Premier Doug Ford has declared a state of emergency over the “Freedom Convoy” protests in Ottawa that have led to a blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor – and international embarrassment.
At a press conference on Friday, the premier announced that he will be calling on his cabinet to draw up orders prohibiting the blockading by protestors of “all points of entry, including the 400-series of highways, airports, ports, bridges and railways” as well as “ambulatory and medical services, public transit, municipal and provincial roadways, as well as pedestrian walkways.” The order will include fines of $100,000 or more for those who fail to comply. The premier also threatened to revoke the vehicle licences of those blockading the bridge.
It was a determined performance by the premier, reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic when he was lauded for his “leadership.” Perhaps it was a performance tailored for a run at the federal Conservative Party leadership.
To be sure, most of those who have been watching the Freedom Convoy situation unravel in Ottawa in recent weeks and spread to our borders did not have “Doug Ford showing leadership” on their bingo cards. The premier has been largely MIA as protest-turned-siege and occupation in Ottawa has now spread anger across the country.
The question has to be asked: What took Ford so long?
Ford seemed happy to let Justin Trudeau wear the backlash after the so-called #FreedomConvoy rolled into Ottawa to ostensibly protest vaccines and vaccine mandates for truckers, even though those mandates fall under provincial jurisdiction. Moreover, the premier stood by and watched while the nation’s capital convulsed from convoy protests and Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly called for backup.
Indeed, the premier seemed to wash his hands of the entire situation as it reached a boiling point last weekend, sending out a tweet to say the province had given the city all the resources it needed to deal with protestors. The 1,500 OPP officers promised by the province, however, didn’t quite materialize. Some 100 were reportedly actually dispatched to Ottawa.
The premier has in the intervening days also reportedly blown off three meetings with the feds over the siege in Ottawa and blockade in Windsor as auto plants announced closures over the disruption of the delivery of parts over the border.
A casual observer might say that Ford was capitalizing on the situation by signalling support for the protestors’ calls for ending vaccine passport requirements in Ontario. The premier, in fact, started his press conference on Friday praising the province’s efforts to beat back the Omicron variant and the coming lifting of mandates. “People are frustrated, they’re scared, they’re angry. They’ve reached a boiling point,” he said. He seemed to be making an apology before changing tone and launching into the reasons for the news for emergency measures to halt the protests.
What changed? Was it the fact that CTV has come into possession of footage of the premier enjoying his time snowmobiling at the cottage while Ottawa burned?
It seems doubtful that this alone was the trigger, but it’s a development worth noting given the premier’s penchant for disappearing when the sledding gets tough. Did it all of a sudden become clear to the premier – who should have been taking control of the situation from the get-go – that things have gotten out of hand? How was this allowed to happen?
It took him several days, for example, to respond to the flying of Confederate flags and swastikas in Ottawa at the outset of the convoy protest.
The small group of protestors blocking traffic on the Ambassador Bridge (five truckers according to the premier, backed by a bunch of pickups) have been there for a week. Their actions have disrupted a pipeline that accounts for almost 30 per cent of Canada’s trade with the U.S., and some $700 million of commerce per day.
The takeover has not only upended the economy. It has become an international incident. The governor of Michigan and the Ambassador of the United States have expressed their dismay over the inability (or unwillingness) of authorities on this side of the border to do anything about the blockade.
The inaction has sent out the wrong message not only to the world but business, which has begun to question whether the province is a safe place to invest (and raised the spectre of moving their Canadian operations to the U.S.)
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also been watching developments – and sounding the alarm – about the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge and others that have sprung up at Canada-U.S. border crossings in Alberta and Manitoba in the wake of the Ottawa protests.
The fallout has set off worldwide implications, firing up similar protests around the globe over vaccine mandates, with plans for convoys to head to Washington DC in the coming weeks. It’s not over by far.
Ford spoke clearly to the protestors that not abiding by the emergency order would carry consequences.
What happens if they decide to dig in? Ford said that he has “the utmost confidence” in the police. We’ll find out soon enough as more convoy protestors head to Ottawa and descend on Toronto this weekend. At press time, the chief justice of Ontario granted an injunction against the protest.
“The eyes of the world are upon us,” Ford said on Friday, “and what they are seeing is not who we are. This is not what Canada is about. This is not how we try and change things in Canada.” Within minutes of the premier’s press conference, however, Freedom Convoy supporters on social media were urging protestors to “hold the line.”
