Declaration of Emergency Committee on Nov. 24th, 2022

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm going to direct my questions to Mayor Dilkens.

I'm going to read to you something that comes out of a document that was provided at the Justice Rouleau commission by the commission counsel. It described what was happening in your area:

The Ambassador Bridge POE is the busiest commercial land border crossing along the Canada-U.S. border and serves as a critical link for trade in automotive manufacturing, technology, other manufactured goods, and perishable goods. The POE handles over $390 million of trade per day, representing 26% of Canada's exports and 33% of its imports by road.

Does that accurately characterize the economic value and significance of the Ambassador Bridge in your community?

[Drew Dilkens]

I think that's a fair characterization. Some would even say that the number is higher in terms of trade that crosses the bridge on a daily basis.

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

When the blockades started to be erected, I believe companies started to reach out to your office directly and to the City of Windsor directly to explain the impact that the blockades would have on their lines of business. That included Stellantis officials reaching out to you directly. Is that correct?

[Drew Dilkens]

Within the first 60 minutes of the border closing, Stellantis, which is our largest employer and makes the Chrysler minivan and Pacifica in Windsor, reached out and asked what was going on at the Ambassador Bridge.

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

Those blockades, as they unfolded, ended up causing disruptions at various automotive manufacturers, including the cancellation of shifts at various plants in and around the Windsor region. Is that correct?

[Drew Dilkens]

That is correct.

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

In the minutes of meetings that were provided to the Rouleau inquiry commission, you described the economic impact as a national security situation. Is that right?

[Drew Dilkens]

I said it was threat to our national economic security.

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

I believe the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association brought an injunction because the impact was so dramatic on the auto industry, and the City of Windsor joined that injunction as a party. Is that correct?

[Drew Dilkens]

We worked with the APMA and the CVMA, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, to bring the injunction forward. They were the applicant; we were the intervenor. We knew that I couldn't control police operations. There were things happening at the OPP and the RCMP.

I didn't know precisely what was going on in terms of when people were going to arrive. I didn't have a clear line of sight on the plan. I had people in my community who were asking why the police weren't going in and removing those people, and why it was clicking day after day and the calendar pages were turning day after day. People wanted some action, and the only positive action that I could take was trying to seek an injunction.

The APMA was a wonderful partner. The CVMA was a wonderful partner, because their members felt the economic impact most acutely.

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

You mentioned in your opening statement that the blockade was cleared by midnight of February 14, but the threat was not over as of February 14. Your city itself declared a city state of emergency after the invocation of the Emergencies Act. Is that correct?

[Drew Dilkens]

That is correct.

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

The media reported that by February 15, there was an attempt to resurrect the blockade in and around the Ambassador Bridge. Is that accurate?

[Drew Dilkens]

That is correct.

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

In fact, I understand that the justice who was involved in that injunction in the Superior Court turned a temporary injunction into a permanent injunction on February 18 in the wake of this ongoing threat.

Is that accurate?

[Drew Dilkens]

That is correct.

The City of Windsor then moved to make the injunction permanent. We did that work. Our lawyers helped do that work. Chief Justice Morawetz granted that application to make the injunction permanent.

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

I understand that you indicated in testimony at the Rouleau inquiry that even with the Emergencies Act invocation, you were concerned that even after the situation was cleared in Ottawa, the protesters would come to Windsor to continue their activities. Was that your concern at the time?

[Drew Dilkens]

We had a very heightened state of alert in Windsor once the folks were moved out and vehicles were flowing again. There was a heightened state of alert that there may be recidivism and things may happen again. You may have copycat issues popping up and people coming from other parts to lend their voices and vehicles to another protest.

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

With respect to recidivism, did the invocation of the Emergencies Act, from your perspective, help to curb some of that potential recidivism around the Ambassador Bridge?

[Drew Dilkens]

I think it sent the strongest signal from the highest government in the land that this was a significant issue and that there would be basically zero tolerance for any continuance of this type of behaviour.

I think it was helpful in terms of sending that signal to keep the Ambassador Bridge open. The resources that were on the ground.... Even though the folks were moved out, we still had hundreds of additional people who remained in Windsor to maintain the safety and security of that corridor because of the importance of the Ambassador Bridge to our national economy. I think the Emergencies Act was helpful in—

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Thank you, Mr. Dilkens.

Your time is up, Mr. Virani.

Mr. Green, I'd ask you to take the chair, since it's my turn to ask the witnesses questions.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

Okay.

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

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Thank you, Mr. Green.

Mr. Dilkens, I'd like to continue on with the fact that you got an injunction and then a state of emergency was declared by the City of Windsor, by the Province of Ontario, and ultimately by the federal government. I'm wondering what effect that had.

I feel like I interrupted you earlier. I didn't mean to, but I had no choice because time was running out. I would like you to complete your answer.

So I'd like to know your opinion on the effect of the injunction that your municipality obtained, compared to the effect of the declaration of a state of emergency by the Province of Ontario and the federal government. What impact did each of these steps have on the situation in your municipality?

[Drew Dilkens]

I think they all worked in harmony together. All three levels of government stepped up and acknowledged the seriousness of the situation.

The injunction was really the only positive action that I thought we could take to send a signal. It had multiple purposes. One was to send a signal to the public that, at a municipal level, we were taking this as seriously as we could and doing all that we could.

After we made the decision to move forward with the injunction process, the province then declared its state of emergency, which put the people who were conducting this behaviour in significant jeopardy of losing perhaps their commercial vehicle operator registration. They could face significant fines and all sorts of penalties. Even though the folks had been moved out on February 14—

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

If I remember correctly, you liberated the Ambassador Bridge before the federal government declared a state of emergency. Isn't that right?