Alayne McGregor
Ottawa resident counter-demonstrations against the convoy occupation were one of several factors that led the federal government to invoke the Emergencies Act in February, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Testifying at the Public Order Emergencies Commission (POEC) on Nov. 25, Trudeau said that the federal cabinet group responding to the occupation and border blockades was increasingly worried about threats of serious violence, including those that could be inspired by residents pushing back because of weeks of police inaction.
“We saw increasingly counter protests of people who were trying to take back their city. For example, we all saw images of grandmothers standing in residential streets against massive trucks heading their way to try and prevent them from coming to join the convoy.
“The situation was already pretty inflamed. My concern was, if we continued to not do anything, are enough citizens going to start counter-protesting and taking things into their own hands at various places across the country that we do get into dangerous, violent situations?”
Trudeau said he had heard how residents were threatened during the occupation: being harassed for wearing masks, the constant noise, and people not feeling safe in their own streets.
Throughout the occupation, some residents individually placarded the occupiers. From the second weekend onward, residents organized larger non-violent counter-protests. On February 13, at “The Battle of Billings Bridge”, a large group of residents peacefully prevented trucks from getting to the downtown core.
Trudeau expressed concerns about that confrontation: “having civilians having to do things that would be more appropriate for trained police officers to be doing, I think we can both agree is not an ideal situation.”
When asked if the government was worried that the event’s success might mean the counter-protests would become more frequent if there was no government action, he agreed.
In earlier testimony to the commission, former Ottawa Police Board chair Diane Deans confirmed that the police had been concerned about the risks of counter-protests. She agreed Ottawa residents were tired, angry, and frustrated, and said the board was concerned that citizens could start to take matters into their own hands.
The Emergencies Act was invoked on February 14. Police forces ended the occupation the following weekend.
“The Ottawa police were completely overwhelmed”
Paul Champ was one of three Ottawa lawyers representing the Ottawa Coalition of Residents and Businesses at the commission. He said that testimony made it clear that “everyone knew that the Ottawa police were completely overwhelmed, that they did not have the capacity to control that event in any way, and that it was an occupation. They simply did not have the capacity or resources to manage the situation.”
“And from then onwards all the Ottawa police was trying to do was just maintain the most basic level of presence because they could not do any enforcement.”
“We were just damn lucky”
Champ described the situation on the streets as “a very dangerous and volatile situation, not only for the residents of Ottawa, but for those convoy protesters themselves. They were very fortunate that they did not cause serious injury or death to themselves.
“We’re very fortunate that there were no riots or explosions. I think it was a miracle from the evidence that I saw and those thousands of reports that I reviewed. We were all very lucky and it wasn’t because of the good work of any police service. We were just damn lucky.”
He was particularly upset that convoy organizers tried to portray themselves as victims in their commission testimony. At one point, when his fellow lawyer Emilie Taman was cross-examining a convoy organizer, she instead played a 10-minute compilation video of truck horns and fireworks and people looking visibly distressed in the streets to emphasize the actual effect of the occupation.
Champ said that emotions were very high during the occupation and there were many volatile people. He said he supported “everything that the people in Ottawa did. I’ve never been so proud to live in a city.” The actions that residents took to show the occupiers they were unwelcome were “really inspiring and amazing, but it was also dangerous.”
Trudeau was the final witness at the commission, which was established to determine if the invocation of the act was justified. The testimony and documents revealed in 7½ weeks of hearings were an unprecedented view into internal police and government deliberations. They exposed how the Ottawa police misunderstood the convoy protest and its aims and didn’t pay enough attention to pre-event intelligence briefings, which allowed the convoy to take over downtown Ottawa.
Mr. Justice Paul Rouleau will table his report in Parliament on February 20.