‘Despicable’ and ‘abhorrent’: Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson testifies at Emergencies Act inquiry
Jim Watson #JimWatson
The City of Ottawa “lost control” in the downtown core during the so-called “Freedom Convoy” protest in February, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson told the Emergencies Act inquiry on Tuesday.
The result of this, he said, was “lawlessness” in the area of Ottawa labelled the “red zone” during the demonstration — a three-square-kilometre area downtown that encompassed Parliament Hill and a number of residential areas.
“We lost control in the red zone,” Watson told the committee.
“In the red zone, it was lawlessness. People were having parties. There were open fires. They are throwing off fireworks that were a fire hazard to heritage buildings in the downtown core. They were harassing people in restaurants, tearing off their masks.”
Watson impressed upon the inquiry that “these are not sort of made up stories…these are all documented during the the the convoy occupation.”
In a note sent to Ontario Premier Doug Ford during the protests, which was made public during Tuesday’s hearing, Watson wrote that the protest was “tantamount to psychological warfare.”
Read more:
Ottawa police, City Hall knew convoy protests would dig in: documents
Watson is spending the day providing his long-awaited testimony on municipal efforts to handle the three-week demonstration, after his chief of staff and Ottawa’s city manager appeared Monday.
“We had some people dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We had other people urinating at Cenotaph. We had a group that went and stole meals from the (homeless shelter) Shepherds of Good Hope,” Watson said.
“We had ‘end the mandate’ placards put on the Terry Fox statue. It was completely despicable behavior on the part of these individuals.”
While Ottawa is no stranger to protests, he said that the vast majority of the convoy protesters “were not being respectful.”
“I think (they) were hurting their cause, quite frankly, when you saw the Shepherds of Good Hope…having people bully their way in to get a free meal, that was just abhorrent,” Watson said.
The inquiry into the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act is also set to hear on Tuesday from outgoing councillor Diane Deans, who chaired the local police services board during the crisis and was ousted from the role just after the federal emergency was declared.
High-ranking officers from the Ottawa Police Service and Ontario Provincial Police are also slated to speak at the public inquiry this week.
Video: Emergencies Act Inquiry: City of Ottawa manager discusses difficulty of towing heavy trucks
The commission is examining the circumstances that led to the emergency declaration Feb. 14 and the measures taken to deal with the protest, which saw the occupation of an area of downtown Ottawa next to Parliament Hill.
Watson’s testimony comes days before Ottawa’s municipal election next Monday, in which neither he nor Deans is running for re-election.
The hearings are expected to run six weeks and include testimony from 65 witnesses, including government officials, police officers and convoy organizers.
Here are all the next six witnesses on the list, all of whom are expected to appear before the commission this week:
Mayor Jim Watson, the city’s longest-serving mayor. Watson isn’t seeking another term in a municipal election next week.
Coun. Diane Deans, the former chair of Ottawa’s police services board. Deans, who isn’t running for re-election, was a vocal opponent of the convoy protest and clashed with Watson over how to deal with it. She was ousted from the police services board by councillors two days after the feds declared an emergency.
Patricia Ferguson, acting deputy Ottawa police chief, who was the operational lead throughout the protest.
Three officials from the Ontario Provincial Police: Craig Abrams, Carson Pardy and Pat Morris.