Lauren Pearce

Title
Counsel
Organization / Affiliation
National Police Federation

Lauren Pearce spoke 73 times across 9 days of testimony.

  1. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Hi there. I'm appearing remotely.

    03-327-17

  2. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Hi. I have good news for everybody. My questions have been canvassed by the previous witnesses, so I have no questions for this witness.

    03-327-20

  3. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Hi there, I'm coming in via Zoom.

    08-237-02

  4. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Hi there, my name's Lauren Pearce. I'm attending via Zoom if you can see me.

    08-237-05

  5. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Great. Hi there. So I am counsel for the National Police Federation, which is the bargaining agent representing RCMP members and reservists. Okay?

    08-237-09

  6. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    So I understand that you, Chief Bell, met with representatives of the RCMP and the Parliamentary Protective Service on January 28th; is that right?

    08-237-14

  7. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    For sure. So I can turn it up if it would be helpful. It's just from your witness statement, though. So why don't we do that. It's WTS00000029. And I think from my notes that it's near the bottom of page 8 is where we see that reference. So Chief Bell, I see there on January 28th, at 4:30 p.m., you attended a meeting. Do you see at the very bottom of that page?

    08-237-20

  8. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    And if you could just keep scrolling onto page 9, just that top paragraph there.

    08-238-01

  9. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay, great. Thank you, that's enough with that document. I just want to ask you some questions about that meeting. So first of all, my understanding is that Ottawa is the police of jurisdiction in the Ottawa Region, the Ottawa Police Service I mean.

    08-238-05

  10. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And that the RCMP has a much more limited policing mandate in the Ottawa Region; is that fair?

    08-238-12

  11. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    And so that limited mandate includes protective policing, which I understand to be kind of ensuring the safety of certain protected persons. Does that sound right?

    08-238-17

  12. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    For sure, for sure. But to the best of your knowledge, it includes the protection of people, such as the Prime Minister and the Governor General and that kind of thing?

    08-238-25

  13. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Great. Okay. And then the RCMP also has a mandate, including federal matters, such as, you know, national security, terrorism, that kind of a thing, to the extent it's occurring in the Ottawa Region?

    08-239-03

  14. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And so I want to turn to the Parliamentary Protective Service, or PPS. I'll use those terms interchangeably if that's okay.

    08-239-08

  15. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. So my understanding is that they are responsible for the physical security of the Parliamentary Precinct, which includes kind of the grounds and building of Parliament Hill.

    08-239-12

  16. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And you talked about this a little bit in response to some questions from counsel for former Chief Sloly, but I want to make sure I got this right. So my understanding is that PPS officers are not actually sworn police officers under the Police Services Act; is that right?

    08-239-17

  17. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And I also understand that they are not peace officers for the purposes of the Criminal Code.

    08-239-23

  18. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. But what you can definitively say is that they don't have the power to lay a criminal charge?

    08-239-28

  19. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    And so what I think I heard from you is that if there is a criminal offence on Parliament Hill, PPS generally will call the Ontario Police Service to come and address it.

    08-240-04

  20. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Excuse me, the Ottawa Police Service. Thank you. And that's the same if there is a major incident on Parliament Hill, that PPS would call the Ottawa Police Service to assist.

    08-240-10

  21. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Right. Okay, that makes sense. But in either case, whether it's Ottawa responding or RCMP responding or some other police service, potentially, it's true that where there's a criminal offence that occurs on Parliament Hill, PPS can't deal with it alone.

    08-240-21

  22. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. Is it fair to say that PPS officers do not have nearly the same kind of training that police officers have?

    08-240-28

  23. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    That's fair. And -- but at least to your knowledge, you're not aware of PPS officers attending anything that's equivalent to Ontario Police College?

    08-241-06

  24. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay, okay. So my understanding is that the Parliamentary Protective Service, their jurisdiction over Parliament Hill, subject to what we just talked about of them kind of needing assistance from other policing partners; otherwise, their jurisdiction is actually exclusive. Is that fair?

    08-241-14

  25. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Correct. Okay. And so unless PPS invites the Ottawa Police Service to come and respond to an issue on Parliament Hill, your Ottawa Police Service officers are not, you know, conducting routine patrols in the area.

    08-241-22

  26. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Right. Right. Okay. And my understanding is that during the convoy protests that didn't change; right? That PPS remained of primary responsibility on Parliament Hill.

    08-242-05

  27. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And my understanding, let me know if this is consistent with your understanding, Ottawa Police Service officers weren't actually permitted on Parliament Hill unless they were directed there by the NCRCC?

    08-242-10

  28. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. Maybe we can just pull up a document quickly to assist. A document here, I've got OPP00004262. And Chief Bell, just while this is coming up, this is the January 29th Operational Plan that you've looked at a couple of times already.

    08-242-16

  29. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    And I'm hoping within that document we can please turn to page 32 of the PDF, so quite a bit of scrolling. So the very -- I'm looking at the very top of that page. Can you scroll up a little bit?

    08-242-23

  30. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Thank you. So Interim Chief Bell, I wanted to ask you about the second paragraph that you can see there starting, "Any decisions regarding support for PPS." Do you see that there?

    08-243-02

  31. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And then in the parentheses I see, "No OPS member shall be on Parliament Hill unless directed by the NCRCC." Do you see that?

    08-243-07

  32. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. So does that appear to be consistent with what I just said, which is that Ottawa Police Service officers couldn't have responded on Parliament Hill other than if they were directed by the NCRCC?

    08-243-11

  33. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Right. So I actually don’t think we're disagreeing on this point. The point I'm making is that even in the event of the convoy protests, it didn’t change that Ottawa Police Service officers were not asserting jurisdiction over Parliament Hill? It was still PPS jurisdiction unless directed by the NCRCC?

    08-243-27

  34. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. So my understanding -- I think we're done with that document for now, thank you -- so my understanding is that PPS' jurisdiction extends to Wellington Street, and then it shifts to the Ottawa Police Service's jurisdiction; is that consistent with your understanding?

    08-244-06

  35. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    So beyond the gate of Parliament Hill, so that the sidewalk and then Wellington Street is all Ottawa?

    08-244-13

  36. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay.

    08-244-21

  37. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. I will make my last couple of points very quickly. So my understanding is that during the protest, there was some construction cladding at that area?

    08-244-24

  38. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    My understanding is that PPS officers generally, during the protest, stayed within their jurisdiction on Parliament Hill. They were not responding on Wellington Street?

    08-245-01

  39. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    To your knowledge, were PPS officers a resource that you understood to be available to the Ottawa Police Service in assisting with the police response to the convoy?

    08-245-07

  40. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Certainly. But in terms of Ottawa's response to the convoy, which I think was generally outside of the Parliamentary precinct, did you or your colleagues knew the PPS officers as a resource that were available to you as a part of that response?

    08-245-16

  41. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. So I think I will leave it there and use my time there. Thanks very much.

    08-245-24

  42. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Good afternoon. My name is Lauren Pearce. I'm attending via Zoom. Can you hear and see me, Inspector Lucas?

    09-086-27

  43. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. Great. So my name is Lauren Pearce. I'm here for the National Police Federation. I'm just going to ask you a few questions, primarily around the role of the Parliamentary Protective Service or PPS; okay?

    09-087-03

  44. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    So first of all, my understanding is that they're responsible for the physical security of Parliament Hill and the buildings on Parliament Hill ---

    09-087-08

  45. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    --- is that right?

    09-087-13

  46. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And my understanding is that that kind of extends to the gates of Parliament and then, thereafter, it's primarily Ottawa's responsibility; is that right?

    09-087-15

  47. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And I also understand that during the convoy protests, I guess Parliament Hill has been undergoing some construction, so there was some construction cladding in that area; is that right?

    09-087-20

  48. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And so -- and I also understand that, generally during the convoy protests, PPS officers were primarily located behind that construction cladding; is that right?

    09-087-26

  49. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. But ---

    09-088-05

  50. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    --- to your knowledge, were - - are you aware of PPS officers responding to the convoy protests on Wellington Street?

    09-088-08

  51. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. Okay. Great. And so you were part of the spillover. My understanding that there wasn't a high degree of spillover of protesters onto Parliament Hill, maybe because of that construction cladding or fencing; is that right?

    09-088-14

  52. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And had there been a significant presence of protesters on Parliament Hill, and that protest activity had been unlawful, there'd been unlawful protest activity on Parliament Hill, do you agree that it's likely that PPS would have required support from the Ottawa Police Service or other police partners?

    09-088-21

  53. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. Is it fair to say that it's virtually certain that PPS officers would require that assistance?

    09-088-28

  54. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And my understanding is that the Ottawa Police Service had to actually plan for the possibility that there would be an unlawful protest activity on Parliament Hill that PPS could not handle on its own. Is that a contingency that Ottawa had to think about?

    09-089-05

  55. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And my understanding is that that plan was that the RCMP had a Public Order Unit that was available to support PPS should a conflict escalate on Parliament Hill?

    09-089-11

  56. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. Okay. So it sounds like RCMP, OPP and then I think also Ottawa Police Service Emergency Services Units were available to PPS?

    09-089-21

  57. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. Those are all my questions.

    09-090-02

  58. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Thank you, Mr. Commissioner. We have no questions for this witness.

    10-158-09

  59. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Hi there. I'm Lauren Pearce. I'm counsel for the National Police Federation.

    11-292-17

  60. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Just a couple of very quick questions for you. This morning, in response to some questions from Commission counsel, you referred to having heard concerns about the under-utilization of RCMP resources, that some folks may be sitting around waiting for assignments?

    11-292-20

  61. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Are you able to tell us a little bit more detail about what you remember hearing?

    11-292-27

  62. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. And do you remember approximately when those concerns were conveyed to you?

    11-293-07

  63. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Okay. Absolutely. So moving on to another area, I understand the Ontario Provincial Police is responsible for the security at Queen's Park?

    11-293-15

  64. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Right. Okay. And at a high level, are you familiar with the Parliamentary Protective Service and their being responsible for the physical security of Parliament Hill?

    11-293-24

  65. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    That’s fair. I saw in your witness statement that you identified one of the key issues for this inquiry to examine as the ability and responsibility to lock down the Parliamentary precinct.

    11-294-05

  66. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Are you able to elaborate for us a little bit about why you identify that as a key issue?

    11-294-10

  67. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Thank you very much. I have no more questions.

    11-294-22

  68. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Hi there. This is Lauren Peerce coming in via Zoom. We also have no questions for this witness.

    18-162-13

  69. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Hi there. This is Lauren Pearce for the National Police Federation. Our questions have been asked already. We have no further questions.

    18-284-20

  70. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Thank you.

    18-284-24

  71. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Hello. This is Lauren Pearce for the National Police Federation. We also have no questions.

    19-145-01

  72. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Hello, Lorne Peirce for the National Police Federation. Our questions have been canvassed by the previous parties. We have no further questions. Thank you.

    25-307-14

  73. Lauren Pearce, Counsel (National Police Federation)

    Thank you. Lauren Pearce for the National Police Federation. We have no further questions for these witnesses. Thank you.

    26-088-16