Daniel Bulford
Daniel Bulford spoke 384 times across 1 day of testimony.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir, I do.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that’s correct. And is it necessary that counsel speaks to the protection?
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Okay, thank you.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Okay, thank you.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you, Commissioner.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I joined the RCMP in August of 2006. I graduated from the Depot Training Academy January 2007. I was posted to Whitehorse, Yukon as a general duty constable for roughly four years. In December 2010, I transferred to Mayo, Yukon, a smaller, more remote community four hours north of Whitehorse. I was posted there for roughly two and a half years. And then I transferred to Ottawa where, for the remainder of my career, I was a full-time sniper observer on the National Division Emergency Response Team.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I spoke out publicly against the federal government vaccination mandate for COVID-19 vaccines and after speaking out publicly, my security clearance was revoked and I knew that I would be subject to disciplinary action. And after I reviewed what my options were in regards to that, I discovered that if I was terminated for misconduct, which I suspected would be the case, I could potentially lose roughly half of my pension transfer value, so I made the decision to resign out of fear that I would not be able to set my family up adequately financially in the future.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, sir, very much.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, the obvious beginning is that I felt it necessary to leave my 15-year career, which I was provided 15 dedicated years of service to the Mounted Police. I was not a complainer. I worked hard. I was passionate about my craft. I think I had a reputation of being a hard-working professional. Then beyond that, my -- my wife and I were no longer permitted access to public spaces that we as taxpaying Canadians were helping fund. And that prevented us from being involved in our children’s activities such as minor hockey, which we were both heavily involved in for a number of years, roughly six years. We couldn’t travel to see our family in northern Alberta, which, you know, living in the second-largest land mass country in the world, was problematic, so it’s roughly 40 hours of drive time. And we lost neighbours and friends who were perfectly fine to have relationships with us until the vaccine passport deadline kicked in, and then we were no longer worthy to speak to. And beyond that, there was a very heightened state of anxiety about how much further the situation in Canada would degenerate. And what I mean by that is that the dehumanization effort had begun, and that was in -- I believe that was in August of 2021 when the Prime Minister had initially announced the federal -- the impending federal vaccination mandate and then he was campaigning into September for his snap election. And he was making comments regarding ---
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Okay.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The ultimate problem was that the Canadian population was led to believe that people like myself and my family were a threat to other people and their children, which was not true, by his own admission in July of 2021 on camera.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I would say that’s accurate, but -- and in general, the COVID measures that were resulting in a segregation of our society. So not just the mandate, but the passport as well.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
At least one week prior to its arrival in Ottawa. Probably before that. Saw circulating videos on social media about its growing size and travel across Canada.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
So initially, I was supposed to work in a volunteer security capacity for a number of the doctors that were speaking out against the COVID-19 health measures and vaccinations because they had received a number of threats. So myself and a number of other individuals with similar training in close protection were going to be providing a volunteer security service to them.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That was through Taking Back Our Freedoms.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
George Bears.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. So I was -- it was the -- I believe it was the night of January 25th, I was called by a personal friend asking for help with volunteer security for Adopt A Trucker. So I met with the Adopt A Trucker volunteers the following morning with Mr. Chris Garrah was there. That was the first time I’d ever encountered him. And based on what I saw from this small group of volunteers that had very little time to prepare for this major, major event that was about to land in Ottawa, I felt that I could be better put to you in assisting them and I could pass off the doctor security role to others.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, that -- so that was the role that I passed off to others.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The title would be volunteer security coordinator, and then I ended up becoming a police liaison as well.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That day, January 26th.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I was not. There was -- we were getting varied numbers from circulating social media, you know, anywhere between 10,000 vehicles upwards of 50,000 vehicles. I had no idea of an accurate number.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
At that time, my understanding was that the convoy intended to come to Ottawa and stay until mandates were lifted.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I ---
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I had communication regularly with the Ottawa Police Service, the Parliamentary Protective Service, the OPP, and the RCMP.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, there was a tremendous amount of information coming into me on any given day. And so what I viewed -- my primary function, what I spent the majority of my time doing, was triaging information that could have been any type of threat to public safety, anything that I felt had any kind of credibility or something that could -- was beyond my scope to verify, I would forward to that to the police -- all the different police liaisons I was connecting with.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, that’s correct. So there was a number of us volunteers that had worked in first- responder type jobs -- you know, police, paramedic, some -- a lot of firefighters from outside of the City of Ottawa -- and what we did was we tried to establish an incident command system -- like a network and a model -- an incident command model so that it was easily identifiable who was responsible for what so that it would make our communication more efficient and just to overall streamline our day-to-day operations.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, Vincent, he came to the Swiss Hotel very early on and we connected. And what eventually -- so he -- my apologies. He came to the Swiss. He was there for the first weekend, maybe, not a very long period of time. He returned home. And then he came to Ottawa, at which time, when he asked me what he could do, I asked him if he could go over to the Arc Hotel and support them.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Cst. Isabelle Cyr-Pidcock of the Ottawa Police Service.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I called her on the 26th.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, I contacted her. I gave a brief description of who I was and what I was going to be doing in support of the convoy. Mr. Garrah had advised me that he had already been in communication with her and that we were expecting a map package from the Ottawa City Police as to where the trucks were supposed to enter into the city and where they were supposed to park and stage.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
We may have discussed that on the phone call but it was definitely -- there was specific instructions delivered within the map package that she did end up sending me on the 27th of January.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I believe so.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I emailed this map package to Tamara Lich with the understanding that they would be receiving a briefing in Arnprior the night before entering the city.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, Ms. Lich had contacted me prior to the convoy arriving in Ottawa, not in regards to this but for support with monitoring and responding to social media, which I said that I agreed that the Mounties for Freedom could help her with. And I so forwarded that -- her contact information off to -- we had a social media committee at the time and then -- so I was already aware that she was -- like, I would call -- describe her as “the face of the convoy” and so that’s who I communicated the map package to.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
These are the entrance routes for the various convoys that were approaching from different directions and where they would be directed to enter the city and where to park.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Exactly what it says.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Ottawa Police Service.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was in the Swiss Hotel.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did see, when I would do a -- let’s refer to it as a perimeter walk -- that the only place that I ever observed that the emergency lanes were blocked was for roughly, I would estimate, two, maybe three blocks north and south on Kent Street.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's all I recall.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
My -- I apologise. Perhaps at Rideau and Sussex as well.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
As referenced in this document?
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That was the initial website domain that Mr. Garrah was operating Adopt-A-Trucker through.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. I don't recall reaching out to the OPP that early, I could be mistaken, but I definitely reached out to Ottawa Police Service, PPS, and the RCMP. And when it references the NCRCC, that's a Command Centre that was at my old building of work ---
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- and so the specific person I reached out to from the RCMP I believed to be working out of that location.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Constable Chris Angel.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Constable Émilie Gosselin (ph).
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I believe so. And perhaps by that time I already had learned of Constable Paul Askin from the Ottawa Police Service as well.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I've worked many of these large events in the NCR over my career, and consistently the biggest concern from a protective policing standpoint was always the potential for a lone wolf or a small group when you have a large crowd of people coming together, like a similar event like a Canada Day or a Remembrance Day. That was one of our primary function from my old unit was to be in positions where we could observe anything of a suspicious nature that could potentially become a lone actor or a small group attack.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Sergeant Frost?
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The OPS, Ottawa Police sergeant?
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That was a man by the name of Pat -- Sergeant Pat Frost.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
So that would've been very early in the morning I received a call from some of the truckers down at the intersection of Booth and Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway. They were frustrated that they had been blocked from continuing further up onto Wellington, like up towards the Supreme Court. And so I went down just to see what would be possible, and while I was there, I ended up speaking with two of the young -- one of the officers was a younger man, and I spoke to those officers asking if it would be possible to have some of the trucks that were extended along Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway to condense closer to the, I would call it the main body of the convoy parked on Wellington at Parliament, and -- because there was a large gap. If I recall correctly, there was a large gap kind of around the Supreme Court of Canada all the way down the hillside of Wellington and then extending west ---
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- to the Booth and SJAM. And so they -- those officers got me into contact with Sergeant Pat Frost, and so I met with him at the Ottawa Police Headquarters, and I -- we drove around Downtown Ottawa together. And he relayed to me that he had managed a large tractor protest in the City of Ottawa before, and so he -- we were touring around the downtown core trying to determine what potential locations trucks could be brought in closer to Parliament, and you know, establishing what was a hard no-go, you know, like such as primary bus routes and emergency lanes.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I didn't get out of the Swiss Hotel very much those first initial days, but when I finally did it was the largest event I have ever observed in Downtown Ottawa in my time here.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, it was a -- I'd say it was a very festive atmosphere. People were very emotional. Hugs all over the place. There was -- the stage, the crane stage truck had already been established up at the intersection of Metcalfe and Wellington by the time I got out for the very first time to go actually see it for myself. And so that's where I went, and it was incredible. The crowd was humongous and people... If I recall correctly, the first time I got out was to actually go make a speech on the stage truck, and it was a very overwhelming emotional experience because I felt that there was a sense of hope that Canada wouldn't go to a very dark place.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It -- well, I know that I included some of those remarks in my speech, that prior to that convoy I was ready to leave the country. I was -- my wife and I had discussed that at length, moving somewhere where we would be, well, treated as an equal citizen, and especially for the future of our children, and that seeing the convoy and the rallying of support behind it all across Canada restored my faith in Canadians, that they weren’t just going to let Canada degenerate further.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did. I gave a thank you to the first responders and I even kind of tipped my hat slightly to some of my old colleagues that were up on the roof of the Parliament buildings doing overwatch, you know, saying that I know a lot of these people, they’re good people and they’re here to protect us, too. There was a great deal of mistrust of the police and -- and I reminded everyone or advocated for everyone to remain lawful -- peaceful and lawful at all times so that the government and the media could not label us with similar derogatory terms that they already had.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, I tried to document as much as I could.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Okay.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, I don’t recall if I called the police. I think people that were present at the stage truck at the time called the police.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Just to bring down the overall anxiety level of the protestors. In my mind, Ottawa residents have seen that type of police presence probably on a regular basis at large-scale events, but a lot of these people that travelled to Ottawa have likely never been here before and likely never participated in an event of this magnitude. So I just wanted everyone to understand that when you have a massive crowd such as this come to the National Capital Region for a large event, it’s normal to have multiple police agencies involved, it’s normal to have specialized units moving around in more tactical-looking clothing, and it’s normal to have snipers on rooftops because that was something that a lot of people were really panicked about. They were nervous about the presence of snipers being the roof and, that being my old job, I was able to speak to people and keep the -- you know, keep them calm. Like it’s totally normal. Don’t panic. That’s what happens here all the time.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
My understanding is that the truck captains had already put that into place even the day before, if not no -- if not that day, the day before. That’s what was communicated to myself, and this was the one and only complaint I ever received about it.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, there was -- the injunction came into place as well, which definitely impacted the horn honking. And I would -- I would say in my opinion, it reduced it even further.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I would go back partially to my concern about a lone wolf or small cell that could potentially try and leverage the large crowd for their own agenda, but I also -- I also had concerns because I’ve done overwatch at a number of protests and counter-protests in Ottawa, and I’ve seen with my own eyes how aggressive groups related to the Antifaa can be when they are much larger in numbers than the group that they’re counter-protesting against and how aggressive they can be overrunning the police line as well.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, people who were -- who would deliberately try to initiate a violent interaction with a Freedom Convoy protestor or maybe even someone who would try to infiltrate the crowd with a racist-type flag to try and bring discredit to the Freedom Convoy protest.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I do.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
So in the initial -- I would say close to initial two weeks, I thought that Chief Sloly was pretty fair in his remarks regarding the convoy, you know, understanding his position as the Chief of Police of the City of Ottawa, but I thought that he was pretty unbiased. And then after the -- I think it was a Council meeting or a Police Services Board meeting, there was a lot of rhetoric regarding the Freedom Convoy protesters’ allegations of being extremists, insurrectionists, I believe even the term, “Domestic terrorism” may have been thrown around. And I noticed at that time, that was -- that also coincided with a lot of that same rhetoric from the legacy media, and, you know, we’d already heard and seen the Prime Minister using similar language. And so I felt that that was -- that was definitely heightening the anxiety of the overall crowd, the fear that they were going to be labelled such and dealt with as such by law enforcement because they were under so much pressure from the -- from the different levels of government. And there was also -- I believe that was right around the same time that there was also -- they were being denied access to service, some of the portable toilets. So, I mean, you’re denying people their basic sanitation needs. And there was also information beginning to circulate about the involvement of CAS, or Children’s Aid Society, I believe is what that stands for. And that, to me, was -- that was a clear red flag to me that if you are deliberately trying to provoke people to take action, if you make them believe that you’re going to take their kids away, that’s going to elicit a very strong emotional response, and I believe that that was deliberately done in order to bully the Freedom Convoy protesters.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe there was a mistake. I did not prepare these daily security briefings, like, a document.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That was another individual. But, I mean, these are some of my -- some of the actions that I took place in and in the conversations that I took place in.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
He is an OPP liaison officer.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t recall speaking to Cst. Wierzbicki about that, no.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I had heard about it, and I think I may have seen it circulating online ahead of the convoy. The first time I ever actually read it was just last week.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. I walked through that intersection multiple times daily, at least probably twice a day when I would go out for a foot patrol and when I would come back.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, they were primarily made up of Quebecois truckers, but then there was also -- like other witnesses have testified, there was also, like, a Polish or Eastern European contingent. And I actually encountered a Cuban Canadian who spoke to me at length about how he felt strongly about being there to support the convoy because he had lived through Communism and that Canadians could not give up their freedoms.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I was not.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, on weekends they would have a stage and music, and they would have, like, a nightly dance party, definitely on the Friday and the Saturday night, typically, is what I recall.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
There was a lot of -- a lot of different food tents and barbeques; people were cooking and preparing food in clumps of people.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I do.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I never had any active duty officers leaking me any sensitive information. I did have a number of police officers, former police officers, former military that were helping me with some of those different security tasks, and there was -- I’m not exactly certain of the number but there was officers that were on leave for various reasons, whether it be the mandates or their own personal reasons -- I didn’t ask; it wasn’t my business -- that were also helping with some of the security tasks that I was coordinating.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
In general, yes. There might have been -- there might have been the odd day where there was no communication. I know communication with the Ottawa Police Service liaison teams kind of -- I recall it reducing near the end, like, especially after the Emergencies Act had been invoked, but, from my recollection, the OPP was fairly regularly engaged.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I think they were overwhelmed by the size of the convoy. I think that I actually had -- the young officer that I spoke to that -- early in the convoy, down at Booth and Sir John A. Macdonald, he actually said to me, “I can’t believe the size of this.” Something to this effect, “I can’t believe the size of this. We’re totally unprepared for something this size.” And I kind of laughed and I said, “Well, you guys have to stop listening to the CBC for intelligence.” And that was kind of the end of that interaction. But -- because if you had been paying attention to open source, like any kind of social media, it was obvious that this was a huge event that was about to land in Ottawa. But coming back to how effective they were, I have no complaints about dealing with them, but I don’t think it was ever really -- I never really felt as though there was any kind of a negotiation taking place. It was just my means to communicate with the police because we would try and do -- we would try and get simple returns from the police liaisons, like, something as simple as like, "Could we possibly get access to this location so we could drop some portable toilets?" And we were getting shut down almost all the time. The only time I ever remember having any success with that was after I had expressed my displeasure about the psychological operation that was being conducted when I had that discussion with OPP Wierzbicki.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I did.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I anticipated that at the very least, he was asking for a large number because this could be a sustained event and members would obviously need to be cycled out for sustainment, and likely, that they were preparing for a mass mobilization.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I mean, we had discussions about it. I don’t -- it didn’t change what my role was. My task was to just continue trying to keep things as safe as possible.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was made aware of that after the fact.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I did not. I believe we had -- we've already seen an email that was forwarded to me by Ms. Lich ---
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- during her testimony, and that was the only time I'd ever seen anything from Windsor, and that -- I didn’t even open that until well after the Ottawa convoy had been dismantled.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
None.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe the day that it was officially announced by the federal government.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think there was discussions, people wondering if it would be, and my thought process was that -- well, I wasn’t going -- I would not have -- be surprised if it was because the City had declared a state of emergency, the province had declared one. To me, it would not surprise me in the least if the next logical step was the federal government.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I do.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
He is one of the members of the steering committee for the group, "Veterans for Freedom". He's a combat veteran.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. We had received a briefing from the legal team that based on, I believe it's Justice McLean's ruling, that as long as people did not come to Ottawa to engage in violence, disrupt trade, or block critical infrastructure, we still fell within the confines of a lawful protest.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I was working with the media relations people from early on. I think my -- like you mentioned that my first press conference that I attended was on February 3rd, and so I did a number of press conference events during my time with the convoy.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Perhaps I was naively hoping that my brothers and sisters in law enforcement would see the truth on the ground as opposed to what the government and the media was saying, and that they would take a historic opportunity to stand up for our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, because at that time, like I said, I still had faith that frontline members would do the right thing.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that’s correct. I -- she advised me that she had received a text message from one of our neighbours that the news was reporting that the police were looking for me to arrest me.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, I believe that’s accurate.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I was.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, after the press conference and my wife showed me the text message from our neighbour, I left the Lord Elgin Hotel, I walked down to Rideau and Sussex where I knew that the police action had already begun. Initially, I encountered the Sûreté du Québec. No one would respond to me. So then I realized that there was RCMP, a line of RCMP officers over closer to the Senate or the old train station, and so I walked over to them. I approached the line. I presented myself and I said I -- something to the effect of, "I hear that you're looking for me to arrest me. Is that true?" And then I was arrested for mischief.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I was not.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, they were.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
To my recollection, we realized that our bank accounts were frozen, so two different banks and a primary credit card. I realized -- I think we -- how I recall it going was that accessing online banking with our primary bank and it was just like a blank dash where the account balance would normally be. And then I believe my wife confirmed with the other bank. I attempted to use the credit card and it was declined and my wife spoke to a banking professional, a friend of ours, to ask if, with our accounts frozen, would our mortgage and automatic withdrawals still be paid, and we were advised that it would not be. And so I would say, roughly, a period of five to six days, we were completely dependent on what cash we had.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe it was -- my accounts were unfrozen on the Tuesday, the 22nd or the 23rd of February when the -- after the Emergencies Act had been revoked.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I -- I believe I realized they were frozen on the 17th, and then I think that was the Thursday. I didn’t receive any kind of notification about it until, I think, the bank -- one bank called me and left a voicemail on the Saturday and then it was unfrozen after the Emergencies Act was revoked.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, fortunately, we didn’t have a whole pile of expenses that we had to incur during those days, but we had some help from some family.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
If I may add one thing about the accounts being frozen ---
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- I was never notified by the police that my accounts were frozen. Contrary to what was said to Parliament by the RCMP when they testified in Committee.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Good afternoon, sir.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think they desired to be, yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I would say that’s accurate. I do recall -- I do recall a -- you know, when there was attempts to negotiate, occasionally receiving the reply to be, like, that was their decision to make.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir, I prepared that myself.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I did.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I did not.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
My dad was a police officer for 38 years. Both of my older brothers were police officers. Obviously, I was. And there’s only one of us remaining but the -- my hometown in Alberta referred to us as the “Bezanson Blue Bloods”.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Can you refresh on the dates that you’re referring to?
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
M’hm.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Okay.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I often reported to the Ottawa Police, the various police agencies, anything that came to my attention that I believed to be criminal or a public safety concern. And I believe that the majority of those arrests and charges happened during the dismantle operation of the protest, a significant chunk of which I was in custody.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
February 18th.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, sir, that's not my job to handle the call volume that the Ottawa Police receives. And there's a lot of allegations that I've heard during testimony at this Inquiry that I haven't -- I have no knowledge or have not seen any real evidence of. I'm not suggesting that it's not possible, but people were not calling me to report criminal offences to the police.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I heard their evidence.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I wouldn't characterise what they were saying as trivial, but again I have come to the point where I am not going to believe anything until I see actual evidence of it.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I sincerely hope it's still functioning the way it is intended, yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Could you specify the by-laws?
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, again, sir, it's not my profession to enforce by-laws in the City of Ottawa.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
What type of confidential information are you referring ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct. You mean like as it relates to information I learned during my time as a police officer?
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Like under the -- if I was to disclose something confidential as a -- as an active serving police officer that would be an offence under the RCMP Code of Conduct?
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I would agree with that, yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I -- I'm not entirely certain. I would assume you're probably accurate, but I didn't fall under the Police Services Act.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, probably.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I will be 100 percent clear. At no time did I receive sensitive information from an active duty Ottawa Police officer.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I expect I would.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think it's fair to say that the Ottawa Police would not condone that.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that's correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't think it's an example of inflammatory rhetoric, I think it's absolutely factually true.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
And that I was trying to elicit a response from Detective Benson ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- because he, as a homicide detective, should be investigating something of that nature.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I do.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I would agree with that, and I think to add context to the answer, is that I believe in my statement I outlined why I believed that occurred.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I can’t -- I don’t feel I'm qualified to speak to that for a major Public Order operation such as what occurred. My typical experience with an arrest plan was in a much smaller context and it was very simple.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I had hoped so.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I had hoped that they would see through the false narrative and stand up for us and do what was right and protect us.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The federal vaccine mandate.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I was.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, that’s my lived experience with the RCMP, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don't recall. It may have been. It may have come up and at that time I didn’t have an accurate timeline.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That was my impression, yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Potentially.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I would say that’s accurate, yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Based on my experience doing overwatch on Canada Day and seeing the large crowds, especially like, let’s say, Canada Day 150 where it was probably the biggest I had seen -- I would have estimated the crowds in downtown Ottawa on Parliament Hill, Wellington, that general vicinity ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- I would have estimated close to 100,000.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I can’t say. Well, I doubt very much that they would record it false deliberately.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I thought about that. The trucks do take up a lot of space. But the crowd even between the trucks was jam packed from the Supreme Court almost all the way to the Chateau Laurier. And I don’t recall seeing that before. I recall seeing large crowds moving around Parliament Hill, along Wellington, into the Byward Market. But those numbers encompass a much large geographic area than what I'm referring to.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe so.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I didn’t have time, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I seem to recall them being restricted to weekends. But I could be mistaken.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No. Like, you mean, active officers?
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I understand.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I can’t say for certain. But all of the officers that were supporting me in a security context were either off work for their own personal reasons ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- or they had left their service.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
They had made a similar decision to me and had decided to leave policing.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
A dozen.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Possible.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t know, sir. But you have to remember, it wasn’t just -- it was people from all across Canada, from multiple multiple agents. Like, they had worked for multiple agencies. It wasn’t just one service.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I would say so.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, but not threats from within the convoy protest. Most of the -- anything that I was receiving that was information of a public safety concern was typically someone who was committing a criminal act or potentially a criminal act against the protest.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
There was one or two instances where there were some vehicles that people had reported that they were kind of presenting the idea of blocking the intersections.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
And those instances were reported to me by convoy protesters which then I passed on to the police because we were trying to act within the confines of we do not want to block all of the intersections.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Ms. Lich did end up getting a former military member to provide some security for her ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- because she had received a number of death threats.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Other than that, the only people that were really receiving, like, a close protection detail, if you want to call it that ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- were the doctors and former Premier Peckford when he was in town.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Because especially three of the doctors in particular had received a number of death -- or a number of harassing -- or they had been subject to harassment and a number of threats themselves.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
There was -- there was fractures within the -- within, I would say, the freedom movement. Maybe not just specific to Ottawa, but even ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- people -- I found that the people who were the biggest critics of people like Ms. Lich were people who were not here presently in Ottawa.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not that I recall.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, my impression was that she was being -- receiving threats from people that were opposed to the convoy being in Ottawa.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t have any information or evidence to support that, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
In my past career, yeah.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It could be potential, yes, but I didn’t have -- I didn’t have any intelligence or evidence to support that notion other than the fact that, yeah, she was - - she was the face of the convoy. They had raised a substantial amount of money. But my experience when you’ve seen Ms. Lich in public, people loved her.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir, I was not aware of that.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
From the convoy?
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Honestly, no. I don’t -- I don’t recall information about fuel providers being threatened.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The first time I heard of it was from the police witnesses at this inquiry.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Like a physical threat?
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Mr. King came to the Swiss Hotel one evening angry and he ended up in a verbal altercation with Mr. -- with Chad Eros, I believe. I didn’t learn about that until the following day. I was not there when that occurred.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t know who he had with him.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
But Mr. King is a large man himself.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was not aware of that. I did -- I did learn that I believe the RCMP may have been providing security for some of those reporters. I saw one video just recently, like in the last two weeks, where I think Mr. McGregor -- people were yelling in the background while he was trying to give a broadcast, but ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- that was the first I’d ever seen of that.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not -- I was not aware of that until you just said it.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not -- I was not aware of that either.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, not that I recall.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I remember ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- some ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- mainstream reporters approaching me the night that Ms. Lich was arrested when we were standing up by the stage truck and they were trying to ask for interviews and I just declined. But I don’t recall anyone being threatening towards them at all.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I do.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I would definitely -- I would definitely say CBC, CTV, Global, you’re accurate in that.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Post Media I’m not -- not so much, but also, I would throw in the Toronto Star is probably the worst offender, in my opinion.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, it’s been my experience, Mr. Champ, that they’ve been reporting very similar to each other for the last -- at least the last two years.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I didn’t really have time to watch them that much, sir. I did review a few articles that people would send me. Like for instance, the article detailing one of the local Ottawa residents who had been arrested early on in the convoy for carrying weapons in a public place.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
And they wrote the article. I believe I saw it in the Toronto Star and CBC.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, it’s the -- it’s another name for the mainstream media.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
The big outlets that have a -- that seem to have -- I don’t know if you’d call it a monopoly, but they dominate the television ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- right.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I did not say all journalists do.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I can’t say that. I can’t say that all journalists do. But I’ve seen many concerning remarks come from the legacy media, yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I suspect that’s the case.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I did see a photograph of a gentleman who I know to be a photographer that follows Mr. Trudeau around on a regular basis taking a close-up shot of a gentleman carrying a Confederate flag.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It appeared staged to me.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Not that I was aware of. The video -- I seen the video of a masked man like wearing a winter Balaklava walking through the crowd with a Confederate flag and the video that I saw was a number of protestors telling him to get out of there ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- because he wasn’t welcome and they didn’t want that type of -- they didn’t want that type of symbol being associated to the convoy.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Sir, I don’t know what beliefs all of the people that came to Ottawa hold, and I don’t know what they have in their possession. That would be purely speculation on my part.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Initially, yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Normally, yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Two times.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Two times.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah. Well, I wouldn't say a number, but less than a handful, probably.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I was -- I would say that I am aware of how a typical deployment or a mobilization would look for a large-scale event, but I never worked on a Public Order Unit.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Somewhat, yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I -- yeah, I have some exposure to that.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I think it's fairly basic for something such as what happened in Ottawa, but maybe not basic is the right term, but it's no surprise to me that people would be surveilled and that they would try and that they would try and learn who -- who's a person identified as a face of the convoy. And -- but predominately, most of the events that take place, you mobilize resources for a worst-case scenario, but the vast majority of the time, nothing happens.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that’s common.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, yes, sir. I think the RCMP has been under-resourced for pretty much my entire career as far as back as I can remember, likely before. And I think that’s almost -- like, we've heard from other police witnesses that’s pretty much a universal in policing.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I don’t agree with that. This was -- I don't know. My involvement with these large-scale events was very compartmentalized to my role on the Emergency Response Team.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I don’t -- I wouldn't consider it touting, but I tried to explain who I was, what my7 experience was, so that I can try and reduce people's anxiety about the heavy police presence that they were seeing in Ottawa.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I would agree that any time you have a large event where there's a large crowd of people, there's the primary concern from the police standpoint would be a mass casualty attack.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, I would agree with that.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, yeah. I mean, my role with volunteering with Adopt a Trucker was in direct support of the Freedom Convoy.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No. Like I said, the first time I read it was last week.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I heard that he was. The first time I ever seen him was here at this inquiry.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I also had no idea who the Farfadaas was or what that was until after I read about Mr. Charland's arrest out at -- near Vankleek Hill after the convoy had been dismantled.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I did have an interaction with some of her supporters.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, absolutely not.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I believe that there was two men identified as potentially belonging to an outlaw motorcycle gang in the crowd early on. I don’t recall ever seeing them or hearing of them again. And again, I -- that’s a bit of an assumption on my part because I don’t specifically have any knowledge of that particular group.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I saw a photograph of them.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, there was the aggressive male up at the stage truck. I don’t recall other fights beyond that ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- other than the one instance where a male pulled a crowbar out of his car ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah. I think it could have become one but we were able to move people away and de-escalate the situation.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I would just like to add, based on my experience in policing, especially my time as a general duty officer, I suspect that Mr. -- the man who presented himself as “Black Buffalo” was suffering from some mental health issues.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I never dealt with those people. I received word while I was at the Swiss Hotel that that was occurring and so -- and the information that I received is that someone was pretending to be me and deputizing people. And so the people at the Swiss Hotel took photographs, and maybe even a video of me to have proof that I was currently at the Swiss and not falsely deputizing people at Coventry Road. And so I called one of the gentleman who was a point of contact at Coventry Road and asked him, “Was this taking place?” And he knew nothing about it but he was in -- I think he was in a tent or a shelter of some kind so I asked him if he could go outside and check. He went outside and checked and confirmed that there was nothing going on there. I did later end up questioned by the -- I think it was Ottawa Police questioned me about that and I relayed the same information I just said to you.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I don’t believe any of those instances resulted in any real violence.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I did.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct. Yes, that was -- I mean I would not have been involved if I didn’t think that was going to be the case.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, I don’t think we actually -- without any official authority of any kind -- you know, you’re not operating within a police organization or a military unit -- you’re trying to do the best you can as a bunch of civilian volunteers ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- to make sure that people are all on board with the messaging, yeah.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I think we did a very good job considering the size of that convoy and the crowds that that protest generated.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, sir, honestly, my intention was never to try and exert control on people because I was no longer a person of any kind of authority in Canada.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
M’hm.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I don’t think any of us expected this to go on indefinitely, but my understanding was that we were trying to take pressure off the City of Ottawa and Chief Sloly ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- you know, with the negotiated deal that I learned about after the fact, and I was 100 percent on board with whatever negotiations that the truck captains could accomplish, and the legal team could accomplish with the police to prevent a massive takedown of the convoy occurring. I was in support of that.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I knew that that was a possibility. I didn’t know -- I didn’t -- like I said before, I had hoped that it wouldn’t come to that ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- and that -- honestly, sir, I was hoping that the police would stand up with us, which would then, basically, be a symbolic gesture for the federal government that what they were doing was no longer lawful in Canada and they weren’t going to have the police as their enforcement arm ---
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- to do anything that was unconstitutional, and unlawful, and not backed on evidence.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, I was. But it had happened in Ontario earlier in the declared pandemic when Premier Ford tried to exert more power and the police said, “No.”
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah. I mean, it was a joint effort but I mean, myself and a number of others were familiar with that system.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
And so it was brought to our attention that maybe we should set something like this up because the first -- that initial few days was absolute chaos.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir. I was not.
-
Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, Mr. Garrah was in charge of Adopt-A-Trucker and then my -- the overall -- if you want to call it Incident Commander volunteer was a former Ottawa paramedic.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I would say that’s accurate because our whole purpose of being there was to support the truckers. I mean, the whole initial mission was to provide food and shelter and transportation services to the protesters.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, sir.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, that was not something that we were interested in. I mean, the police were going to do what they were going to do and we were trusting them to do their job.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah, I was the volunteer security coordinator.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, it was myself, Tamara Lich, and the former Ottawa paramedic.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
To the best of my recollection, yes.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, it’s more nuanced than that because when I reviewed that document -- I know which one you're talking about; it had the red border outside of it. I read through the criteria and I don’t think any of us in that room with those liaison officers met the criteria laid out in that document from the OPS of people that were no longer permitted into the downtown.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes. I did.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, Mr. Benson contacted me by text message after Tamara Lich had been arrested.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, my belief that a definition of an occupation is usually like a foreign military has taken control of another country.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No, I don’t agree with that.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
M’hm.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I can’t say that for certain because Mr. Wilson spent -- the majority of the time Mr. Wilson was at the ARC Hotel and the majority of the time I was at the Swiss Hotel.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Good evening.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you very much.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, after the October 22nd, 2014 shooting at the War Memorial and Mr. Bibeau storming the Centre Block, there was a big review afterwards that took place because there was three different agencies that were responsible for security on Parliament Hill, and they were all amalgamated into the Parliamentary Protective Service so that they would have one cohesive unit for the precinct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, when I was working, I still believe they fell under the RCMP’s command but that may not be the case anymore. They may be completely independent now.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That’s correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That sounds accurate.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yeah.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, that's true.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
M'hm.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I can't say for certain. I've -- my -- all of my experience with the Parliamentary Protective Service is I've never seen anything political from them because they're limited in scope.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
M'hm.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, absolutely.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes, I do.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
It's the document that the OPP and two OPS liaisons brought to the Swiss Hotel.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I thought it was just reinforcing Justice McLean's decision that as long as we abided by those three conditions of no one coming to Ottawa to commit violence, do not block critical infrastructure, and do not disrupt trade we were still considered a lawful protest. And the people that they were delivering that message to, such as myself and the others, didn't fit into any of those categories that I am reading here.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
No.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
That's correct.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Okay.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Yes.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Well, I know of at least Pat King.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
And his friend, I believe his name is Tyson Billings, ---
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
--- were both incarcerated for an extended period of time.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
I’ve heard of other people that were charged but I don’t know the particulars of their release.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you.
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Daniel Bulford (Freedom Corp / Convoy Organizers)
Thank you, sir.