Over the last two days, the Public Order Emergency Commission examining the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act turned its attention to the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge. From the pressure Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was feeling from major companies to see the blockade end, to CSIS concerns about violence, here are key moments from the Windsor blockade hearings.
After weeks of testimony largely focused on the"Freedom Convoy" protests in Ottawa, the Public Order Emergency Commission examining the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act turned its attention to the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge to kick off this week., after protesters blockaded the bridge in mid-February, in solidarity with the truckers in the nation's capital.
Lastly, the commission heard from a participant in the Ambassador Bridge blockade, a father and business owner named Paul Leschied, who testified that he became involved in protests against COVID-19 public health restrictions prior to the"Freedom Convoy" and spoke about how participants in the blockade indicated they weren’t going to leave until they achieved something from their demonstration.
"I'm just as frustrated as you and if I could direct the police, I would," Ford is documented as stating. Trudeau then asks if he's saying the OPP can't help. "Well, there was a TV report, it was also reported on the front page of the Windsor Star, where—and this was very early on in the protests—that one of the protesters had said outright, that this is a cause that they were willing to die for… There was a very high temperature on the ground amongst the protesters. They were very aggressive in their language and in their posture.
, which noted the agency advised that the implementation of the Emergencies Act would"likely galvanize the anti-government narratives within the convoy and further radicalize some towards violence." Despite the situation in Windsor being resolved in advance of the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act, Dilkens made it clear in his testimony that he supported Trudeau's use of the extraordinary powers.
Not only was Dilkens facing business and cross-border pressures—from Michigan offering to help set the city up with tow trucks, to auto stakeholders alarmed about the supply chain impacts—documents submitted showed that Ford was feeling the squeeze, too. Asked if there were efforts to contain it so that it could not grow, Dilkens said they were able to prevent the situation from growing through the use of setting up barriers.
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