Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Ontario Premier Doug Ford the provincial leader didn’t need additional legal tools to clear the blockade of Canada’s busiest trade crossing to the United States — five days before Mr. Trudeau gave the government sweeping legal powers using the Emergency Law. Minutes of the Feb. 9 leaders’ call-in meeting were filed with the Emergency Law Inquiry on Tuesday. During the call, Mr. Ford said he has asked the Ontario Attorney General to look at legal ways to give police more tools, “because the police are a little shy and I can’t direct them.” Mr. Trudeau responded that the prime minister “shouldn’t need more tools – legal tools – they’re holding back the ON economy and doing millions a day and hurting people’s lives.” At the time of their call, the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., had been blocked for three days by people protesting against COVID-19 restrictions, blocking the flow of international trade, while similarly motivated protests in downtown Ottawa had already stretched for almost two weeks. At a press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Trudeau was asked why he changed his position on the need for additional legal tools between February 9 and 14. Mr. Trudeau did not immediately respond to the question. He said the Emergency Act committee is important for openness and transparency, adding, “that’s why we called the committee.” Under Canadian law a procurement is required after any invocation of the act and therefore it was not a decision by Mr. Trudeau’s government. The Public Order Emergency Commission, headed by Justice Paul Rouleau, is set to decide whether the federal government erred in invoking the Emergency Act in response to the Ottawa protests and related border blockades. Mr Trudeau invoked the act on February 14 – marking its first use in history. So far, the commission has heard largely from city and police leaders about the protests in Ottawa, though it turned its focus Monday to the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge. During the Feb. 9 call, Mr. Trudeau urged Mr. Ford that the jurisdiction’s police needed to “do their job” — lest Ontario become a “laughing stock.” “Some point [when] we’re trying to attract investment, a bunch of people look at it and say we can’t even clear a protest on a bridge,” Mr. Trudeau said. Mr. Ford told the Prime Minister he could not direct the police, to which Mr. Trudeau asked, “Are you saying the OPP can’t help?” Mr Ford reiterated that he cannot direct the police, adding: “I can’t ring them up and say get your asses over there and kick ass.” The Premier also asked if Windsor had already requested support from the Ontario Provincial Police. Mr. Ford said he had and that the request was ongoing. “They can’t talk about it for three weeks, they have to act now,” Mr. Trudeau said, asking the prime minister if the OPP understood the “urgency.” Mr. Ford tried to reassure the Prime Minister that the OPP would have a plan and added, in strong language, that it would follow through. The blockade of the Ambassador Bridge began on February 7. Two days later, the Windsor Police Service made a formal request to the provincial and federal governments for additional resources, including officers. The bridge was finally reopened on the morning of February 14, and several witnesses testified that the police did not use the emergency law to remove the protesters. During the conversation between Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Ford, the Premier of Ontario emphasized the importance of ending the blockade in Windsor. Referring to the protests in Ottawa, he said “the biggest thing for us and the country is the Ambassador Bridge.” He noted that the total cost to trade of this blockade will reach $3.1 billion after four days. OPP Superintendent Dana Earley, who served as the OPP’s critical incident commander in response to the bridge blockade, also testified Tuesday. After addressing the leaders’ Feb. 9 conversation, Alan Honner, attorney for the Fund for Democracy, asked Supt. Earley if he faced any political interference during the blockade. She said she did not, although she later acknowledged it was “stressed” to her by OPP leadership that addressing the situation in Windsor was a priority. “Superintendent Early understood that a resolution was urgent because closing the bridge had a huge financial impact, including layoffs, in Windsor, Ontario and Canada,” says a summary of an interview the superintendent had with commission lawyers. Supt. Earley praised the OPP’s partnership with Windsor police. According to her interview summary, she arrived in Windsor on the morning of February 10. A senior Windsor police commander told her the local agency welcomed the OPP’s help and understood all operational decisions had to be made through it. A comprehensive command was created with the OPP in the lead role, he said. The partnership between the OPP and Windsor police contrasted with that between the Ottawa Police Service and the provincial agency as escort protests continued in the capital. The commission heard that then-Ottawa police chief Peter Slowley appeared suspicious and hostile toward an OPP-led team of experts sent to help his service — a characterization he denied. However, in his testimony, Mr. Sloly rejected the idea that the OPP should have been in charge of the response and confirmed that he felt other police agencies should work under the Ottawa Police Command. The inquest also heard Tuesday from the first witness involved in the blockade in Coutts, Alta. Marco Van Hooygenbos is a Fort Macleod councilor and faces mischief charges in connection with this exclusion. Truckers, farmers and others opposed to the COVID-19 measures blocked the Coutts border crossing intermittently from January 29 to mid-February. It ended after the RCMP conducted raids, seizing weapons and making a series of arrests. Mr. Van Huigenbos testified that he participated in the protest due to provincial and federal COVID-19 restrictions. “It was never my intention to block the border, it was always our intention to create an inconvenience at the border on the evening of January 29,” he said. Coutts’ mayor and Ontario’s deputy attorney general are scheduled to testify Wednesday.
