Freedom Convoy protests [Split from All things 2019-nCoV]

[Edward Campbell]

Excuse me but Manitoba lives and runs on the perogy. Don't forget about them.

William Lyon Mckenzie King was PM throughout WW2 - he got policy advice from his mother - who was dead.

And her advice was probably better then what he got from a few of his ministers and some (not all, but more than just one) of his service chiefs.

 

[dimsum]

And her advice was probably better then what he got from a few of his ministers and some (not all, but more than just one) of his service chiefs.

 

[GK .Dundas]

Hate to say it but it's closer to the truth then I want to think about.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

WAC Bennett for all intents and purposes told the feds to piss off. Our files from that time were full of stuff about lack of cooperation and the difficultly of getting anything done federally. I ended up writing a report on the events of the WAC Bennett dam and Shrum Generating station regarding the application of Federal law to the project and how the Province ignored those requirements and it was not until about 2010ish that we got BC Hydro to fulfil the requirements under the Navigable Waters Protection Act for a dam built in 1968.
There are lots of ways for a Province to make life difficult for the Feds, even in 1998 cooperation between the Feds and the Albertan Provincial authorities was minimal and it reduced the effectiveness greatly of Federal resources in the Province.

 

[FSTO]

Excuse me but Manitoba lives and runs on the perogy. Don't forget about them.

Manitoba is so fly over country that fly over country flies over it!!

 

[lenaitch]

Loblaw's driverless grocery trucks have hit GTA streets

Loblaw has partnered with American autonomous logistics company Gatik to introduce the country's first self-driving delivery vehicles.

toronto.citynews.ca

This made me think of the convoy when I read it.

A slight programming change and they all end up on Wellington. I wonder if the software controls the horn.

 

[daftandbarmy]

This should provide wonderful tragi-comic relief over the next few months

Convoy leaders, PM expected to testify at inquiry into use of Emergencies Act​

Public inquiry will examine federal government's decision to grant police emergency powers​

The public inquiry into the federal government's unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act during what organizers called "Freedom Convoy" protests last winter begins on Thursday, and dozens of witnesses, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and high profile convoy organizers, are expected to testify.

The Liberal government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, granting police extraordinary temporary powers to clear people out of downtown Ottawa and allowing banks to freeze the accounts of some of those involved.

The decision came after nearly three weeks of protesters whose trucks clogged downtown Ottawa streets and also set up blockades at several border crossings.

Protesters, who had raised millions of dollars through online crowdfunding sites, were calling for an end to the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and in some cases an end to the Trudeau government.

Protesters had set up a bouncy castle, a hot tub and dozens of structures on the streets surrounding Parliament Hill by mid-February, while people in big rigs kept their trucks running and blared their horns day and night until a court injunction lessened the noise. Protesters pledged to stay.

The noise and disruption led to mounting public frustration from people living nearby, and Ottawa police and city officials described a state of "lawlessness" as they struggled to maintain order.

Trudeau cited "serious challenges to law enforcement's ability to effectively enforce the law" when he announced plans to invoke the act for the first time since it became law in 1988.

"This is about keeping Canadians safe, protecting people's jobs and restoring confidence in our institutions," he said at the time.

The Emergencies Act requires that a public inquiry be called to examine the government's decision-making any time it is invoked.

The Public Order Emergency Commission and Ontario Appeal Court Justice Paul Rouleau, who is the lead commissioner, will assess the basis for the government's decision and the appropriateness and effectiveness of the measures taken to deal with the blockades. They will also review whether there should be any changes to the Emergencies Act itself.

Since it was established on April 25, the commission has been collecting documents and interviewing dozens of people, including central figures in the "Freedom Convoy" such as Tamara Lich, Chris Barber, Pat King and James Bauder — all facing criminal charges for their roles.

A draft list of potential witnesses at the hearings includes outgoing Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and senior city officials, members of the Ottawa
Police Services Board and David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Peter Sloly, who resigned as Ottawa police chief during the convoy, and his replacement, interim police chief Steve Bell, are also expected to testify.

So are Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.

Mendicino told reporters last week the Emergencies Act was necessary to restore order across the country, including on Wellington Street "where for three weeks, the situation was virtually ungovernable."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inquiry-convoy-emergencies-act-1.6612084

 

[brihard]

Quite the witness list. This may be a spectacle.

 

[RangerRay]

The government better bring receipts to this. And “because the City of Ottawa couldn’t do its job” won’t cut it.

 

[Ostrozac]

The government better bring receipts to this. And “because the City of Ottawa couldn’t do its job” won’t cut it.

That’s what everybody’s been dancing around, isn’t it? The incompetence of the City of Ottawa (specifically probably the Mayor and definitely the OPS Police Chief) and a Province of Ontario perfectly willing to let the situation play out as they had the city to blame and weren’t going to pay a political price.

Constitutionally, do the Feds have a right (or a duty) to step in as a force of last resort? Or, within their areas of jurisdiction, do the provinces have the right to fail? Personally, I lean towards the latter option — let them fail — but I can see the ’peace/order/good government’ other side of the argument.

 

[Eaglelord17]

That’s what everybody’s been dancing around, isn’t it? The incompetence of the City of Ottawa (specifically probably the Mayor and definitely the OPS Police Chief) and a Province of Ontario perfectly willing to let the situation play out as they had the city to blame and weren’t going to pay a political price.

Constitutionally, do the Feds have a right (or a duty) to step in as a force of last resort? Or, within their areas of jurisdiction, do the provinces have the right to fail? Personally, I lean towards the latter option — let them fail — but I can see the ’peace/order/good government’ other side of the argument.

My argument is that act should be reserved for when the provinces have no powers left to their discretion or it is absolutely 1000% necessary and there is no alternative option. Ontario still had the ability to do more within the legal framework (including requesting military support if so desired), they just chose not to. There was no pressing time requirement, if they had waited a week, or a month, it likely would have made no more of a difference than invoking the act that day.

What the Feds should have done is made a list of things the province had available as options and sent a copy of that list to the province as well as the media. Put the ball back in Ford's park and made him make a decision.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

My argument is that act should be reserved for when the provinces have no powers left to their discretion or it is absolutely 1000% necessary and there is no alternative option. Ontario still had the ability to do more within the legal framework (including requesting military support if so desired), they just chose not to. There was no pressing time requirement, if they had waited a week, or a month, it likely would have made no more of a difference than invoking the act that day.

What the Feds should have done is made a list of things the province had available as options and sent a copy of that list to the province as well as the media. Put the ball back in Ford's park and made him make a decision.

The province already proved they had the necessary tools to end the protests when they moved on the Windsor blockades. The use of the Emergencies Act was completely unnecessary.

 

[Rifleman62]

Convoy leaders, PM expected to testilie at inquiry into use of Emergencies Act​

 

[lenaitch]

Oh goody, a public inquiry. Everybody lawyered up on the taxpayer's dime. Will the Commissioners' findings clearly conclude that the invocation of the Act was or was not necessary? I will be very surprised, but several million for the show.

The province already proved they had the necessary tools to end the protests when they moved on the Windsor blockades. The use of the Emergencies Act was completely unnecessary.

It's funny what can happen when you ask. Windsor PS asked for help and had an operation plan what it was going to do with said help. Ottawa did not in the initial stages. Other police services (in particular the OPP which the only non-federal service that is mandated to provide assistance on Ontario) need to have the confidence that their very expensive resources will be utilized appropriately and safely. The Toronto G7/G20 established that. The Ontario SolGen could have ordered them in but it chose not to. At what point do you strip the big boy pants from a city of a million. This wasn't Smiths Falls.

 

[Good2Golf]

Ontario still had the ability to do more within the legal framework (including requesting military support if so desired), they just chose not to. There was no pressing time requirement, if they had waited a week, or a month, it likely would have made no more of a difference than invoking the act that day.

Where in Ontario didn’t have to deal with ridiculous political brinkmanship, it solved the issues quickly and without fuss, as HB said. Windsor, a few days to let folks make their case public ally until they impinged on the rights of others, then tied up with a peaceful bow.

What the Feds should have done is made a list of things the province had available as options and sent a copy of that list to the province as well as the media. Put the ball back in Ford's park and made him make a decision.

No, the Feds should have stopped fanning the flames with bombastic rhetoric from the outset, and head things off at the pass with a milquetoast virtual meeting, blah-de-blah-blah, donbetter, we hear you, etc. instead of shaping the event into a specious cause to enact the EA…

 

[Journeyman]

Quite the witness list. This may be a spectacle.

Bread & circuses. The people will be kept distractedly amused -- cheering as 'proof' anything supporting their ideology, and chirping at that which is contrary. Health Canada recommends not holding your breath waiting for anything substantive to result.

 

[Lumber]

Where in Ontario didn’t have to deal with ridiculous political brinkmanship, it solved the issues quickly and without fuss, as HB said. Windsor, a few days to let folks make their case public ally until they impinged on the rights of others, then tied up with a peaceful bow.

And just what "political brinkmanship" was going on that prevents the Ottawa and/or Ontario Police from doing their jobs?

No, the Feds should have stopped fanning the flames with bombastic rhetoric from the outset, and head things off at the pass with a milquetoast virtual meeting, blah-de-blah-blah, donbetter, we hear you, etc. instead of shaping the event into a specious cause to enact the EA…

Right, because the government had just been itching for an opportunity to use the EA (for some reason, that as soon as the convoy protest started, the government saw an opportunity and purposefully acted antagonistically in order to confound the situation and give themselves the excuse they needed to enact the EA, just so that they could cancel it 10 days later with no lasting consequences... yup, that makes sense to me!

 

[Lumber]

The province already proved they had the necessary tools to end the protests when they moved on the Windsor blockades. The use of the Emergencies Act was completely unnecessary.

So then why didn't the province or city of Ottawa do any of that?

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Watch the enquiry....

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

So then why didn't the province or city of Ottawa do any of that?

It's a good question . The answers are all inherently political.