Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Members of the Senate and House of Commons, it is a pleasure for me to be here in my capacity as mayor of the City of Ottawa.
I'm mayor for the next 18 days and four hours and three minutes and two seconds.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. I recently appeared before Justice Rouleau and the Public Order Emergency Commission on October 18, 2022.
I strongly believe and hope that the important work done by the commission and this joint committee will help prevent this city's residents and those of other Canadian cities from ever having to endure such a horrendous occupation.
In the past 25 years, I have had the privilege of representing the residents of Ottawa at Queen's Park and City Hall.
As mayor of the City of Ottawa, I've witnessed the city's residents triumph over a number of extraordinary challenges, particularly, as we all dealt with in our own communities, COVID-19.
In recent years in Ottawa this included events like the record flooding of the Ottawa River in 2017 and 2019, which forced many of our residents to evacuate their homes. In-between the two floods Ottawa and its surrounding areas were wracked by a tornado that toppled power lines and homes, and as you may recall, just this summer, residents endured a thunderstorm that destroyed tens of thousands of trees and property throughout the region, and left tens of thousands without power for days and in many instances, weeks.
The arrival of the truck convoy in January 2022 and the ensuing occupation of our city was another threat to the safety and security of our residents.
The Ottawa Police Service and the city have done a good job of working together on many occasions to protect the city in numerous crises over the years.
Trucks first started arriving in Ottawa, in front of the Parliament buildings, in fact, on January 27, 2022. I recall seeing a few trucks parked on city streets while additional trucks arrived the following day.
After the first weekend of protest, it became clear to me that Ottawa's police service had lost Wellington Street. A protest had ended and an occupation began.
Let me start by setting the table for MPs and senators and members of the public. Can you imagine a similar truck convoy demonstration taking over your downtown city or village? Can you imagine me showing up in your hometown with these demonstrators, rubbing shoulders with them, taking pictures of them, bringing them coffee and Timbits? Can you imagine how disgusting and disrespectful that would have been to your residents if their own community was under siege from the 24-7 noise and fumes over a three-week period?
As mayor I was in regular communication with the OPS as requested throughout the time frame of the convoy. I understood almost immediately that the OPS required additional resources.
On January 3 I received a call from the Prime Minister. I explained that additional officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were necessary. From then onward I continued to push for assistance from our federal and provincial partners. On February 3, 2022, I spoke to Minister Mendicino and impressed upon him the need for additional resources. On February 7, at the request of the Ottawa Police Services Board, my office prepared and I co-signed a letter with the chair of the board seeking those additional resources. The letter was addressed to the Prime Minister, Minister Mendicino, Premier Ford and then Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones. The purpose of the letter was very clear: Ottawa required more resources to bring an end to the protest.
That action was extraordinary because the chief of police normally makes this type of request to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and to the Ontario Provincial Police.
I agreed to sign these letters. I was told that the OPS was not successful in its request to obtain more police officers.
At around the same time I'd also declared a state of emergency in the City of Ottawa. While the declaration did not provide my office with any new substantial powers, I believe it was symbolically important. It relayed to our residents and to the country that the City of Ottawa was in fact under siege and could not end the occupation on our own.
I also participated in meetings with our federal partners. As I've mentioned previously, the Province of Ontario regrettably declined to take part in this dialogue of the tripartite committee. In these meetings, I echoed our request for more police resources to support the OPS in its efforts to reclaim our city.
As you know, on February 14, 2022, the Emergencies Act was invoked for the first time since its passing in 1988. Although the federal government did not consult me on its use, I fully supported and fully support the introduction of the Emergencies Act. Up until that point it was not clear to me that the earlier police efforts would be successful in bringing about a peaceful end to such a massive demonstration.
I take this opportunity to remind honourable members of the joint committee that the combined presence of these vehicles, these hundreds of 18-wheelers and smaller vehicles, felt like an overpowering and threatening armada to the residents of Ottawa.
I believe that the biggest challenge during the protest was the inability to move the trucks that embedded themselves on our streets. The Emergencies Act resolved this issue by forcing tow truck companies to provide towing vehicles.
In the end more than 1800 officers—which we asked for—came to Ottawa under OPS command, including officers from the OPP, RCMP and a number of municipal police forces from as far away as Alberta. Ottawa residents will be forever grateful to those men and women in uniform who came to the aid of our city during the unlawful occupation.
The occupation of our city was a horrific experience for people who lived in the downtown core and was unlike anything our city has ever faced before. It affected those who work in the downtown core and call it home, our tourists who want to visit the Parliament Buildings, and the local businesses that depend on peace and stability for their livelihoods. It's had long-lasting impacts on some of our residents' mental and physical health, and has had a detrimental impact on our tourism industry.
I want to share a few examples, in conclusion.
The first example I want to cite is that of Montfort Hospital.
It is very important to our community and it had to put staff in hotel rooms nearby to avoid significant traffic delays, which ultimately affected their shifts over a two-week stretch. It led to a steep decline in activity in the emergency room, which impacted their patients negatively.
As well, 13 families who travel to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario for cancer therapy were impacted by the convoy. They had to either delay or reschedule their treatment. A CHEO spokesperson described the occupation as “unnecessary stress on top of what is already...a stressful situation for kids and their families...whose treatments are critical for their best outcomes”.
A local media outlet reported on February 1 that an anonymous downtown resident had been “living a nightmare in her home just minutes away from Parliament Hill”, and that “Constant honking and noise outside her building, as well as the smell of diesel fuel, [had] left her sleepless.” The woman said, “It makes me so depressed and so sad that these people care so little about people like me, or people who are disabled...”.
The Public Order Emergency Commission heard the testimony of a legally blind resident in the downtown core who described the hardship she experienced during the occupation. This included difficulty getting around due the constant noise as well as hearing loss as a result of the extremely loud blaring of horns for days on end.
United Way East Ontario and 35 of its social service agencies studied the impacts of the occupation on the vulnerable and marginalized communities. Most notably, the Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region noted that more than half their calls during the 24-hour period were from residents in distress or in crisis. Additionally, and this is very, very sad, 12% of their clients had thoughts of suicide as a result of the events that unfolded.
And yet, Ottawa's residents were as resilient as they had been in the past and will be in the future.
Mr. Chair, I'm now ready to answer the committee's questions.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear and to express the views of city council members and residents of the City of Ottawa.