Minister Blair ’embarrassed’ by lack of police response to convoy protests, evidence shows
Bill Blair #BillBlair
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair was “embarrassed” by the police response to the convoy protests in Ottawa last winter, evidence presented at the inquiry probing the government’s use of the emergency powers show.
The text messages between Blair and his chief of staff were entered into evidence on Monday and also show the former Toronto police chief was concerned that the federal government looked “weak” due to the lack of action.
“I am embarrassed for my former profession. And worried for my government which is being made to look weak and ineffective,” Blair said in a text message.
“I can’t believe that I’m hoping [Ontario Premier] Doug Ford will save us.”
Blair said Monday during his testimony that the text was “intemperate,” but demonstrated his concerns about the protests expanding in front of Parliament Hill.
“Trust and confidence in the police is absolutely essential for them to do their job,” Blair said. “I was very concerned about the impact that the apparent ineffectiveness of the police to deal with this was [having on] the public’s confidence.”
Blair said when it came to whose responsibility it was to address the protests in Ottawa from a policing standpoint, the public didn’t differentiate between levels of government, though he said it ultimately was the province’s responsibility.
The Ontario government declared a state of emergency on Feb. 11, weeks after the protests had arrived in Ottawa, which Blair said he was “hoping” for.
In the past few weeks the commission has heard of friction between the Ontario and federal governments over how to address the protests in Ottawa and the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont.
The Emergencies Act is only supposed to be invoked when — according to the wording of the law itself — a national emergency “cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada.”
The inquiry heard that during a Feb. 8 private call with then-Ottawa mayor Jim Watson, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Ontario Premier Doug Ford of hiding from his responsibilities during the convoy protests.
“Doug Ford has been hiding from his responsibility on it for political reasons, as you highlighted,” Trudeau said, according to a readout of the call, which is not an exact transcript of the conversation.
“Important we don’t let them get away from that.”
A few weeks later, the commission heard from a senior Ontario government bureaucrat who alleged the federal government was trying to force the province to take the lead on ending the blockades.
Mario Di Tommaso, Ontario’s deputy solicitor general, told the inquiry about a meeting during which Thomas asked whether the provincial government would take a more active role in the Ottawa protests if they were happening in Kingston, Ont.
“This question was all about, from my perception, the federal government wanting to wash its hands of this entire thing,” Di Tommaso said.
Ford has said he supported the federal government’s decision to invoke the Act.