Top Biden administration officials pressed their Canadian counterparts to clear truckers blockading parts of the USA’s northern border during protests in January.
A public inquiry into the Canadian government’s decision to make use of emergency powers to clear the “Freedom Convoy” protesters revealed on Thursday that frantic phone calls were placed by Washington to Ottawa in an effort to open up choked-off supply lines.
“They’re very, very, very anxious,” Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland wrote in an email to her staff after a Feb. 10 phone call from White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, based on Politico.
“If this isn’t sorted out in the following 12 hours, all of their northeastern automotive plants will shut down,” Freeland continued in her email.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg phoned his Canadian counterpart, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, the identical day Deese called Freeland, based on the report, and Buttigieg pressed Alghabra about Canada’s “plan to resolve” the protests.
Alghabra told the commission that Buttigieg initiated the decision and that the interaction was “unusual.”
Brian Clow, deputy chief of staff to Canada’s prime minister, also heard from White House aides, including National Security Council director Juan Gonzalez, who wanted to attach Canadian national security officials with the US Department of Homeland Security.
A phone call between President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took place the next day, on Feb. 11, where Trudeau conveyed to the commander-in-chief that Ottawa had a plan to finish the blockades.
In his call with Trudeau, Biden reportedly alluded to trucker convoys rumored to be threatening to disrupt the Super Bowl in Los Angeles and streets in Washington.
Freeland told staff in an email that the Deese wanted day by day updates on the protests which never materialized since the Emergencies Act was invoked three days after Trudeau’s call with Biden.
Freeland told Canadian investigators that she anxious Canada was “within the strategy of doing long-term and possibly irreparable harm to our trading relationship with the USA” and feared DC politicians “who would love any excuse to impose more protectionist measures on us.”
Border blockades in Manitoba and between Detroit and Windsor were cleared before the invocation of the Emergencies Act, the commission found.
The never-before-used Canadian law gave the federal government the ability to freeze bank accounts of protesters, ban travel to protest sites, and force trucks to tow vehicles blocking streets.
The commission is in search of to find out whether the federal government was justified in invoking the emergency powers.
The “Freedom Convoy” protesters were demonstrating against Canadian COVID vaccine mandates and restrictions.
Top Biden administration officials pressed their Canadian counterparts to clear truckers blockading parts of the USA’s northern border during protests in January.
A public inquiry into the Canadian government’s decision to make use of emergency powers to clear the “Freedom Convoy” protesters revealed on Thursday that frantic phone calls were placed by Washington to Ottawa in an effort to open up choked-off supply lines.
“They’re very, very, very anxious,” Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland wrote in an email to her staff after a Feb. 10 phone call from White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, based on Politico.
“If this isn’t sorted out in the following 12 hours, all of their northeastern automotive plants will shut down,” Freeland continued in her email.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg phoned his Canadian counterpart, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, the identical day Deese called Freeland, based on the report, and Buttigieg pressed Alghabra about Canada’s “plan to resolve” the protests.
Alghabra told the commission that Buttigieg initiated the decision and that the interaction was “unusual.”
Brian Clow, deputy chief of staff to Canada’s prime minister, also heard from White House aides, including National Security Council director Juan Gonzalez, who wanted to attach Canadian national security officials with the US Department of Homeland Security.
A phone call between President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took place the next day, on Feb. 11, where Trudeau conveyed to the commander-in-chief that Ottawa had a plan to finish the blockades.
In his call with Trudeau, Biden reportedly alluded to trucker convoys rumored to be threatening to disrupt the Super Bowl in Los Angeles and streets in Washington.
Freeland told staff in an email that the Deese wanted day by day updates on the protests which never materialized since the Emergencies Act was invoked three days after Trudeau’s call with Biden.
Freeland told Canadian investigators that she anxious Canada was “within the strategy of doing long-term and possibly irreparable harm to our trading relationship with the USA” and feared DC politicians “who would love any excuse to impose more protectionist measures on us.”
Border blockades in Manitoba and between Detroit and Windsor were cleared before the invocation of the Emergencies Act, the commission found.
The never-before-used Canadian law gave the federal government the ability to freeze bank accounts of protesters, ban travel to protest sites, and force trucks to tow vehicles blocking streets.
The commission is in search of to find out whether the federal government was justified in invoking the emergency powers.
The “Freedom Convoy” protesters were demonstrating against Canadian COVID vaccine mandates and restrictions.
