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.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
But the hotel association suggested, sir, in an email to you, 11,000 rooms for 30-plus days, and you stated in your testimony before the Public Order Emergency Commission that you didn't take it seriously.
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Well, we didn't take it seriously because there was no follow-up on the part.... It's fine for someone to go in and call to say that they'd like to order 11,000 rooms when, in fact, we don't have 11,000 rooms in the downtown—
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Well, that's why I referred it to the police, number one.
7:50 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
At that point, when they arrived en volume and the hotel association suggested that they'd be booking for 30 days, did you believe that they were here to stay?
7:50 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Well, again, the hotel association did not take it seriously. They didn't have the rooms available, number one. Second, no down payment or any kind of opportunity was given to collect a down payment and—
7:50 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Sure, in advance, but once they showed up.... You would agree that when thousands of people showed up in the city, at that point, perhaps you could have given some veracity to the claim that they had intended from the outset to stay for 30 days, would you not?
7:55 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Well, again, I was on the ground. There was no evidence that they were going to stay that long from my perspective—
7:55 p.m.
NDP
7:55 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
No, the hotel association received an inquiry. It didn't say they were booked. There were no rooms booked.
7:55 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Okay, so on that nature, when you mentioned in your testimony, sir, that you worked on an agreement, who did you work on that agreement with?
7:55 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Well, it wasn't me. It was my chief of staff, and it was city staff. I received a call from Dean French, who was Premier Ford's former chief of staff, and he offered to act as some kind of a mediator because he had contacts with the trucking—
7:55 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Had you ever done that before as a mayor? Have you ever intervened—
7:55 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Would you like me to answer? I'm going to answer, but you keep interrupting me.
7:55 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
I mentioned to you, sir, through the chair, that I would reclaim my time when appropriate. That's how this committee works; that's how we'll proceed.
7:55 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Yes, but if you're going to ask me a question, I want to reply to it.
7:55 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
Did you, in that process when you were working through the negotiations with Dean French...? Had you ever, in any other situations as a mayor, intervened in frontline negotiations with protests, or was this your first time?
7:55 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
Well, we'd never had a protest of this nature, so of course—
7:55 p.m.
Mayor, City of Ottawa
—I never would have involved myself in something because this was—
7:55 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
I established your answer.
Part of the agreement...did it include staging at Coventry? Were you part of the negotiations that would have had the logistics supply chain set up at a city-owned baseball facility?