not related to the internal event but took place at the same time,” Le Butillet added.
Protesters occupied downtown Ottawa, urging the government to remove rules designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But other protesters also called for the overthrow of the Canadian government.
The Canadian Special Forces conducted the training in preparation for obtaining its own King Air aircraft equipped with surveillance equipment.
These aircraft, the first to be delivered in the summer, will give the Canadian military the ability to collect data on missions abroad and at home. Modified small passenger aircraft are equipped with surveillance equipment that allows interception of calls on mobile phones, radio and other communications. Electro-optical sensors will also allow crews on board the plane to track the movement of people and vehicles on the ground, the Canadian military said. Canadian special forces had access to similar planes in Afghanistan to track and direct insurgents.
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The new surveillance aircraft will be based at CFB Trenton, Ont.
Canada paid the US government $ 188 million for the plane. The total cost of the project is estimated to cost taxpayers $ 247 million.
The US military operates similar surveillance aircraft.
A contract to maintain the new aircraft was awarded to a team consisting of General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada of Ottawa and Voyageur Aviation Corporation of North Bay.
Canadian Special Forces conducted other training to prepare for the arrival of new surveillance aircraft. In October, members of the Canadian Special Operations Command left for the United States to work with the country’s special forces to develop tactics and procedures for use with aircraft.
In 2019, US Special Forces officers were in Ottawa and Petawava, conducting similar training. In mid-November of that year, members of the 427th Special Operations Air Squadron and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment based in Petawawa conducted an exercise backed by a US plane. The American plane was flying from Ottawa airport, and the flights were made between Petawawa and Mansfield and Pontefract, Quebec, according to the Canadian military.
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