Declaration of Emergency committee  Mr. Mayor, I've been a mayor myself and was elected chair of the Union des municipalités du Québec's Commission de la sécurité publique. I'm therefore staggered to hear you say that invoking a state of emergency is symbolic. I consulted the Ontario Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, which says in subsection 5.1 (2) that the board:... shall identify and assess the various hazards and risks to public safety that could give rise to emergencies and identify the facilities and other elements of the infrastructure for which the minister or agency, board, commission or branch is responsible that are at risk of being affected by emergencies.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Did your plan cover incidents that might occur during demonstrations in front of Ottawa's Parliament? Did your plan specify what these risks might be, and what were the measures you intended to take?

Declaration of Emergency committee  The fact remains that you adopted that plan. When I was mayor, I adopted plans. You know whether or not you had a plan...

Declaration of Emergency committee  Can you provide us with a copy of the City of Ottawa's emergency management plan, which covers demonstrations and measures to be taken when they occur?

Declaration of Emergency committee  Don't you think your declaration of a state of emergency helped you?

Declaration of Emergency committee  You said that your declaration of a state of emergency in Ottawa was only symbolic. Did you do it for strictly symbolic reasons?

Declaration of Emergency committee  You needed tow trucks now.

Declaration of Emergency committee  You also needed tow trucks later on.

Declaration of Emergency committee  Why didn't you challenge that decision by asking why it couldn't be attempted? It's somewhat strange for the federal government to say no like that.

Declaration of Emergency committee  So the government felt it wasn't a good idea and told you that it was dismissing the idea, that there was no need for a mediator.

Declaration of Emergency committee  I understood that. However, it seems that the intervention of a mediator, Mr. Dean French, as it happens, worked, at least for part of the city.

Declaration of Emergency committee  That was a real success; you were glad.

Declaration of Emergency committee  That was done with the help of a mediator.

Declaration of Emergency committee  So all of this testimony is not necessarily sent to us in bulk, as evidence, and we can use it. Is that right?

Declaration of Emergency committee  Yes, I want to be sure I have properly understood the meaning of the motion we adopted at the outset. I also want to make sure that this testimony is part of the evidence we have before us.