Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson in a phone call during the convoy protests that Ontario Premier Doug Ford was hiding from his responsibilities in clearing the protests for political reasons.
“Doug ford (sic) has been hiding from his responsibility on it for political reasons as you highlighted, and important that we don’t let them get away from that, and we intend to support you on that,” Trudeau told Watson on Feb. 8, according to a transcript presented on Oct. 18 at the public inquiry into the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act.
The transcript was presented while Watson was testifying at the inquiry.
“If they keep dragging their feet, I’m happy to call them out on it. It'd be nice if we have something firmed up with the federal government to shame them. Ford didn’t even make an effort to come and see what’s going on,” Watson told Trudeau in response.
Watson said during his testimony that he shared Trudeau’s frustration that Ford wasn’t taking part in tripartite discussions with the City of Ottawa and the federal government regarding responding to the protests.
“We couldn’t get a clear answer as to whether they were going to support the number of officers that were needed, and ... the premier did not come to Ottawa during the occupation,” he said.
Watson said his understanding of Trudeau saying Ford didn’t want to get involved for political reasons is that the premier didn’t want to “wear the situation.”
“We’re all politicians, the three of us, and my sense is that he didn’t necessarily want to wear the situation because he felt it was very much the responsibility of the police service, and I fundamentally disagreed with him,” he said.
He added that Ford was probably not “getting into the mix” until the province could determine the number of police officers they could commit to help with the situation.
The pressure eventually worked, Watson said, as they got additional police officers from the province.
“Most of this was done behind the scenes so that we were not going to show that, at least at the political level, there was this fractious debate,” he said.
Ford was among the minority of premiers who approved of Trudeau’s plan to invoke the Emergencies Act to clear convoy protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions.
Ford reiterated that position on Oct. 17, saying he “stood shoulder to shoulder” with Trudeau on the decision to invoke the act.
The majority of the provinces, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island were opposed to the invocation of the emergencies act or said it wasn’t necessary.
The inquiry was formed by the federal government as required by the Emergencies Act to examine the justification of its use.
The Public Order Emergency Commission will hear testimonies until Nov. 25, before transitioning to a second phase with a focus on policy. Commissioner Paul Rouleau, an Ontario appeal court judge, has until Feb. 20, 2023, to submit his report to Parliament.
