Declaration of Emergency Committee on Oct. 27th, 2022

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

I think Mr. Motz has got the message, Ms. Bendayan.

Mr. Virani has the floor for five minutes.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Fleury, you commented in your opening that just at the Rideau Centre some 300 businesses and 1,500 employees were affected. Is that correct?

But you also represent the ByWard Market. I presume the number of businesses, the number of employers, was actually greater than that if you include businesses that were shut down during this so-called “freedom convoy” for the three weeks-plus that it endured. Is that correct?

[Mathieu Fleury]

Correct. Including Rideau Street and the ByWard Market, there are around 1,000 local businesses.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Did you find it at all ironic that people who were here ostensibly on the basis of freedom because of their objections to lockdowns effectively locked down the part of the city that you represent?

[Mathieu Fleury]

Yes.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

When the people came and blockaded or “occupied”, as people have called it, the city, some of the evidence that came out at the commission that Justice Rouleau is running has been that, in fact, that this was a boon to business because there were so many people here. They were actually buying a lot, and shopping a lot and eating a lot. How would you respond to that kind of perspective?

[Mathieu Fleury]

Certainly not. The Rideau Centre is an economic driver. Having the Rideau Centre closed closes a number of things in the area that rely on that business going to the Rideau Centre. The businesses at that point in time, and where we were with the restrictions, were able to open. But there were restrictions. Many had to close because of the impacts of those who came to our city and didn't allow us, as locals, to live normally.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Thank you.

Mayor Watson, I want to direct something to you.

I'm reading from an Ontario Provincial Police situation report, dated February 6.

On page 5 of that report—I'm just going to read it to you and ask you to comment—it says: “The apparent support from Canadian political figures is certain to further embolden those organizing and participating in the blockade, lending them credibility and validating their tactics. Any such validation may also motivate further blockades elsewhere in the country, such as those in Alberta. Support for the blockade from public officials or other influential figures is likely to nurture and embolden ideologically motivated extremists in Canada. As long as the blockade remains in place, it will continue to attract individuals and groups with a range of different ideologies, agendas, and intentions hoping to capitalize on the protests for their own ends.”

Could you comment on that in light of your opening statement about people who were providing coffee and Timbits to those who were involved in the blockade?

[Jim Watson]

I think it was absolutely reprehensible that members of Parliament, who should be held in high esteem, were out there kibitzing and mugging for photos with 18-wheelers and individuals who were honking their horns, keeping people awake at night and causing such stress in the neighbourhood. To have leading members of one political party, namely the Conservatives, going out there and posting pictures on Twitter, that's just salt to the wound to those people in our community who were putting up with so much nonsense.

As I said earlier in my comments, what happens if I went into your riding, brought a bunch of 18-wheelers, and blocked your main street in your Toronto riding and honked horns for three weeks in a row? They were just acting in such an outrageous fashion.

Any good they wanted to come out of this was lost by their boorish behaviour. They lost in the court of public opinion. People were saying, “You know what, this is not acceptable in a civil society to have this kind of behaviour.” We then had members of Parliament, who would give it some credibility by showing up, hugging and mugging with the truckers who were doing such damage to our nation's capital.

We should have great pride in our nation's capital. The way it went on, I was just disgusted by that outrageous behaviour. No one should be subjected to that kind of nonsense.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Can I just take you back to the tow truck example, and I'll use the English, not the remorquer. Specifically, you said that you needed tow trucks to remove the vehicles, and you weren't able to access them. Is that a fair characterization?

[Jim Watson]

That's right. Just to clarify for Mr. Motz, the 34 magical tow trucks never appeared, so they were not there. If he goes to the transcript of the hearings, he will see that the OPP confirmed that it wasn't able to deliver on those 34 trucks.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

I have a few more seconds left.

You indicated that reprisals and threats were so strong that even once the Emergencies Act was invoked, once the tow trucks were procured, you had to cover the company's names to prevent further reprisals, so you used OPS decals over the tops of the trucks.

[Jim Watson]

That's right. When you saw all the trucks lined up, all of their markings, all of their addresses and their phone numbers, were covered with Ottawa Police Service stickers, because these individuals were fearful of retribution.

We had one example, when the protesters put together the wooden shack down by Confederation Park. The tow truck driver who came to help move some of that away was harassed, and people were taking down the phone number even though that truck driver later said he was there in support of the convoy. That was an area where our first nations representatives were outraged by the behaviour.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Thank you, Mr. Watson.

Mr. Virani, your time is up.

As it's my turn to speak, Mr. Green, I'll turn the chair over to you.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

Mr. Fortin, you have the floor for five minutes.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Thank you.

Mr. Watson, you won't be too surprised by what I'm about to say, because I'm going to pick up where I left off. I'm keen to sort out the matter of the tow trucks with you.

You said earlier that if you had to do it over again, you would have had the trucks towed away on the first or second day of the demonstration. I must admit that your answer makes sense and that doing that would have been desirable. But why wasn't it done right at the start?

[Jim Watson]

I think all of us, the police, city officials, and government officials, were caught off guard. The only indication we had was that there were trucks coming. We've had large truck vehicles, mostly farm equipment vehicles, come to Parliament Hill in the past. They protested, they had their say, and then they moved back home to their communities.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

I understand what you're saying. I remember, because I was there. The farmers went by on their tractors, and it lasted for just a day. They went up and down Wellington Street and left. But I'm sure we would agree that it wasn't the same thing and that the two events can't really be compared.

For the demonstration, it had been announced that big tractor-trailers were coming to Ottawa. The whole country already knew about it. Some claimed that it would be for the weekend, while others said it would be for a few weeks

Call me naive, but it seems to me that the situation was unacceptable in both cases. I may be wrong, but I have the impression that everyone agreed that it made no sense to lock down Ottawa's downtown with big trucks, even for a weekend.

The citizens of Ottawa were disrupted; parliamentary security, Parliament Hill employees, and residents were endangered. It made no sense. We're not going to argue about that for three days.

Since the beginning of our hearings, there's a question to which I've been unable to find an answer, and the question I'm asking is this: As soon as it was known that the trucks were coming, why did no one do anything to stop them? It would have been possible at the very least, at the end of the first day or the start of the second, to say that they were going to be towed. Why was that not done?

[Jim Watson]

Well, Mr. Chair, I share the same concerns.

As mayor, I'm obviously not able to direct police on operational matters, by law.

I think what happened in our situation was that we ended being the guinea pig for the rest of the country. That's why Quebec City as well as Toronto were able to deal with the situation much more efficiently than we were. They saw what happened. They took preventative steps in Quebec City during the carnival and resolved the problem relatively quickly.

The same happened in Toronto where they had the ability to protect Queen's Park and make sure that it didn't turn into a second Ottawa.

We were the first ones, really, that were tested. As a result—but unfortunately for us—it helped other jurisdictions ensure that they were better prepared than we were.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

I understand your testimony and would tend to agree, but it always takes me back to the same question.

On the first day, they moved in. If I am remembering correctly, the vehicles arrived on a Friday evening or a Saturday morning. By the time it was Sunday, it was clear that they were there to stay. Why did no one request that the trucks be towed? They could have been given a warning an hour or two beforehand, but why weren't they cleared right away?

[Jim Watson]

The first trucks I saw on Wellington Street were some pickup trucks on Thursday. More came on Friday and then it culminated, obviously, in the large number on Saturday.

You'll have to ask the Ottawa Police Service's chief and acting chief why the system failed us, because, clearly, we knew they were coming—

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

I'm sorry for interrupting you, Mr. Watson, but as the mayor of Ottawa, why didn't you tell the police chief, the head of security or the director general to wake up, that the trucks had been there for two or three days already and that they had to be evacuated? Didn't anyone think to sound the alarm?

[Jim Watson]

Can Mr. Kanellakos, who is the liaison with us and the police...?

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

I didn't understand the answer.