Emergencies Act report, released Feb. 17, finds Ontario failed to become fully engaged with Ottawa and the federal government during the so-called 'Freedom Convoy' protests last winter
TORONTO — Ontario "abandoned" the people of Ottawa during the so-called "Freedom Convoy" protests last winter, the inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act found in a report released Friday.
"It could also have provided the people of Ottawa with a clear message that they had not been abandoned by their provincial government during a time of crisis," Rouleau wrote. The inquiry heard Ontario Premier Doug Ford and then-solicitor general Sylvia Jones were slow to respond to requests for help from the City of Ottawa and the federal government.
Rouleau concluded that Ontario only got fully involved when protesters blocked the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, which is a major trade route with the United States. "Ontario declared a state of emergency prior to, and independent of, the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act. Prior to any declaration of emergency, we had already frozen convoy funds from the Give Send Go platform to hinder efforts to continue illegally occupying the streets of Ottawa."
The commissioner issued a summons to Ford and Jones to testify at the inquiry, but the pair refused and fought the summons in Federal Court.
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