Thank you, Chair.
We talk about takeaways or lessons learned. One thing I've reflected upon about this particular incident is the extreme naïveté demonstrated by so many organizations, from police organizations to government officials to you four gentlemen—specifically Mayor Watson. You all felt that this was going to go away within 48 hours.
This was organized for weeks prior to these truckers and their supporters arriving in the city of Ottawa. They were coming from the west coast, from the east coast and from everywhere in between. Given that their mandate, which was widely shared across all kinds of social media platforms, that they weren't leaving until all federal mandates were removed, how could anyone be so naive to think that in 48 hours, someone who's travelled from Vancouver, British Columbia would just say, “Okay, my point's been made” and then return?
They were there to speak to a government official. That didn't happen. I wanted to throw that out for consideration.
We've heard on a couple of occasions from my colleague Mr. Virani, who took two opportunities to describe the actions of a certain member of Parliament.
I listened very carefully to your responses, Mayor Watson. Clearly, your indignation with respect to that member of Parliament was very evident. You commented that the particular member was giving it “credibility” and that it was “salt to the wound”.
I didn't hear that same indignation when the Prime Minister of this country was the origin of, the genesis for, the anger that many people had about mandates. That's the same Prime Minister who called these people “extremists”, “racist, misogynistic”, those with “unacceptable views”, those who “don't believe in science” and those who take up space.
Were you concerned about the Prime Minister using that language, Mayor Watson?