If there's one thing Doug Ford doesn't want to do, it's being a witness at the Emergencies Act Inquiry. Susan Delacourt writes:
Many mysterious characters drifted into Ottawa during last winter’s convoy protest. Three days into the public hearings on that event, the most mysterious actor to emerge so far is Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
In fact, two Doug Fords showed up in Ottawa on Monday. One, the in-person version, was appearing at an event with Justin Trudeau and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, talking glowingly about how well they all worked together.
To hear the premier describe it, they were as tight as the Three Musketeers when Canada’s capital and border points were under siege last February.
“Yes, I stood shoulder to shoulder with the prime minister,” Ford said on Monday about whether he supported the declaration of an emergency in February. “We’ve worked collaboratively with the mayor and the prime minister.”
But there is disagreement on that score:
Ontario, for instance, simply did not show up at proposed “tripartite” meetings with the City of Ottawa and federal government — a point that provoked frustration from mayor Watson and federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair, the inquiry heard.
Watson had hoped Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation might get involved in efforts to pressure truckers into ending the illegal blockade; Blair asked why he was reading in the media that Ontario viewed the tripartite committee as useless.
“I think I was disappointed that they didn’t participate,” Ottawa city manager Steve Kanellakos said during his testimony on Monday. At several points in his retelling of events over this tense time last winter, Kanellakos talked of how Ford’s government was pretty hands off, preferring to leave this mess as a police matter to sort out.
To be clear, Ford was no Pierre Poilievre:
Unlike the man who has been newly named the federal Conservative leader, Ford did not cheer on the protesters or meet with them. Surprisingly, perhaps, Ford managed to duck the wrath the convoy directed at Trudeau, even though Ontario, as much as the federal government, was responsible for the COVID measures that had the convoy folks all riled up. Still, no “F-- Ford” flags flew during the Ottawa occupation.
And, after Trudeau declared an emergency, Ford declared an emergency in Ontario. His final alliance with Trudeau has put Doug in a tight spot. He's hoping he can fly under the radar.
Image: The Toronto Star
