A reading of their Feb. 9 conversation was submitted to the Public Order Emergency Committee, which is investigating the government’s decision to use emergency powers in an effort to clear protest blockades in downtown Ottawa and at several border crossings. The conversation took place five days before Trudeau invoked the Emergency Act. The summary said Ford told Trudeau that reopening the Ambassador Bridge was the priority and that Ontario’s attorney general is looking at legal ways to give police more tools to deal with it. “You shouldn’t need more tools — legal tools — they’re holding back the (Ontario) economy and doing millions in damage a day and hurting people’s lives,” Trudeau said in response, according to the document, explaining that the protesters were not obeying the law. “We need to respond quickly to this.” Asked about the exchange Tuesday, Trudeau said it was important for Canadians to see what governments and people faced during the “convoy occupations.” “Obviously, we looked at the emergency law as a measure of last resort,” Trudeau said at a news conference in New Brunswick. “We needed to make sure we were trying to do things without having to bring in extraordinary powers.” Protesters blocked the Ambassador Bridge, a key border crossing to Detroit, on Feb. 7 as part of a series of protests against COVID-19 and the Liberal government’s restrictions taking place across Canada. They immediately set up camp and refused to leave. The protest halted $600 million in trade a day and prevented essential workers from crossing the bridge, according to other Commission figures. The Liberal government decided to bring in emergency powers on February 14, the same day Ambassador Bridge reopened to traffic. The legislation gave extraordinary powers to the government and police, including the ability to restrict protesters’ freedom of movement, freeze the bank accounts of some participants and compel towing companies to help remove trucks and other vehicles from protest sites. The document shows Trudeau pressed Ford about whether the Ontario Provincial Police, who told him he would go inside, understood the emergency. Ford said he shared the prime minister’s frustration and lamented not being able to direct the police. At least in Windsor, he said, police had a plan. It was different in Ottawa, where by that point protesters had occupied downtown streets near Parliament Hill for more than a week. “They will act, but without directing them it’s hard to describe their game plan,” Ford said of the Ontario Provincial Police. “This is critical, I hear you. I’ll pick them up with a wire brush.” The document was presented to the Ontario Provincial Police. Dana Earley, who testified before the committee on Tuesday. He said he never faced any political interference when he acted as a critical incident commander during the bridge blockade. The Public Order Emergency Commission, which is required under the Emergency Act, has scheduled public hearings in Ottawa until Nov. 25. At the heart of the issue is whether the emergency declaration and powers under the law were necessary to quell protests that have blocked downtown Ottawa for weeks and inspired blockades elsewhere in the country amid opposition to the COVID-19 measures. Earley said she was told by senior OPP officers that sealing off Windsor was a priority and that she would be given the officers she needed to clear him. In addition to the economic impact, she said the threat of counter-demonstrations worried her about a greater risk of violence. On one occasion, the president of the auto workers’ union told her he would come to the demonstration with 1,000 people to “pop heads” or bring heavy equipment to push the protesters into the river. At one point, he said, he briefly considered postponing an operation to clean up the bridge, fearing it could worsen the ongoing sit-in in downtown Ottawa. Protesters in Ottawa had already been entrenched around Parliament Hill for weeks with no end in sight when police were poised to move in on the protest blocking Canada’s busiest border crossing in Windsor. Early said that by Feb. 11 she had a plan and her officers were ready to go, but she worried that a large police operation could complicate things in the national capital. Her strategic commanders persuaded her to focus on what was best for Windsor. “I changed my mind and decided to go ahead with my plan, realizing that I didn’t know the depth of what was going on in Ottawa because my focus had to be Windsor,” he said. Two protesters involved in border blockades testified Tuesday to the committee. Fort MacLeod, Alta., councilor Marco Van Huigenbos, who was charged with disorderly conduct for his role in Alberta’s lockdown, told the committee he was protesting to demand government officials talk to him and others about the pandemic orders. Paul Leschied attended the protests in Windsor, telling the committee that he was aware of the economic damage caused by the border closure, but for two years he had worried about the economic impact of the pandemic-related orders. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 8, 2022.
