Intelligence analysts warned of 'foreign adversaries' influence on convoy protest

As police moved to clear the convoy protest that paralyzed downtown Ottawa last winter, a confidential police intelligence report warned that freedom movement protests were a long-term security threat and that "foreign adversaries" may have tried to leverage the protest.

In a Feb. 19 report from the Ontario Provincial Police's Provincial Operations Intelligence Bureau, analysts raised the spectre of foreign influence in the protest.

"The available information suggests that foreign adversaries may have attempted to leverage the freedom movement blockades and protests to protect or enhance their own strategic economic and political interests," analysts wrote in the 12-page report, made public by the inquiry examining the federal government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act to end the protest.

"Previous reporting noted controversial political figures in the U.S. voicing support for the blockades in Ottawa and Windsor, and foreign funding of the Ottawa blockade, much of it from the U.S. The recent reporting regarding the possible use of bogus social media accounts by foreign actors overseas to promote the blockade suggests another external influence in domestic affairs."

The details of the OPP document were first reported by Global News.

The analysts also predicted such foreign influence efforts could continue.

"These actors are likely to continue to exploit and aggravate extant domestic dissent," they wrote. "If so, their activities may represent an ongoing threat to Canada's security."

The OPP intelligence report, normally shared only with "selected law enforcement units," paints a very different picture from a summary — also made public by the inquiry — of a Feb 6 conference call which included David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

"There (are) no foreign actors identified at this point supporting or financing this convoy," Vigneault told the meeting, adding that CSIS also was not seeing funding for the protest coming from foreign states.

"Foreign actors" is the term usually used by intelligence agencies to describe foreign countries or those working on their behalf, as opposed to individuals who live in another country.

The Feb. 19 report wasn't the first time the OPP intelligence analysts flagged the potential influence of people outside Canada on the convoy protest.

Foreign support 'helping to harden the resolve of protesters,' report says

In a February 8 report, the analysts described the situation in Ottawa as "volatile" and said actions in support of the protests across Ontario appeared to be increasing.

"Foreign ideological and financial support is helping to harden the resolve of protesters and their supporters, and is validating the narrative of government overreach," the analysts wrote.

In another report a day later, the OPP intelligence analysts flagged an interview that an Ontario MPP and convoy supporter gave to RT.

"RT, formerly RUSSIA TODAY, is reported to be a Russian government-controlled platform for directing disinformation at the West to benefit the strategic foreign policy objectives [of the] Russian State," they wrote.

In the Feb. 19 report, the analysts said the U.S. Congress was getting involved in the question of whether some Facebook activity supporting the convoy was coming from outside Canada.

"Media reporting indicates that the U.S. Congress has asked for information from Facebook regarding the extent to which shell Facebook accounts from abroad facilitated messaging regarding the convoy protests in Canada," they wrote.

"The query was reportedly motivated by reporting that Facebook had discovered that some online groups promoting the convoys were created with 'dummy' user profiles set up in Asia and Eastern Europe."

The analysts predicted that freedom movement blockades and protests would "represent a long-term threat to public safety and security domestically."

"Ongoing and future actions in support of the broader freedom movement and against the enforcement actions taken at the Ottawa blockade are almost certain," they wrote in the Feb. 19 report. "Potential targets include police personnel and buildings, as well as elected officials, particularly those who represent the federal Liberal Party or who support the invocation of the Emergencies Act."

The analysts said provincial and municipal public officials could be at risk as well as people and businesses who publicly opposed the blockade.

"Support from elected officials and religious leaders, as well as online disinformation, will continue to fuel, validate and reinforce ideologies and conspiracy theories that appear to underpin some of the protesters' grievances and motives."

To date, the inquiry has made more than 1,300 documents public.