A lawyer representing the Public Order Emergency Commission collapsed while questioning Mario Di Tommaso, Ontario’s deputy attorney general, the second witness of the day. After the adjournment, the public hearing was scheduled to resume at 3 p.m. eastern time and proceed to the deposition of Ian Freeman, an official with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Emergency responders had been called to the Library and Archives Canada building in downtown Ottawa and proceedings were halted, with lawyers and spectators being cleared from the hearing room. Gabriel Poliquin was in the early stages of examining Di Tommaso when he collapsed on the floor and his condition is unclear. A committee spokesman said in an emailed statement that out of respect for Poliquin and his family, it would not release further details about his health. Poliquin is one of a team of lawyers working for the commission, which is tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding the Liberal government’s decision to invoke the Emergency Act for the first time in Canadian history on Feb. 14. The public hearings, which began Oct. 13 and are set to run through Nov. 25, focused this week on testimony about border blockades in Windsor, Ont. and in Coutts, Alta. Earlier Wednesday, Coutts’ mayor said the RCMP appeared to have been caught up in a protest blockade of the US-Canada border crossing last winter, even though he warned the provincial government it could happen. Jim Willett sent an email to Jason Kenney, who was then Alberta’s premier, and the province’s attorney general on Jan. 27 to warn of the potential foreclosure, and was assured that the RCMP had been notified. He said he was concerned about maintaining vital highway access in the small border town of 245 people and also warned the protest could lead to an international incident. On 29 January a large convoy of trucks gathered at the border, with some driving into medians and ditches and blocking the road. The mayor said the RCMP did not establish a large police presence until three days later.
