Documents introduced at the Emergencies Act inquiry will tell 'quite the story,' lawyer says
CBC
Eight months after anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate protesters gridlocked parts of downtown Ottawa, a public inquiry will begin probing the federal government's unprecedented use of emergency powers to clear the capital.
The commission's official launch this morning kicks off what's anticipated to be a politically tense six weeks as the inquiry hears from federal government representatives about why they felt they had to invoke the never-before-used Emergencies Act, and from those who feel it was a step too far.
The commission — officially titled the Public Order Emergency Commission — will also introduce thousands of documents over the next six weeks.
Lawyer Paul Champ, who is representing a coalition of community associations and business improvement areas in downtown Ottawa, has seen some of those documents already. While he's prohibited from talking about their contents, he said they aren't flattering to the various levels of government and law enforcement involved.
"I think there's going to be a very disturbing story to be told," he said.
"I think we're going to see where some of the balls are dropped. We're gonna see that there were a lot of disagreements, there were a lot of arguments and dysfunction between key actors. And it's going to be quite the story."
Champ said his clients aren't going to take a position about the invocation of the Emergencies Act. He said they want to make sure the official record reflects what people in Ottawa experienced over the three weeks when protesters were using trucks and other vehicles to blockade some of the city's main arteries and neighbourhoods.
"I don't think people really quite get how traumatized, and quite frankly terrorized, the people of Ottawa were," he said.
"Public services were completely interrupted. Ambulances had a hard time getting downtown. Buses were stopped, Para Transpo was stopped. Senior citizens, people with disabilities were significantly impacted.
"People were hostages in their own homes. And we want to make sure that that story is told."
The commission is the first of its kind in Canada and is a legal requirement under the Emergencies Act. Through an order-in-council, the commission has been directed to examine the circumstances that led to the declaration of a public emergency and to examine the following issues:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has continued to defend his government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, saying it was necessary "to get the situation back under control."
Invoking the act gave authorities new powers, including the authority to ban travel to protest zones, prohibit people from bringing minors to unlawful assemblies and commandeer tow trucks.
"That's exactly what we did," Trudeau told a news conference Wednesday.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.