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Day 24 of Public Hearings, November 16, 2022 Public Inquiry for the Invocation of the Emergencies Act

Tia Riley

Day 24 of the Emergencies Act Public Inquiry, internal Statistics Canada documents released revealed that border blockades “had little impact” on Canadian trade in the month February. 

The document, which was produced in April by Statistics Canada, suggests that despite the blockades at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, Coutts, Alberta, Emerson, Manitoba, and the Pacific Highway in British Columbia, the impact to Canada’s trade imports and exports were minimal.

MR. JOHN OSSOWSKI, Affirmed
Examination in-Chief by Ms. Alexandra Heine
Examination in-Chief by Mr. Gordon Cameron
Cross-Examination by Mr. Brendan Miller
Cross-Examination by Ms. Jennifer King
Cross-Examination by Ms. Stephanie Bowes
Cross-Examination by Ms. Jinan Kubursi
Cross-Examination by Mr. Hatim Kheir
Cross-Examination by Ms. Andrea Gonsalves
Re-Examination by Mr. Gordon Cameron

Miller: They [government] have been saying in public that law enforcement agencies advised them that the threshold for invoking the act was met. What law enforcement agency advised them of that?

Ossowski: I’m not aware of who provided that advice.

Miller: Neither are we.

Former CBSA President John Ossowski on CBSA officers having the capacity to preemptively turn protestors away from border crossings:

“Well, it wasn’t an unlawful protest at that point in time… before the Emergencies Act, right?”

Ah yes, it was a legal protest. Until the emergencies act. It was illegal after that. Thanks for clearing that up, John Ossowski. let’s think on that one for a moment…

https://twitter.com/i/status/1592921641671352320

Despite being involved in cabinet meetings and incident response group meetings with the government, CBSA president John Ossowski says he is unaware of any law enforcement agencies that advised the government the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act was met.

The former president of the CBSA, John Ossowski, says he was “very proud of the way the organization responded” to border blockades across the country during the Freedom Convoy protest.

“Several disruptive activities continued well after the invocation of the act,” says former CBSA president John Ossowski while addressing other protests and slow-rolls near border crossings.

John OSSOWSKI, the former head of the CBSA testified:

RE: Foreign nationals coming into Canada to join the ‘protest’

“but, there were people that came in, that met all the requirements and could’ve gone to the protest.”

DM MICHAEL KEENAN, Sworn
MR. CHRISTIAN DEA, Sworn
Examination in-Chief by Mr. Gordon Cameron
Examination in-Chief by Mr. Stephen Armstrong
Examination in-Chief by Mr. Gordon Cameron (cont’d)
Cross-Examination by Ms. Cara Zwibel
Cross-Examination by Mr. Brendan Miller
Cross-Examination by Mr. Daniel Chomski
Cross-Examination by Ms. Jessica Barrow
Cross-Examination by Ms. Jennifer King
Cross-Examination by Ms. Stephanie Bowes
Cross-Examination by Mr. Mitch McAdam
Cross-Examination by Mr. Nikolas De Stefano
Cross-Examination by Mr. Hatim Kheir
Cross-Examination by Ms. Andrea Gonsalves

During the Freedom Convoy protest, Transport Canada staff were trying to find operators for tow trucks.”It turns out that you don’t have, in the gov’t, people who have that particular skillset,” says Deputy Minister Michael Keenan.

Border blockades during the Freedom Convoy put “the health and safety of Canadians at risk” and hurt “investment confidence,” which put “future really good, high-paying jobs at risk,” says Transport Canada Deputy Minister Michael Keenan.

Deputy Minister Michael Keenan explains the role Transport Canada played in the Emergencies Act, which included arranging tow trucks and assessing economic impacts plus other background analysis.

Deputy Minister Michael Keenan tells the commission that Transport Canada didn’t buy tow trucks “because of the problem Alberta ran into.”
Namely, the lack of trained operators for these vehicles.

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