Justin Trudeau accused Doug Ford of ‘hiding’ during convoy protest, documents show
OTTAWA-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately slammed Ontario Premier Doug Ford for hiding" from his obligations to help end last winter's Freedom Convoy" occupation in the capital, the Emergencies Act inquiry heard Tuesday.
The comment was included in a typed summary of a Feb. 8 phone call between Trudeau and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson. By that point, the protesters who arrived in Ottawa in long convoys of semis and other vehicles to demand the removal of COVID-19 health measures had been entrenched for almost two weeks, as city officials pleaded for help from other levels of government.
In the call, Trudeau and Watson expressed frustration with what they saw as a lack of involvement from Ford's Progressive Conservative administration at Queen's Park.
Doug Ford has been hiding from his responsibility on it for political reasons," Trudeau told Watson, according to the call summary tabled at the inquiry.
If they keep dragging their feet, I'm happy to call them out on it," Watson responded. It'd be nice to have something firmed up from the federal government to shame them."
The criticism adds to the picture from earlier inquiry testimony of tensions between different orders of government during last winter's convoy crisis. Ottawa city officials described Monday that frustrations existed over how the Ford government refused to participate in discussions about the occupation of the capital with municipal and federal politicians.
In his own testimony on Tuesday morning, Watson explained how he repeatedly pressed the province and federal government for more help. As early as Jan. 31, three days after first convoy protesters arrived in Ottawa, Watson had told Trudeau in a phone call that the city needed federal help to deal with the situation.
According to notes from a Feb. 8 meeting between city and federal officials - one of the meetings the province did not attend - Watson told Trudeau's cabinet ministers: Show me the Mounties."
At the time, the federal government had said it sent 250 RCMP officers to help Ottawa police, but Watson said Tuesday that about 150 of them were actually guarding federal buildings like the West Bloc of Parliament and Rideau Hall. Meanwhile, the province claimed it had sent 1,500 Ontario Provincial Police officers to help, but Watson said the true number was actually closer to 50 or 60.
Notes from the Feb. 8 meeting show Watson told his federal counterparts that the Ontario claim was disingenuous."
One day earlier, the city had made a formal request to the federal and provincial governments for an additional 1,800 police personnel.
While we appreciated it every time we saw a Mountie, or we saw an OPP officer, we needed a large number of 1,800 to get this situation under control, and kick these yahoos out of our city," Watson told the inquiry on Tuesday.
The crisis eventually prompted the federal government to invoke the Emergencies Act for the first time, a controversial decision that is now at the heart of Ontario Justice Paul Rouleau's public inquiry. Civil liberties groups and other critics, such as the Opposition Conservatives allege the move was an unconstitutional government overreach, while the Trudeau government insists it was a necessary last resort" to deal with the crisis.
Watson's testimony continues Tuesday afternoon.
Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @aballinga
Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc