Category: Emergencies Act

Watson Told Trudeau Convoy Protesters Were ‘Nasty’ and Un-Canadian: Phone Call

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a phone call that the Freedom Convoy protesters were “nasty people” that don’t represent the country, saying they remind him of the Republican Party, documents presented at the inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act show. His comments were shown at the inquiry on…


Governments Weren’t Always Working in Tandem During ‘Freedom Convoy’: Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there were times during the “Freedom Convoy” protests last winter that the three levels of government were not working together as well as they could. But he says what’s important is that in the end, everyone came together to end the occupation of downtown Ottawa. A transcript released Tuesday of…


Cory Morgan: Lots of Finger-Pointing So Far in Emergencies Act Inquiry, but Not Much on if the Act Was Needed

Commentary The opening week of the Emergencies Act inquiry has been dominated by City of Ottawa officials trying to explain how they lost control of the Truckers’ Convoy protest. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is trying to blame other levels of government as he testified that he had been pleading with both Ottawa and the provincial…


Ottawa Mayor Says Securing Tow Trucks Under Emergencies Act Was Most Important Measure to End Protest

Procuring tow trucks to clear the Freedom Convoy protest was the most important measure that was implemented through the invocation of the Emergencies Act, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson told the Public Order Commission on Tuesday. Watson was being asked by commission counsel whether he knew which measures were used under the act to end the…


Trudeau Said Ford Was ‘Hiding From His Responsibility’ on Freedom Convoy for Political Reasons: Phone Call

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson in a phone call during the convoy protests that Ontario Premier Rob Ford was hiding from his responsibilities in clearing the protests for political reasons. “Doug ford (sic) has been hiding from his responsibility on it for political reasons as you highlighted, and important that we…


‘Naive’ to Think Authorities Should’ve Prevented Freedom Convoy Protest: Ottawa City Manager

Not long after hundreds of vehicles entered Ottawa to protest COVID-19 restrictions last January, the highest ranking public servant in the city pushed back against the idea they could have been easily prevented from doing so. “It’s a bit naive for somebody to believe that the police and the city should have just prevented the…


John Robson: Ignore the Distractions, Emergencies Act Inquiry Is Only About Whether Use of the Act Was Called For

Commentary There’s such a din in Ottawa you’d think the truckers were back. And in a sense they are, because hearings are finally under way into the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act, and the ratio of noise to sense threatens to be worse than in the original go-round. Which is a pity because…


Ottawa City Councillor Tells Hearing She was ‘Terrified’ of Freedom Convoy but Didn’t Witness Any Violence Herself

An Ottawa city councillor wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the RCMP in February claiming that residents in her ward, which includes the area surrounding Parliament Hill, experienced “unprecedented violence” from the Freedom Convoy, although she had not seen any acts of violence herself. “I didn’t personally witness any acts of violence. I was…


Federal Government Will Ensure Canadians See Why Emergencies Act Was Needed, Trudeau Says on Inquiry

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government will ensure Canadians see that the Emergencies Act was necessary, as the public inquiry into the use of the measure hears testimony over the next several weeks. “We’re going to make sure that Canadians see the situation we were facing and how the tools we used were appropriate,”…


Emergencies Act Inquiry Gets a Taste of Court-Like Back-and-Forth on Day 1

The public inquiry into Ottawa’s use of the Emergencies Act to clear convoy protests got a taste of the back-and-forth that can be expected during the commission as one law professor challenged the government’s opening remarks as the commission got underway on Oct. 13. Robert MacKinnon, general counsel at Justice Canada who is representing the…