OTTAWA — A top Ontario government official said invoking the federal Emergencies Act was helpful but “not necessary” to clear our Freedom Convoy protests.
Ontario’s deputy solicitor general Mario Di Tommaso also told the Emergencies Act inquiry on Wednesday that the head of the OPP was already “very concerned” about then Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly’s leadership less than a week after hundreds of truckers rolled into the capital last winter.
His statements are contained in a written summary of an interview he gave Public Order Emergencies Commission lawyers in September.
The inquiry is tasked with establishing whether the Trudeau government met the legal threshold to invoke the exceptional powers contained in the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 to end Freedom Convoy protests across the country.
Di Tommaso’s “personal opinion” is that it was ultimately “not necessary” because the province had already cleared the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., and prevented others in Sarnia, Fort Erie and Cornwall using existing legislation and police resources.
Di Tommaso was likely to be asked to expound on that during his testimony Wednesday afternoon, but it was abruptly interrupted when the commission lawyer questioning him collapsed on stage. The hearing room was emptied as first responders treated the lawyer. His condition is not known.
Di Tommaso’s testimony is set to resume on Thursday.
His take is at odds with his political master’s. Ontario Premier Doug Ford is one of few provincial leaders to support Trudeau’s invocation of the act, repeating as recently as two weeks ago that he stood “shoulder to shoulder” with the prime minister on the decision.
The day after the act was invoked on Feb. 14, Ford said he supported the decision because it granted police “every single tool needed to resolve the situation and restore order.”
Di Tommaso’s interview summary also confirms that other police forces became suspicious of the ability of the Ottawa police leadership to deal with the Freedom Convoy within days of protesters settling into the streets around Parliament on Jan. 28.
Texts show feds were discussing invoking Emergencies Act one week into Freedom Convoy.
Trudeau told Ford police didn't need more powers to clear protesters, who weren't 'very smart people'.
As deputy solicitor general of community safety at the Ministry of the Solicitor General, Di Tommaso oversees the administration (but not police operations) of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
He said that already on Feb. 3, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique told him other chiefs of police were “very concerned” that Sloly had yet to put together a comprehensive plan to end the “occupation.”
Di Tommaso said the province and federal government would have sent in the 1,800 police officers that Sloly had pleaded for “much earlier” if the chief had been quicker to come up with a “comprehensiveplan” to contain the protests.
He said his understanding was that the OPP and RCMP did not want to send officers to Ottawa just to have them “sitting around.”
The Ottawa police and City of Ottawa’s decision to make their request for 1,800 additional officers publicly also created headaches for other police forces, Di Tommaso told the inquiry.