Opinion: What’s emerged so far during the Emergencies Act hearings may be the most Canadian story ever: a crisis that lasted longer than necessary, althiaraj writes.
In the minds of many Ottawa residents, the convoy’s occupation never made much sense. Most vaccine mandates were imposed by the provinces. The federal truckers’ mandate, which spurred the blockades, was a mirror image of policy imposed by the United States, unlikely to impact many drivers. In a video circulated at the time, one sleep-deprived local pleaded with a demonstrator to stop the honking.“You f-ing idiot,” the Ottawa man screamed back. “The mandates are provincial, not federal.
Early on, as the semi-trucks arrived in the capital, several cabinet ministers wondered why they were allowed to park on Wellington Street, between the prime minister’s office and the House of Commons. The federal government couldn’t do anything, however, and neither could the Parliamentary Protective Service, the security force on Parliament Hill, because the streets were the responsibility of the Ottawa Police Service.
“When people were looking at solutions, one of the solutions was, well why doesn’t the RCMP take over?” she recounted in her testimony. “We got asked that quite often. We’d say, “Well, it’s not our — we’re not the police of jurisdiction. We don’t have jurisdiction in the province of Ontario.” She said she had to “educate” deputy ministers and cabinet ministers about the RCMP’s role.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino testified the Canada Border Services Agency told him it “did not have the authority or the jurisdiction to clear the roads leading to the border,” such as the Canadian side of the Ambassador Bridge, where the Windsor police held jurisdiction.
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