Evidence of meeting #16 for Declaration of Emergency in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was police.
A video is available from Parliament.
7:50 p.m.
Bloc
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
You gave those numbers to a member of your staff so he could make the calls. Who exactly was that?
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
I think I gave them to Mr. Kanellakos. As you know, it's not a mayor's responsibility to make calls of that kind.
It was definitely a very serious situation: we had to find a way to remove the trucks from Wellington Street.
7:50 p.m.
Bloc
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
You gave those telephone numbers to Mr. Kanellakos. What happened after that? Did he come back with answers? Did he confirm his results with you?
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
We managed to find tow trucks after the Emergencies Act was invoked.
7:50 p.m.
Bloc
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
On what date did you give the three or four telephone numbers to Mr. Kanellakos?
7:50 p.m.
Bloc
The Joint Chair Bloc Rhéal Fortin
So I understand you didn't get any results before the act was invoked.
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
No. We definitely had no success finding local companies that could supply tow trucks. That's one of the reasons why I supported the act being invoked.
7:50 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
That concludes the round. I do apologize. I'll note that when we intervene, it's to take our time back because we are limited. It's not a personal affront to anything that you're saying in your testimony.
Mr. Chair, the chair is now yours.
7:50 p.m.
Bloc
7:50 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
To carry on with that comment, I'm going to put some questions in a rather rapid-fire way. I'm going to ask, through you, Mr. Chair, that the witnesses try to answer the questions in a like manner so that we can get through the list of questions that I have.
Through you, Mr. Chair, to Mayor Watson, how often did you communicate with other levels of government in relation to the protest in downtown Ottawa?
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Well, it was on an almost daily basis with someone from one of the orders of government. It wasn't always necessary—
7:50 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
You mentioned, for instance, that Mr. Naqvi is the MP representing your riding. Did you have a chance to speak with Mr. Naqvi or other political representatives?
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Yes, and he was also the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Emergency Preparedness, so it was helpful to have that liaison as well.
7:50 p.m.
NDP
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
It would have been the first weekend, probably the Friday when the trucks really started to arrive.
7:50 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Were any briefings presented prior to their arrival of certain security threats that might have been presented?
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
I had a briefing by Chief Sloly and our other emergency operations people earlier in the week.
7:50 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Did you share that information with some of your political counterparts?
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
The information I got from the chief wasn't political. It was—
7:50 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
No, I'm sorry. Did you share the nature of the threat? For instance, if you as mayor were briefed that correspondence received from the hotel association said that 11,000 people were coming for 30 days, would you have shared that with any other levels of government?
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
With that particular case, we shared it with the chief of police. We got the information from Mr. Steve Ball, who's the president of the hotel association. He emailed the city and—
7:50 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
With regard to other information like that, were you able to provide briefings...? The question I'm asking is this: Were you able to provide briefings to your political colleagues in upper levels of government?
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Well, again, in that particular case, because it was an operational matter, it would not be appropriate to have a political discussion. This was intelligence that came through the hotel association, and it was forwarded to the appropriate authorities within the police. The police at that time were under the impression that they would come and that they might stay a day or two and then move on. Obviously—