Roundup: Ford wakes up after letting Ottawa suffer

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After being content to let Ottawa suffer under occupation by grifters, extremists and conspiracy theorists for the past two weeks, Doug Ford woke up and got serious now that the Ambassador Bridge is threatened. He declared a state of emergency and promised permanent legislation about blocking critical infrastructure, with fines of up to $100,000 and up to a year imprisonment, but that didn’t seem to help motivate police any. It was an injunction in Windsor that seems to have had more of an impact (and I find the notion that police will enforce an injunction but not uphold the laws on the statute books to be a concerning development with the rule of law). They were promising enforcement, but we’ll see, given that the crowd only grew once the injunction came into effect.

Meanwhile, I find myself a bit at a loss about the demands that Justin Trudeau “show leadership” in this situation. Every time I ask someone just which federal levers he should be deploying, I get static in reply. When pressed on the topic on Power & Politics the other day, Jagmeet Singh flailed and handwaved before resorting to a Jaida Essence Hall and trying to make a bunch of erroneous statements about healthcare funding. Trudeau cannot simply assert authority in this situation—it frankly does not meet the test for the Emergencies Act, and I’m not convinced this is a situation that requires it. I fail to see the utility of trying to get the RCMP to bigfoot the Ottawa Police as a) they don’t have the expertise in this situation, and b) they don’t have the numbers, particularly in the area. He’s not going to call in the military, because that is a very, very bad idea and more to the point, it’s the premier or his attorney general who needs to make the request for the aid to civil power under the National Defence Act. What else should Trudeau be doing? He told the convoy to go home on the first Monday (meaning, day four) during Question Period and elsewhere (you know, when members of the media accused him of being “in hiding” when he was in COVID isolation and still attending the House of Commons virtually). He’s been making calls the whole time, though not necessarily as performatively as is being demanded. So how else should he be “showing leadership”? What other powers should he be deploying? And even more to the point, why should he be playing into the trap that Ford and the extremist organizers themselves are laying out for him that is trying to put him at the centre of this?

Grifter Occupation: Day 16

The declaration of the state of emergency did absolutely nothing for Ottawa’s occupation zone, where the weekend revellers started rolling in early and turned it into a giant dance party (which the useful idiots then use to proclaim how “peaceful” and “happy” the event is). Our useless police chief also disputed Trudeau’s assertion that he had not exhausted all options (seriously, though—has he tried any?) as more reinforcements from the RCMP and OPP arrive. His trying to punt this to other forces is a problem, and accountability is going to need to be had once this whole incident is over with.

TD Bank is applying to the courts to surrender any of the GoFundMe money that has not been refunded and which was deposited into any personal accounts they hold, so that’s another blow to the movement by the private sector, which seems to be doing more than the government is.

Meanwhile, the occupation put up a tent and a stage, and fuel is still flowing freely into the area. Chief Sloly’s insistence that they have been enforcing “since day one” is risible, and now we have to endure another weekend of grievance tourists while the hard-core members of this occupation dig in further. What utter incompetence.

Good reads:

  • Here is a look at the difficulty of trying to determine what is meant by treating COVID as “endemic,” other than just ceasing to care about it.
  • The federal government has officially launched the competition to procure armed drones for the Canadian Forces.
  • The military is investigating one of its officers appearing in a video calling for his fellow soldiers to stand against vaccine mandates and restrictions.
  • The Canadian Standards Association released a new set of draft standards for long-term care homes, focusing on building standards and design, and infection control.
  • Pierre Poilievre keeps encouraging the grifter occupation, while Candice Bergen keeps advocating capitulation to their demands.
  • The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled that the federal bill to turn over Indigenous child welfare responsibility to their home nations is constitutional.
  • Heather Scoffield worries about the long-term economic damage from the border blockades, especially because it hurts our global reputation.
  • Althia Raj sees a loss of trust as a central issue of the occupation—loss in government by the occupiers, and in police by everyone around them.
  • Matt Gurney discusses the proper use of police kittling with protests like this, and how the Ambassador Bridge situation blew that out of the water for Ottawa.
  • My weekend column tries to look at some of the bigger-picture aspects of what the blockades/occupations are saying about Canada as a country.

Odds and ends:

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5 thoughts on “Roundup: Ford wakes up after letting Ottawa suffer”

  2. The prime minister could provide the resources the city of Ottawa requested instead of saying “they haven’t exhausted what they have”. That is well within his power to do and not out of his jurisdiction. I understand your point about the OPS punting off responsibility but this is not the fault of the residents in Ottawa and if those resources are what is needed to help us they should be provided. Afterwards we can litigate over whether the police should have been able to do it without them and hold the inquiry.

    • Tricia,

      “The prime minister could provide the resources the city of Ottawa requested instead of saying “they haven’t exhausted what they have”. That is well within his power to do and not out of his jurisdiction.”

      What resources could the Prime Minister offer the City of Ottawa? If you are saying that they should have offered military aid, Dale clearly stated the following in his above column:

      “Trudeau cannot simply assert authority in this situation—it frankly does not meet the test for the Emergencies Act, and I’m not convinced this is a situation that requires it. I fail to see the utility of trying to get the RCMP to bigfoot the Ottawa Police as a) they don’t have the expertise in this situation, and b) they don’t have the numbers, particularly in the area. He’s not going to call in the military, because that is a very, very bad idea and more to the point, it’s the premier or his attorney general who needs to make the request for the aid to civil power under the National Defence Act.”

      The City of Ottawa does NOT lay in a Federal District like other Federal Capitals, it lays entirely within the sovereign jurisdiction of Her Majesty’s Province of Ontario. The National Defence Act is clear. The request for military aid must come from the Province first as represented by the First Minister or the Attorney General.

      Justin Trudeau’s father did NOT have His then Excellency the Right Honourable Roland Michener, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada invoke the War Measures Act 1914 in October 1970 until after Premier ministre Robert Bourassa had formally requested it through the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council formally requested it. Also, it came after Pierre Laporte, a Minister of the Crown in Right of Quebec was kidnapped and killed.

      Ronald A. McCallum

      • I didn’t say anything about military aid or the war measures act. You jumped to that conclusion and started ranting about something I didn’t mention. I had also read Dale’s column and am well aware of what jurisdiction things are under.

        The city of Ottawa has asked the prime minister for the RCMP. The prime minister said previously that he would provide them if the city asked. Now he says that he will not. Are you suggesting the prime minister was confused about what powers he had when he made that assertion?

        The only people who think the prime minister has no role to play and accuse anyone who asks for him to do his job of advocating for the military are Liberal partisans. The rest of us would like the prime minister to either do his job or step aside for someone who can, even if that person is another Liberal like Freeland. Perhaps she will be more capable than he is, as she has proven to be in the past.

        Have a nice day.

        • Tricia,

          “The city of Ottawa has asked the prime minister for the RCMP. The prime minister said previously that he would provide them if the city asked. Now he says that he will not. Are you suggesting the prime minister was confused about what powers he had when he made that assertion?”

          I think you will find that the formal request for RCMP assistance has to go through channels, and that means going through the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council, specifically, the Premier of the Province of Ontario. Even, if Trudeau resigns and Chrystia Freeland is sworn in as Prime Minister, the Federal nature of Canada has to be respected, and the City of Ottawa is solely a creature of the Province of Ontario.

          Ronald A. McCallum

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