Emergencies Act

Newly released text messages show how the federal government was planning its communications strategy before the arrival of "Freedom Convoy" protesters in Ottawa back in late January.

During dramatic testimony on Monday, October 31, 2022, former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly called out his former boss Bill Blair, who now serves as a federal minister, over his assertions that local police didn't follow proper procedure to get help they needed during the "Freedom Convoy" protest last winter.

A senior Ottawa officer told the Emergencies Act inquiry that police had tow trucks at the ready before the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act and would have moved on protesters with or without the new powers.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and former solicitor general Sylvia Jones are challenging a summons to appear as witnesses at the public inquiry examining the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act.

In the days leading up to the mass protest in Ottawa last winter, police didn't have intelligence suggesting the "Freedom Convoy" would use local citizens as a "leverage point" and didn't factor in the risks the convoy posed to the community, interim police chief Steve Bell said on Monday, October 24, 2022.

The Ontario Provincial Police warned last winter that support for the "Freedom Convoy" from Canadian political figures was likely to embolden protesters in the streets of downtown Ottawa.

The "Freedom Convoy" had gridlocked Canada's capital city for more than two weeks before the "floundering" Ottawa police force approved a detailed plan to handle it, senior police officers have told the public inquiry into the Liberal government's use of the Emergencies Act.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says he's concerned the RCMP chose not to the release the badge numbers of officers who cleared "Freedom Convoy" protesters from the Ambassador Bridge last winter.

Ottawa mayor Jim Watson said he was impatient with the amount of time it took to get more police officers sent to the city to quell the protests. 

Here's a look at the breakdown, according to a brief the city filed with the Public Order Emergency Commission, which is exploring the federal government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14. 

The inquiry into the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act will hear first-hand testimony on Monday, October 17, 2022, from top City of Ottawa officials about February's "Freedom Convoy" protest, including the mayor.

Ottawa has dealt with a fair number of serious crises over the last few years. A massive and destructive windstorm, floods, a giant sinkhole that swallowed a busy downtown throughway and, of course, a global pandemic.

Provincial officials in Saskatchewan and Alberta got a Valentine's Day surprise from the prime minister this year when he called to say he was considering invoking the Emergencies Act, a public inquiry heard on Thursday, October 13, 2022.

The Ottawa woman who filed for a court injunction to stop truckers from continually honking their horns during the "Freedom Convoy" in February is among the first witnesses at a public inquiry exploring the government's use of the Emergencies Act.

The public inquiry into the federal government's unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act during “Freedom Convoy” protests last winter begins on Thursday, October 13, 2022, and dozens of witnesses, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and high-profile convoy organizers, are expected to testify.