The opening week of the Emergencies Act inquiry has been dominated by City of Ottawa officials trying to explain how they lost control of the Truckers’ Convoy protest. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is trying to blame other levels of government as he testified that he had been pleading with both Ottawa and the provincial government for more police resources. A transcript of a meeting between Watson and Prime Minister Trudeau quoted the prime minister accusing Ontario Premier Doug Ford of hiding from political responsibility for political reasons during a phone call in February.
As the fingers continue to point in the inquiry, it appears that dodging responsibility will be a common theme in the testimonies. Officials realize the Truckers Convoy protest was dealt with poorly and they are scrambling to cover their butts. They don’t feel the inquiry will be painting their actions in a positive light and they are being defensive while lashing out at each other.
Ottawa police and city officials have testified that they underestimated just how large the protests would be. They also assumed the protesters only planned to stay for a day or two and would move on. One has to wonder what sort of rock the powers that be in Ottawa were hiding under as the Truckers Convoy rolled toward Canada’s capital.
It’s hard to see how so many people were caught flatfooted by a convoy that stretched for miles and took over a week to get to its destination, yet it happened.
Some of the blame for the underestimation of the size and determination of the participants in the convoy lands on the prime minister himself and legacy media outlets that appeared determined to try and dismiss the convoy as being a small group of disenchanted extremists.
Days before the convoy arrived in Ottawa, Trudeau said “The small fringe minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa who are holding unacceptable views that they are expressing do not represent the views of Canadians”
In calling the group a small fringe minority, Trudeau signalled to the cCity of Ottawa that the convoy was of little significance that could be dismissed. Authorities in Ottawa could presume that the prime minister had access to intelligence they didn’t and that the approaching convoy was of little consequence.
While legacy media gave little notice of the juggernaut approaching Ottawa, independent media outlets covered it closely. Journalists were embedded with the convoy and were reporting regularly on its growth and how it was greeted by thousands of enthusiastic supporters in cities it passed through. If Ottawa authorities had been willing to look outside the bubble of legacy media coverage, perhaps they would have realized what they were dealing with. Protest organizers were making it clear they didn’t just have plans to camp out for a day or two.
Trudeau’s words inflamed protesters and very well may have swelled their ranks. Millions of Canadians were sympathetic to the convoy, and they didn’t appreciate being told they held unacceptable views by the prime minister. A little respect directed toward the protesters before they arrived in Ottawa would have gone a long way to calm things, but Trudeau never could bring himself to offer anything aside from disdain for the demonstrators. While meeting with the protesters or at least appearing to listen to their concerns still would not have stopped the convoy, it would have pacified many of them. When it felt hopeless to try and engage the government, protesters decided to entrench themselves to be heard. An attempt to listen to or negotiate even a little with the protest would have given the government higher moral ground when decisions were made to remove the occupation.
The inquiry hasn’t even gotten to the meat of the issue they are tasked with. Witnesses have been speaking of the ills of the Truckers Convoy but there has been little discussion on whether the Emergencies Act needed to be invoked. That will likely be discussed in depth once federal officials and police chiefs start testifying.
The opening tone of the inquiry is that there already is an assumption of wrongdoing on the part of authorities as testimonies focus on laying blame for the situation on others. Perhaps City of Ottawa authorities are already assuming Trudeau will claim it was a failure on the part of civic authorities that forced his hand in invoking the act. Trudeau certainly didn’t hesitate to throw Doug Ford under the bus.
If anybody was hoping the inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act would lead to some clarity on the actions of police and different levels of government during the convoy protests, they are likely going to be disappointed. Politicians are too busy trying to blame each other for what happened to actually spend time trying to find out why it happened or explain their actions.
