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Nov. 7, 2022 - Viva & Barnes

03:52:30

Emergencies Act Inquiry - Nov. 7, 2022 Live with Chat - Viva Frei

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	Order or other?
	The Public Order Emergency Commission is now in session.
	Good morning.
	Bonjour.
	I see we have a different cast this morning.
	We're moving geographically or figuratively, I guess.
	To the different area of Ontario.
	Okay, and who is the Commission Council this morning?
	Good morning, Commissioner.
	Morning.
	The Commission would like to call Mayor Drew Dilkins.
	And if you could identify yourself for the-Natalia Rodriguez, Commission Council.
	Okay.
	Will you swear on a religious document or do you wish to affirm?
	For the record, state your full name and spell it out.
	Drew Dilkins, D-R-E-W-D-I-L-K-E-N-S.
	Do you swear that the evidence to be given by you to this Commission shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
	So help you God.
	Thank you.
	Thank you.
	Welcome.
	Thank you.
	Hey, go ahead.
	Good morning, Mayor Dilkens.
	How are you?
	Good morning.
	I'm well, thank you.
	Good.
	Nice to see you again.
	You had an interview with Commission Council on September 2nd of this year.
	Do you recall that?
	Yes.
	And we had an interview summary that was made as a result of that interview.
	Do you recall that?
	Yes.
	And you've had a chance to review that summary?
	Correct.
	And do you have any corrections to make to that summary at this time?
	Just a slight correction as it relates to the statement regarding the CBSA and the offer for tow trucks.
	Okay, so let's pull that up.
	It's WTS 6019.
	and I believe you're referring to evidence that was on page five so we'll go to page five of that.
	Okay, and it's the paragraph that says towing resources right there?
	Correct.
	Okay, so what is it that you would like to change with respect to that paragraph?
	The correction should be that CBSA did not offer tow trucks to the Windsor Police Service or the city.
	The CBSA offered to help clear the drivers and tow trucks that may be available from the United States.
	So it wasn't that the CBSA had tow trucks themselves that was offered.
	Okay, so they were facilitating the movement of tow trucks and drivers over the border.
	Is that correct?
	Okay, perfect.
	We'll make that correction.
	Thank you.
	And we'll have that witness summary entered into evidence.
	You also swore an affidavit attaching two institutional reports from the City of Windsor.
	Yes.
	And we're going to bring, well, first of all, we'll bring the affidavit up.
	It's AFF 6013.
	Apologies, counsel.
	Is there a prefix to that number?
	AFF.
	six zeros one three two
	three Okay, and if we can scroll down a little bit.
	Do you recognize this as your affidavit?
	Yes.
	Okay, great.
	And we'll go to the two institutional reports then.
	i
	n dot ir seven zeros one so oh
	Okay, and if we can go down a little bit.
	Okay, and you recognize this as the institutional report for the City of Windsor?
	Correct.
	Do you have any corrections to make to this institutional report?
	I would just make one correction as it relates to, this is probably not material, but for the interest of being correct, there's a mention in there that the city was formed in 1935 and it mentions an amalgamation act.
	Windsor actually received city status in 1892.
	Okay, so Windsor has been a city since 1892, but it was amalgamated in 1935.
	That's correct.
	Okay, thank you.
	We'll make that correction, and it will be entered into evidence.
	And then if we can just have the second institution report, WIN.IR702.
	And this, I believe, is a timeline of key events.
	And you recognize that, correct?
	Yes, I do.
	Okay, do you have any changes to make to that institution report?
	I do not.
	Okay, thank you.
	We'll have those entered into evidence along with your affidavit.
	So I understand you've been the Mayor of Windsor since 2014, is that right?
	That's correct.
	And my understanding is you've also been the Chair of the Windsor Police Services Board since that time as well.
	That's correct.
	And as Mayor, you are also part of the Community Control Group, is that right?
	That's right.
	And can you explain what the Community Control Group is?
	The Community Control...
	Control group is effectively the members of our corporate leadership team, so the commissioners and the appropriate people needed to deal with certain events.
	And basically, the idea is if we have a significant event, we give information once to the whole group and then provide a response where everyone is on the same page and understands what needs to be done before we adjourn a meeting.
	And when you say commissioners, those are the kind of leads of the different departments in the city?
	Yes, it's...
	It would be analogous in a corporate setting to the vice president.
	Right.
	So it's the senior city leadership team, the city manager, and all of the different department heads for each department.
	Okay, great.
	And that includes EMS and the heads of, well, I assume also members of the WPS, or at least one member of the WPS would be there as well?
	If required, yes.
	Yes.
	Okay, thank you.
	And my understanding is the CCG was activated during the blockade in Windsor of this year.
	Is that right?
	That's correct.
	And what kind of decisions would be made at the CCG level?
	Any sort of operational decision that is required from a city perspective.
	And it could be traffic control measures.
	It could be the acquisition of public works items, perhaps jersey barriers.
	It could be procuring.
	Any sort of legal resource that is needed.
	It really runs the gamut depending on what's required in each situation.
	And what's an example of the kind of decision that was made for this particular event, which was the blockade?
	Well, with respect to the blockade, everyone got together.
	It was very quickly determined that the right incident command for this event was a police response.
	And so on the back end, we were providing operational support to police.
	And that was procurement of jersey barriers, traffic signal control, signage, you know, a whole host of different inputs that would be required to manage what police needed to deal with the event.
	And was there also an aspect that dealt with maintaining city services and ensuring the impacts to the residents and businesses was as little as possible?
	That's true.
	So from a transit perspective?
	We want to make sure that the transit routes that would have crossed the area in question, that they can continue to be maintained in some order, that people can continue to move throughout the city.
	And so all of those people were around the table making sure that we were deploying the right response to support police in this endeavor.
	Okay, thank you.
	And so you kind of, you wore three hats in a sense during the event.
	You were the mayor of the city, you were the chair of the Windsor Police Services Board, and you were a member of the CCG.
	Correct.
	And so in your role as CCG, who would have been briefing you?
	Would that have been Chief Laforet?
	Yeah, Chief Steve Laforet is our fire chief, and so he took control of the CCG and was sort of the, I would say, like the emergency coordinator, making sure that all of the people were around the table and that the facilities were available, and he acted as the person in charge for that group.
	And as mayor, would it have been the CAO who briefed you?
	Well, I mean, I received briefings from the Chief of Police at the time, from the Deputy Chief Belair, from the CAO, from City Legal.
	I mean, there were a number of inputs coming in to me throughout the day.
	And certainly at CCG, it was during the CCG meetings, it was a chance for us to share information broadly so that everyone was on the same page and that we knew it was required and we were, for lack of a better term, locked and loaded moving forward.
	So in many ways, your three hats were kind of together at the same time.
	There wasn't really a distinction between the three roles that you were playing?
	Almost none.
	Okay.
	So I want to familiarize the Commissioner and others with Windsor and the geography of Windsor and the Ambassador Bridge, which is the bridge in question, because I think it provides some context to what we're going to be talking about in the next couple of hours.
	So I wanted to bring up the map that was circulated earlier.
	And so this is a map of Windsor, correct?
	A portion of it, yep.
	A portion of it.
	Okay, thank you.
	And we can see at the bottom there, where the cursor is, that yellow line that goes east to west.
	Is that the 401?
	Yes, the part that's marked 401 will be the portion that goes to the new Gordie Howe Bridge, and then the portion south.
	of where it says EC Row Expressway is basically, it's called the Herb Grey Parkway, but it's a direct connection.
	It effectively is the 401.
	It links the 401 through the City of Windsor to the future.
	Gordie Howe Bridge.
	And then, of course, traffic.
	That bridge is not open yet, but traffic that is trying to access the Ambassador Bridge has to get off the 401 north of E.C. Row Expressway, where they're getting on a municipal road.
	So they move from a provincial highway to a municipal road.
	So maybe we can zoom in a little bit on the municipal road.
	So that would be the yellow road running northwest.
	Is that right?
	Correct.
	Okay.
	And what's the name of that road?
	Huron Church Road.
	Huron Church Road.
	Okay.
	And so that's a municipal road now within the boundaries of the city, correct?
	That's correct.
	Okay.
	And so to get to the bridge, we're going to zoom in.
	It's about five kilometers is my understanding from the 401 to the bridge on Huron Church Road.
	Is that right?
	It might be somewhat less than that, you know, say between just around a little over three kilometers.
	Okay.
	Fair enough.
	And so let's zoom in a little bit there.
	Okay.
	And so where would the entrance then to the bridge be?
	So just to the left of where your cursor, your pointer is, right there where that green dot is, traffic would proceed north and continue to follow the yellow line.
	Now you're on to basically the entrance, you know, the approach to the bridge.
	Okay.
	And so that's still within the city.
	And is that now, is there any federal agencies that are in that area that are in charge of securing that area?
	Well, the response is a municipal response.
	So if there was an accident, if there was some form of criminality or something that required police attention, Windsor police would respond.
	Okay.
	But you are actually now getting on privately owned property.
	The Ambassador Bridge is owned by?
	A private corporation.
	And so that private corporation is required to follow the provisions of the International Bridges and Tunnels Act, which is federal legislation in Canada, and that the person, the minister responsible for administering that legislation is the Minister of Transportation.
	Okay.
	And does CBSA have a presence on this portion, on the entrance of the bridge?
	Yes.
	So CBSA, you see the red...
	Looks like a customs officer, a police officer, that's where CBSA has their staff.
	Okay, great.
	And so I wanted to make the map 3D if we can, just to show the elevation, because the bridge actually starts not at the river there, but actually further down in the actual city.
	So I just wanted to show that.
	If we can zoom in a little bit.
	So it looks like...
	The bridge really starts, well, we can see there now it's going underneath Wyandotte Street.
	Is that right?
	It goes over Wyandotte Street.
	It goes over, yes.
	And so it looks like part of the bridge is actually going through the city itself, not over water.
	Is that right?
	Correct.
	So the bridge itself, I mean, people would refer to the bridge as the portion of the structure between the two largest pillars.
	Everything else is the approach.
	And so the approach to, you can see the large pillar coming out of the water there.
	Everything leading up to that pillar is the approach, and you can see the rise and elevation as vehicles get on the bridge.
	And just north of where the pointer is now, that's the University of Windsor campus.
	It's directly adjacent to...
	To the Ambassador Bridge, and they have about 17,500 students that attend that campus.
	And the other side looks to be quite residential, is that right?
	That's correct.
	Okay, so if we can zoom back a little bit, yeah, and just move back.
	So in order to then enter the bridge, drivers would come north on Huron Church Road, and they would enter what we call, is this called a plaza, this area?
	Where vehicles would enter to go through customs and go through the border?
	So where the pointer is now, you can see if you stayed to the left on that roadway, that would be into the plaza area, past the duty-free, and then onto the bridge.
	And where that pointer was, where the number three is, again, if you stayed to the left, you're going to the bridge.
	To stay to the right, that's how people, majority of people, I would submit, get to the University of Windsor each and every day.
	So that is one way to get on the Ambassador Bridge.
	There is a second entrance to the Ambassador Bridge, and that is sort of in the middle of the screen where the yellow dot is right there.
	There is an entrance point just down, you know, 20 meters or 30 meters.
	You can turn in and access the bridge that way as well.
	Okay, thank you.
	And my understanding is that the blockade occurred at the intersection of Huron Church Road and College Street.
	Is that correct?
	That's correct.
	Okay, so let's go to that area.
	I believe that's where the green cursor is.
	Is that right?
	Yes.
	Okay, thank you.
	So now with that in mind, we can talk a little bit about the blockade and how it occurred, having a better understanding of the layout of the city and where the bridge is in relation to the rest of the city.
	So thank you for that.
	So you had mentioned that the Ambassador Bridge is privately owned, and that's on both sides of the border, correct?
	Correct.
	The southern end, the Canadian port of entry, is as we saw within the city of Windsor.
	That's right.
	And my understanding is that there are a few other points of entry or there are other areas to be able to get to the U.S. side, including a tunnel.
	Is that right?
	Yes, the City of Windsor and the City of Detroit, we respectively own our own halves of the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel.
	We manage them together, but ownership rests with each municipality.
	And what kind of vehicles pass through the tunnel as opposed to through the bridge?
	Why would one go over into the tunnel versus the bridge?
	The tunnel is predominantly just vehicular traffic, passenger cars.
	Haulers, auto haulers can go in the tunnel, but there are weight and height restrictions.
	The tunnel's 90-plus years old, so there are height and weight restrictions in the tunnel.
	So the vast majority of truck traffic uses the Ambassador Bridge.
	Passenger traffic uses the tunnel.
	Okay.
	And my understanding is there's also a ferry between Windsor and Detroit.
	Is that right?
	That's correct.
	And the ferry is used for hazardous goods.
	They cannot cross over the Ambassador Bridge.
	They're carrying hazardous goods.
	And does any kind of just regular traffic go also on the ferry, or is that exclusively limited to hazardous goods?
	It's exclusive to vehicles carrying hazardous goods.
	Okay.
	And I understand there's also a rail tunnel that connects Windsor to Detroit.
	Is that right?
	There is.
	And what kind of traffic goes through the rail tunnel?
	I'm not sure in terms of the volume of traffic, but it is not a double-stack tunnel, so it limits the type of traffic that can go through, train traffic that can go through.
	And is it generally commercial traffic?
	Yes.
	Now, according to the institutional report that we saw earlier, my understanding is that there are over 2.6 million truck crossings over the bridge, or there were in 2020.
	Does that sound about right?
	That sounds about right.
	And this is about 28% of all of Canada's truck crossings.
	Correct.
	And my understanding also is that the bridge handles over $390 million of trade each day.
	Does that sound right?
	Yeah, so the numbers vary, and it really, you know, the estimate is between $300 million and $450 million, depending on the day, depending on the season.
	Any way you cut it, it's hundreds of millions of dollars a day.
	So between $3.50 and $4.50 is sort of the rule of thumb.
	And the bridge also serves as an important corridor for travel for Windsor residents.
	Is that right?
	It does.
	And generally, what kind of day-to-day traffic in terms of residents is going over the bridge?
	Well, I would say there really are...
	Two kinds.
	And so living in Windsor, we have the benefit of being a sort of that safe, small city community in Canada.
	And then people who live in Windsor in our area often cross for all of the amenities that you would find in a big city, whether that's sports or dining or...
	All of that exists in Detroit just 10 minutes away.
	But we also have about 6,000 people who cross to go to work.
	People who live in our community and cross to work in the greater Detroit area each and every day.
	And those are, you know, everything from engineers and a whole host of healthcare professionals that continue to cross even during the pandemic.
	And now, you had mentioned that if there was an accident on the bridge, it would be the Windsor Police Service who would respond to that accident, correct?
	If it's on the Canadian side, yes.
	Yes.
	Now, what happens if, for example, someone's trying to cross unlawfully or there's another type of situation that's not, say, an accident?
	Windsor Police, from my understanding, would be the ones that would receive the first call and provide the first response if there's other criminal type of activity.
	Does the OPP have any jurisdiction anywhere in Windsor or the bridge, to your knowledge?
	Not to my knowledge.
	I would say that the OPP is responsible.
	When we looked at the map just a few minutes ago where the 401 meets the ECRO Expressway, the OPP is responsible to patrol effectively the 401, which is in our area as well.
	Right.
	But the 401 is outside of the city limits, is my understanding.
	Is that right?
	Exactly.
	And does the RCMP have any jurisdiction anywhere in Windsor or on the bridge?
	Not to my knowledge.
	They have a presence in Windsor.
	There's a detachment, but I'm not aware that they have any sort of operational dealings with the Ambassador Bridge, per se.
	Okay.
	Now, just going back to the arrival of the convoy that caused the blockade and to even go further before that time, my understanding is that there were slow roll protests that happened at the end.
	of January.
	Is that correct?
	Correct.
	And were you aware of those at the time?
	I really wasn't aware of them at the time.
	They really had no impact and the Chief of the Day hadn't mentioned that to me.
	And so I wasn't aware at the time.
	And these were Convoys of trucks going up and down Huron Church Road, kind of slowly, in a slow manner.
	Is that your understanding of what that was?
	Correct.
	And as I came to find out, they weren't blocking traffic, so traffic to and from the Ambassador Bridge was still able to move.
	Okay, thank you.
	Now, at the end of January, were you aware of the convoy protest that was happening in Ottawa?
	Yes.
	And did you have at that time any information to suggest that those protests might impact Windsor?
	I had no information myself and nothing was passed to me at the end of January.
	Okay.
	So when were you first advised that there was potentially a risk of a blockade to the bridge or that there was maybe a plan to blockade the bridge?
	February the 4th.
	Okay.
	So I'm going to take you to WIN6010.
	And this is an email dated February 4th.
	And if we go to the bottom of the first page, yeah, we can see the email is from somebody at CBSA to Carolyn Brown.
	And some other individuals.
	Who's Carolyn Brown?
	Carolyn Brown is a city employee who's responsible for managing the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, our half.
	Your half of the tunnel.
	Okay, not the bridge, the tunnel.
	Correct.
	Right.
	And so she's saying, sorry, Mr. Boazmier is saying to her, we have heard of additional slow roll protests in and around Huron Church and the Ambassador Bridge over the next few days.
	Information on social media also suggests that, quote, if we don't see any change by Monday, we will be shutting down the Windsor border crossing completely, end quote.
	While there is no information that I have been made aware of regarding protests at the tunnel, if any such blockade occurs at the Ambassador Bridge, we may see an increase in passenger traffic and those commercial vehicles that are able to utilize the tunnel.
	Okay, so were you...
	Made aware of this information at the time?
	Not from the folks on this email, but I did receive a call from the Chief of Police shortly thereafter who told me about the slow roll and the police are monitoring this slow roll through the City of Windsor.
	And at that time, was there any discussion about potentially trying to prevent a blockade from occurring?
	No, what the Chief told me, Chief Mizuno had said that that's when I found out that it was already happening in the days prior to February the 4th, and that everyone had been peaceful, that there had been no blockage of traffic to and from the Ambassador Bridge, and so what the Chief told me is that they were monitoring the situation, and she just wanted to let me know.
	Okay, and did the City do anything in response to this information?
	On this particular time?
	I wouldn't say on February the 4th, not right away.
	I mean, what I did when I found out, I sent a text to Minister Mendicino just to let him know that I had received this information so that he was aware because we were watching, of course, what was happening in Ottawa and elsewhere around the country, and I just passed that up to the Minister for his attention.
	Okay, so we'll go to those text messages since you've mentioned it.
	9.5.
	So these are your text messages to Minister Mendicino, is that right?
	Yes.
	And so the blue is you, and if we go down, there's some white.
	The white text is him?
	That's correct.
	Okay, and if we just go back up a little bit.
	Hi, I know things are crazy for you.
	wanted you to know that police here are prepping for the potential return of truckers and other other malcontents next week it sounds like they may be attempting to block traffic to the ambassador bridge so that's on February 4th as you mentioned it's it when it came to your attention That's correct.
	Correct.
	this weekend stay safe okay so it sounds like you knew him from before is that right correct okay It's not the first time you're texting him?
	No.
	Okay.
	And he mentions to connect that weekend.
	Did you speak to him prior to the blockade taking hold?
	So this would be Friday the 4th, so either on the 5th or the 6th?
	I don't recall if we spoke on the weekend.
	Okay.
	Now, moving forward to February 6th, my understanding is that there was...
	A risk of a blockade at another location in Sarnia.
	Is that right?
	Yes.
	And were you aware of that at the time?
	Yes, I was.
	And can you tell us a little bit about what that was about?
	Where it was and what was the issue?
	Well, we were watching, and the chief had called me as well, but we were also watching social media and traditional media as well, and saw that there was a thread and then a blockage at or around the Blue Water Bridge.
	And that's in Sarnia?
	Yes.
	And do you know how long that lasted or when it got resolved?
	I don't recall how long it lasted, but my recollection is it was ended pretty quick.
	And did that raise any concerns with respect to the Ambassador Bridge and possible blockades there?
	Yes, it did.
	So, let's move now to February 7th, the day the blockade actually happened.
	Can you just walk us through that day, what it was like for you, when you found out, and what you did that day?
	Well, I'll say leading up to the 7th, there was lots of activity over the weekend because you could feel the temperature rising in terms of comments on social media, what was happening in and around Sarnia.
	We were watching what was happening in Ottawa.
	We know, anyone who lives in Windsor knows and appreciates how important the Ambassador Bridge is, not just for our local and regional economies, but also provincially.
	And so over the weekend, we started making preparations to acquire Jersey barriers at the request of police.
	I had made an effort to secure one of our transit Windsor buses to put on the, I would say, the...
	The other side of customs, on the duty-free side of the tunnel, just in case there was a blockage at the bridge and the tunnel, because there was the thought that you could have the closure of both pieces of infrastructure.
	And we knew that we had to provide a mechanism to move healthcare workers who lived in Windsor and worked in Detroit.
	We had to be able to get them through the tunnel, even if their cars could not get through the tunnel.
	And so we moved a transit bus to the...
	The other side to the Duty Free Plaza in the tunnel and then there was work being done to figure out how to move that bus through because we were still in this COVID restriction period and there arrived CAN and all sorts of restrictions crossing back and forth through the international border.
	So work was going on on that front as well.
	So everyone was working very well together, dealing with whatever information we had.
	And trying to provide and prepare for the eventuality in the worst-case scenario, which would be the closure of Huron Church Road leading to the Ambassador Bridge.
	And ultimately, the tunnel was not blocked, is that right?
	Correct.
	Okay, so the bus did not need to be used?
	It wasn't used, but we made all preparations just in case because it was imperative that we had access for healthcare workers to get through to the United States.
	Okay, so there was a sense that the temperature was increasing, as you say.
	And then on the 7th, what happened on that day?
	Well, on the 7th, we opened our Emergency Operations Centre.
	So that is at one of our fire halls.
	The chief opened the EOC.
	There was a meeting, say, 9 or 10 o 'clock in the morning that day at the EOC, or of the CCG, I should say.
	And everything was sort of laid out.
	Here's what we have.
	Police were on that call.
	Everyone was briefed on the information that was available at the time.
	And everyone was on the same page.
	So preparations were being made if it got worse.
	And was there any discussion about doing any kind of actions to prevent a blockade from taking hold?
	Because it sounds like there was an anticipation that this could happen.
	It hadn't yet happened.
	Was there any discussion about trying to prevent it from happening?
	There were some efforts by OPP, as I was made aware, up the 401, outside the boundaries of the City of Windsor, to try and divert truck traffic that may be on the way.
	But I think it's fair to say that if you know the City of Windsor and anyone who lives in our city, because of the distance from, say, EC Row Expressway, the end of the 401, to the Ambassador Bridge, and we're talking...
	Three kilometres each way.
	The number of businesses, the number of homes, the hotels that are built up that require direct access to Huron Church Road, it would be, for all intents and purposes, practically impossible to guarantee with any certainty that you could provide a route for trucks and without having huge disruption to the community, not just the business community, but also the people who live on the west side of the city.
	Right, because Huron Church Road does serve as an access point between the east side of the city and the west side.
	It seems to cut right through the city, is that right?
	It bisects right through, and so you can imagine the Ambassador Bridge when it was built, you know, 90 years ago.
	That the road, Huron Church Road, was effectively a road with farms on either side back then.
	And over time, there are still homes whose driveways require access to Huron Church Road.
	But over time, that's changed.
	And so, again, you have hotels, many, many hotels and motels.
	You have lots of businesses.
	And you have a whole community.
	In fact, the western side of Huron Church Road is one of the oldest communities in Ontario, going back to the mid-1700s.
	It's called Sandwich Town.
	And so it's a lot of history in that area, and a lot of people live there, not just students that go to the University of Windsor, but a whole host of folks.
	There's probably 25,000 people who live on the other side of Huron Church Row, the west side.
	Right.
	And so there was a CCG meeting in the morning, and then what happened after that?
	Everyone was just making plans, doing the best they could do to support police as they tried to mobilize everything that they required to provide us support.
	It was very obvious that if something happened here, it was a police response that would be required.
	And do you know at what point the blockade, the slow roll became a blockade and the blockade took hold?
	I don't remember the exact time.
	Okay.
	I'll take you to an email.
	help win402223 So this is another email.
	If we go down from CVSA to Miss Brown.
	And this is in the morning.
	Open source information states that a convoy will meet up in Comber, Ontario between 9 and 10 this morning and start heading for the Ambassador Bridge at 10. Info also states that they will only be going to the bridge and the tunnel will be left open for emergencies and emergency vehicles.
	So this would have been at 10 a.m. or at 9.44.
	In any event, the bridge was still not blocked.
	Did you receive this information?
	Was this passed on to you?
	I don't recall if that was passed on to me or not.
	Okay.
	You know, I say that, and I'll tell you, I was talking to the chief of police or the deputy chief probably five times a day.
	Yeah.
	And direct connection with our city manager and the department head.
	So there was no lack of sharing of information in Windsor.
	We were all...
	Pretty much on the same page and aware of what was going on and trying to develop and devise a response and especially try to help police as they need it.
	And so I'll take you to WIN 6098.
	And this is another update from CVSA to Ms. Brown.
	And if we go down.
	Let's go down.
	So, actually, let's go down all the way.
	Let's keep going.
	There it is.
	So, Mr. Boazmier says, I have been advised that all lanes at the bridge are closed and negotiations have halted.
	Protesters have advised that they are staying put and not moving.
	They appear to be setting up a camp of sorts.
	Both lanes to and from the bridge are at a standstill.
	So this is now at 7.18pm.
	So do you recall hearing sometime in the evening that the blockade had taken hold?
	Yes.
	Okay, thank you.
	And if I can take you to WIN 402204.
	Now this is the...
	The CCG meeting that you had mentioned that had happened on February 7th in the morning looks like this was the first kind of blockade-specific or convoy-specific CCG meeting that took place.
	Is that right?
	That's correct.
	And if we go down...
	Let's keep going to the next page.
	Yeah, we'll keep going.
	Let's see.
	No, let's go up a little bit more.
	Yeah.
	Okay, good.
	Yeah, so I'm looking at the part that says we do have a comprehensive plan.
	Okay, yeah, so at the bottom there, Deputy Belair, can you tell us who Deputy Belair is?
	He is a Deputy Police Chief in the City of Windsor responsible for operations.
	Okay, and you already mentioned Chief Mizuno, who's the Chief of Police, right?
	At the time, yes.
	At the time.
	And so Deputy Belair says, okay, we do have...
	A more comprehensive plan and some fallback in negotiation strategies.
	There is freedom of movement and we do live in a democracy.
	If it is an aggressive, keep going down, public demonstration, we have incremental steps to take place as we have done our legal homework.
	Do you recall what the discussion was around this point, what Chief Belair was trying to express here?
	You know, my sentiment at the time was that they were doing everything they could to speak with the protesters, to try and find some way to allow a slow roll to continue, if that's what folks wanted to do, but to prevent a permanent shutdown if you're on Church Road.
	And my understanding is that in this meeting, the police service explained it had a plan in place if the protests worsened, and that...
	In the meeting, preparations were discussed, such as Jersey barriers and mobilizing towing resources.
	Is that right?
	That's correct.
	And can you explain a little bit the city's role in securing Jersey barriers?
	I'm not sure exactly who did it, but there was a request made.
	And so likely it would have been our public works department sourcing whatever we had internally as a city.
	And then where we were deficient in the numbers required, reaching out to adjacent municipalities and trying to procure the Jersey barriers that police had asked for.
	And my understanding is that the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario ultimately did provide a significant number of Jersey barriers.
	Does that accord with your recollection?
	Certainly at the end.
	Of this incident, we wouldn't have been able to do it without them.
	We needed their help to secure three kilometres of Jersey barriers in each direction.
	So a total of six kilometres of Jersey barriers.
	And my understanding is the city did not secure towing capacity or was not able to secure towing capacity.
	Is that right?
	Police have a contract with a company, which is quite standard, and they provide towing services.
	They had capacity, but there was, you know, also there were threats being made against the company and the owners of the company that if they participated in towed cars, there was all sorts of things going on to sort of attack the company and their reputation online, giving them negative reviews and doing a number of things that happened ultimately.
	So yes, they are our contractor.
	They were cooperative.
	If the expectation is that they could have helped move all of the vehicles that were there, including some of the heavy trucks, I don't think they would have had.
	It would have taken a long time or they wouldn't have had all of the resources required.
	We would have needed additional support if any attempt was made to go in and move everyone in any timely manner.
	So they didn't refuse to provide services.
	It's just they were one company and couldn't do all of it, essentially.
	I'm not aware that they refused to provide services.
	Okay.
	But you are aware that they received some kind of negative, I guess, repercussions as a result of assisting.
	That's correct.
	And my understanding is that originally both the north and the southbound lane of the bridge was blockaded.
	And then at some point, one of the lanes opened up.
	Do you have a sense for the movement of the blockade and the different points of entry?
	I think police would be better positioned to answer that, but the briefings that I received from the chief at the time is that the ongoing negotiations, they were trying to get a lane open for emergency purposes.
	And so they were at one time successful in doing that, and then that ended very, very quickly.
	And part of the issue...
	That we experienced collectively in Windsor is that this was a leaderless movement.
	You know, there was no one speaking for the group who could guarantee the behavior of the other members.
	And so police will know better the timing in terms of, you know, the ebb and flow of what they were able to achieve.
	But the briefings I received from Chief Mizuno was that at one time they did have a lane open, but that agreement dissolved very quickly.
	And my understanding, too, is that the access from Wyandotte Road was open at one time, and then that also became blockaded over time.
	correct And when you say a leaderless movement, is this information you received from the police, or how did you come to that conclusion?
	Yes, it's information I received from police.
	Okay.
	Now, on the 7th, which is the day of the blockade, I understand you had a discussion with Solicitor General Jones.
	Is that correct?
	In or around the 7th.
	It was the 7th or the 8th.
	Okay.
	And she asked what Windsor needed to respond to the blockade?
	She did.
	And so, obviously, the Solicitor General had responsibility for the OPP at the time.
	I wanted to make sure that she was informed of what was going on on the ground, but my question to the Chief of Police was, Chief, what do you need?
	How many officers do you need?
	Because she told me she does not have enough human resources to end the situation that had developed in Windsor.
	So my question to her is, what do you need?
	Tell me what you need, and I'll help amplify whatever you need up the chain with the folks that I speak to.
	And so she said, I need 100 officers.
	And so I amplified that with, The solicitor general.
	I amplified that with the premier.
	I amplified that with Minister Mendicino.
	And then there were conversations later in the evening on the 8th with my chief of staff and other chiefs of staff at the, for sure, the federal level.
	And they asked for that request in writing.
	And so the chief in her own right was already working through her channels.
	And so I asked her, I told her that...
	We're getting the request to put this in writing.
	Can you please do that?
	And she did that the next day.
	And so we received the letter on the 9th.
	And we sent that, she sent that letter to asking for 100 officers to the commissioner of the OPP and the commissioner of the RCMP.
	And then we forwarded those letters as well to the folks that we were talking to.
	Okay, so if I understand correctly, it started with a discussion between you and the chief.
	You asked her what she needed.
	She told you 100.
	You then went to Solicitor General Jones and to Minister Mendicino and said, we need 100 officers.
	And they came back and said, please put that in writing.
	And then you went back to the chief and told her, put it in writing.
	And on the 9th, these letters went out.
	Is that a fair summary?
	Correct.
	Okay.
	So when you spoke to the Solicitor General on the 7th, that would have been to tell her the request for 100.
	And is that when she told you I need it in writing?
	No.
	She never told me she needed it in writing.
	And so I spoke with the Solicitor General just because I wanted her to be aware of what was happening on the ground and make sure that she was informed of what was going on down here.
	And the same with Minister Mendicino.
	Just here's the temperature and the tenor on the ground.
	Here's what we're seeing.
	Just so they had a sort of situational awareness, I would call it.
	And so they didn't ask for it in writing.
	It was through their staff.
	Really, at the federal level, through staff at the federal level, who said, can you please put the request in writing?
	And that was on the evening of the 8th.
	And then I sent a message to the chief saying they're asking for this in writing.
	And she had one of her deputies or superintendents put that in writing, and she sent it off in letter form to the commissioner of the RCMP and the commissioner of the OPP.
	And on February 8th, that was your chief of staff that participated in that staff meeting.
	Is that right?
	That's correct.
	Okay.
	And do you recall anything else noteworthy from that discussion with the Solicitor General at that time on the 7th?
	No, she was obviously very concerned, very interested, very much wanting to help.
	And, you know, we agreed just to stay in touch and make sure that we were informing one another of important things related to the matter.
	And in terms of your discussion with Minister Mendicino that same day, was it similar kind of tenor?
	Is that essentially...
	The same type of discussion?
	Exactly.
	Okay.
	Now, on February 8th, there was also a meeting of the Windsor Police Services Board, correct?
	That's correct.
	And that was an in-camera meeting, is my understanding.
	Do you recall that meeting?
	Yes.
	so i'll take you to the minutes of that meeting win four zeros one nine nine nine Okay, and if we go down...
	Oh, sorry, I think this was actually your request to call the meeting.
	Yes.
	So you called this meeting as chair, correct?
	Sarah Sabi-Houdin is our board assistant.
	And so I had asked her to call a meeting of the board.
	I think I did it.
	If you went down even further, I think I asked around noon on the 8th.
	So and the the minutes of that meeting are actually at WIN 402174.
	Okay, there we go.
	So it was on February 8 at 7 p.m.
	And we can see the chief was there, two deputy chiefs.
	You were there as well.
	Some councillors were there and others.
	And if we go down to, I believe it's, there we go.
	Chief Mizuno provided an update to the WPS board on the recent situation regarding the Ambassador Bridge blockade.
	WPS was notified last week of the potential for this protest to take place in Windsor.
	And then if we go to the end of that page, WPS has requested assistance should we need it from Chatham Police and LaSalle Police.
	Our top concerns are public safety and de-escalation.
	What was the board's role with respect to securing resources from other local police forces?
	The board...
	Took no role in that directly.
	The board, and I think you see in the minutes, was, Chief, do you have the resources required to deal with the situation?
	What do you need from us?
	If you don't have the resources, what do you need us to authorize in terms of budget or whatever was in our purview to assist with the chief providing the response that was required?
	And did the WPS request any assistance from the board at this meeting?
	No.
	Okay.
	And if we go down, keep going.
	Chief Mizuno there in the middle says, WPS officers are doing a fantastic job.
	Lessons have been learned from Ottawa and from our own past experiences and external assistance has been requested.
	Do you know what the Chief meant when she says lessons have been learned from Ottawa?
	Do you know what those lessons are?
	In my conversations with the Chief, the largest lesson learned was not to let this grow.
	Don't let bouncy castles and hot tubs and sort of those types of amenities come to the streets on Huron Church Road and allow this to grow.
	So make sure that we're dealing with this, you know, as quickly and swiftly and professionally in a way that, as she said, provides for public safety and de-escalates.
	But don't...
	You know, lessons from Ottawa don't allow this to grow.
	There may have been others that were on her mind, but that's one that she mentioned to me.
	And are you aware whether there were actions taken to contain it so that it wouldn't grow?
	Police did take action with respect to Jersey barriers, and so they cordoned off certain streets, and they had control of certain areas that I think...
	You know, made their life a little easier and was able to prevent the situation from getting larger.
	And in terms of the request for 100 officers, do you have a sense or did the board have a sense for how that number was conceived?
	No idea.
	It was simply a request of the chief.
	What do you need?
	Recognizing that they had already on the weekend.
	Let's see, of the fourth, fifth, sixth leading up to this, already put a request in for some public liaison officers from the OPP.
	And so she was already doing what was required to ask for resources that we may not have had that would have helped provide for what she's saying here, de-escalation, public safety.
	It was only when it...
	Was finally cemented.
	The situation finally cemented itself and it became a permanent blockade.
	She had told me, I don't have everything I need.
	We won't be able to resolve this with the human resources that we have inside the Windsor Police Service.
	We're going to need additional help.
	To which my question was, what do you need?
	How many officers do you need?
	You tell me and I will help amplify that.
	You know, at the political level so that they are aware of what our request is.
	And of course, the expectation is that she was going to do what she needed to do through the OPP and the proper channels operationally on her side.
	Right.
	And in terms of an operational plan, did the board ever see how those officers were going to be used?
	No.
	Did the board ever request to see an operational plan?
	No, and I think that would be...
	Somewhat unusual, at least for our board.
	We wouldn't get into that level of detail.
	And none was presented and none was asked for.
	Okay.
	And are you aware whether those resources requested were ultimately provided?
	I think it's fair to say more than what was requested was actually provided.
	And so my understanding, you know, sort of in the final analysis is that we asked for 100.
	One may look at the fact that the chief wrote one letter to the RCMP and one letter to the OPP and may say, well, in fact, you asked for 200.
	Even if you look at 200 as, you know, if you look at it from that perspective and you say we asked for 200, it's my understanding that we had at least 500 officers attend to deal with the situation.
	And when you say you were amplifying the request politically, what was the response that you were getting from the federal government and from the provincial government?
	A desire and willingness to help.
	There were great lines of communication with Sylvia Jones, great lines of communication with the Premier.
	Minister Mendicino was excellent.
	And a great phone call with the Prime Minister that I had that, you know, he was very understanding.
	And of course, living through the situation here in the Ottawa, had a perspective on what we were dealing with and wanted to help.
	So all lines of communication were open and it was back and forth.
	So it was very good.
	And did the Board take any specific actions to support the WPS during this time?
	No.
	The Board asked the Chief, "What do you need from us?" And her comment effectively was, "We have everything we need or it's being worked on at this point." There was no direction required from the Board that wasn't already being worked on.
	So it was the Board's understanding on February 8th that the only thing preventing the blockade from being dismantled was the influx of resources.
	There was a plan in place and they were just waiting for the resources?
	Correct.
	Did the Board adopt any policies pursuant to Section 31 of the Police Services Act with respect to either the slow roll or the blockade?
	No.
	Did the board ever direct the police chief in any way as contemplated in the Police Services Act?
	No.
	And who was advising the board on these issues, on legal issues and interpretations of the act, etc.?
	We didn't have legal counsel in these meetings.
	And so you'll see we had the entire, in this particular meeting, we had the entire board.
	We had the chief, Deputy Chief Belair at the time was there.
	We had our provincial police liaison person from the Solicitor General's office there as well, Dave Tilley.
	And so it...
	It never got to a point where the board felt like or asked a question that couldn't be answered or was unsatisfied in some way.
	So the board felt satisfied at the end of this meeting that they had asked the appropriate questions of our chief and were supporting her in every way that she asked.
	Now, are you aware of whether the WPS had any communications with protesters or blockade organizers?
	The chief did tell me that they continued, that police continued to talk to protesters.
	Again, I go back to opening one lane for a period of time, that was through a negotiation.
	And every day, the chief told me that they continued to talk, they continued to have discussion and dialogue.
	Did you have any discussions with protesters or organizers?
	Do you have a sense for whether the protesters were local to Windsor, whether they were coming from the outside, whether they were coming from Ottawa?
	Do you have a sense for who these people were?
	I asked the question because clearly police were gathering intelligence on license plates and scanning social media and doing the work that they needed to do.
	And I asked the question on whether or not these were...
	Were they generally local folks or were they folks coming from elsewhere?
	And there were a fair number of local folks, as I was told, that were part of the demonstrating group.
	But I was also told by the Chief that there were a fair number of folks who weren't even from Essex County that had come in from elsewhere to participate in this.
	Now, on February 9th, you said to reporters that arresting the demonstrators opposed to pandemic health measures and towing their vehicles could lead to violence.
	And because you said some of them were willing to die for it.
	Do you recall saying that?
	I do.
	And how did you reach that assessment that they were willing to die for it?
	Well, there was a TV report that was also reported on the front page of the Windsor Star.
	And this was very early on in the protests that one of the protesters had said outright that this is a cause that they were willing to die for.
	And there was a...
	The reports to me was that there was a very high temperature on the ground amongst the protesters.
	They were very aggressive in their language and in their posture, and it was that type of comment, willing to die for the cause, that caused police to take a more measured approach into the way that they dealt with the situation.
	To die on the streets of Windsor or elsewhere protesting vaccine mandates or whatever the protests ultimately was about.
	And so everyone took a pause.
	No one wanted to see a repeat.
	You know, that was one thing the chief had told me that there was a concern about what had happened in Toronto with the G20.
	And so, you know, members of the public in Windsor were saying, why don't you just go in there and end this?
	Like, it didn't seem like it wasn't something.
	That it was an issue that the police couldn't resolve quickly to the average person.
	And so the public was feeling, you know, the energy that they wanted to see something happen.
	And at the same time, you know, police are saying this is not, you know, a typical protest that you would see on a Sunday afternoon on the front lawn at City Hall.
	And so they were being very measured.
	They were being very cautious.
	They did not want to see a recreation of the events that happened in Toronto.
	And so they were taking a lot of precaution.
	And do you have a sense for how many vehicles or number of protesters were involved?
	It seemed to ebb and flow.
	And so sometimes at night more would come out as I'm told the party atmosphere sort of ramped up.
	And it could be 200 at one point.
	Down to 75. Sorry, are you referring to protesters or vehicles?
	Sorry, was that your question?
	Yes, protesters and vehicles.
	And vehicles, I'll leave it to Deputy Chief Crowley to answer that.
	I'm not exactly sure how many vehicles ultimately were there.
	Okay.
	And so then, is it fair to say that bylaw was not ticketing and towing?
	They were not enforcing because of the reasons you mentioned in terms of escalating?
	Yeah, we would never, with the temperature on the ground and the statements folks were making, we would never send our bylaw officers in to enforce municipal bylaws.
	In fact, you know, there was a report to me that we had a...
	Our parking enforcement is outsourced to the commissionaires.
	And a commissioner did respond February 8th or 9th, went in to issue some tickets and was swarmed and put in a situation that she felt was very dangerous, or that they felt was very dangerous, and actually had to be escorted to their car by police and leave.
	And folks were spitting on the car as the commissioner left.
	The temperature was too hot to think that you were going to send municipal bylaw officers in there without police accompanying them.
	And so at the end of the day, the thought was that negotiation would be the best way forward.
	And again, no one need to die or get hurt in this type of protest.
	Let's find a sensible way through and get everyone to move on so we can get the bridge open and the economy moving again.
	Right.
	And are you aware of any other incidences of threats or violence with respect to the blockade, aside from the one you just mentioned?
	Well, related to the blockade, besides the one at my house?
	Well, maybe tell us about that one.
	Well, one of the folks involved threatened to, I think it was to bomb my house.
	Do something like that and so you know we woke up and all of a sudden there are two or three police cars around our house for several weeks because of the the temperature on the ground and what people were posting on social media and the comments that were being made became a very direct threat to me and my family and so that in itself was concerning but it was just it was it was the The nature and sort of the spirit of the protest was unlike anything I've ever seen.
	You know, I've lived my whole life in the city of Windsor.
	It's unlike anything I've ever seen during that time.
	And the posture and the language was, you know, it was almost as if folks wanted some sort of brawl on the streets.
	You know, they were hoping police would engage in that way so they could have some sort of, you know.
	Brawl on the streets, if I can describe it that way.
	And I know police weren't interested in that.
	As the mayor, I wasn't interested in that.
	As chair of the police board, I wasn't interested in that.
	We were interested in finding a way through this that was sensible, that was practical, but ultimately that opened the road leading to the Ambassador Bridge because it is such a vital piece of economic infrastructure, not just for Windsor or Essex County, but for the entire province and respectfully for the nation.
	We had to get that roadway open.
	And are you aware of any other individuals who receive threats?
	Anyone within city council?
	Anyone in any other kind of prominent position?
	I know Councillor Fabio Costante, who represents the west side of the city, on both sides, frankly, of Huron Church Road.
	And there was a comment made that they would protest at his law office.
	He's a lawyer, and he has a law office in Sandwich Town.
	And so there was a...
	A comment made that they would be going there to protest at the law office.
	Did that materialize?
	Not that I'm aware of.
	So I want to go back to the request for resources, if I can, for a minute.
	Can I take you to WIN401623?
	And these are the letters that Chief Mizuno sent.
	I believe this one is to the Minister of Emergency Preparedness.
	There we go, to Minister Blair.
	And that's on February 9. And I just want to go down.
	Yeah, there we go.
	So it says, Windsor Police Service is requesting a minimum of 100 police officers be dispatched to the City of Windsor to bolster current and potentially future requirements.
	Okay, and if we go down.
	Just want to see the signature.
	Yep.
	Pamela Mizuno, Chief of Police.
	Thank you.
	So that's the letter that she sent to Minister Blair.
	Yes.
	And if we go to WIN401648.
	So this is now also dated February 9, addressed to the Honourable Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General.
	And if we go down, I believe, so this one is also requesting 100 police officers.
	I believe it's the same letter.
	The letters were also asking in the second paragraph, marked police vehicles and tow trucks, including heavy tows for large transport vehicles.
	And if we go down.
	It's also from Chief Mizuno.
	Now, you had mentioned that your understanding was that the requests were made to the RCMP and the OPP.
	Are you aware of other letters that were sent to the commissioners of the OPP and RCMP?
	No.
	Okay, so these would be the requests, the letters that were sent?
	Those are the letters that I'm aware of.
	The Chief, I know, was having conversations with her colleagues that I wasn't party to.
	But this is what we were asked for, to put it in writing.
	And that's what she did.
	And she sent it off from her office to Minister Blair's office and to Minister Jones' office.
	Okay.
	And on February 9, that same day, your Chief of Staff scheduled a meeting between you and the Office of the Solicitor General.
	Do you recall that?
	I know we had a discussion on the 7th or the 8th, and now it looks like there's another one on the 9th.
	What was the purpose of that discussion?
	It was just an update.
	And so...
	You know, I was just trying to keep everyone updated.
	Was anything requested at that time or offered in terms of assistance?
	Nothing more than the 100 officers that we had asked for.
	Okay.
	And if we can go to WIN 401583.
	So this is now text messages between you and Premier Doug Ford, is that right?
	Correct.
	And so the dark is you speaking, and then the light-colored text is Premier Ford, is that right?
	That's correct.
	Okay.
	And it looks like he is asking you to call him on February 9. Did you have a call with him on February 9?
	I did.
	And what was the discussion on that call?
	Obviously, he was receiving, I shouldn't say obviously, but he was receiving phone calls from businesses as well who were concerned about the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge.
	I gave him sort of a situational briefing on what we had going on down here and, you know, that we had asked for 100 officers.
	So it was, I think, a fairly quick phone call, just a couple of minutes.
	And, you know, he was...
	Stressing to me the importance of the Ambassador Bridge and that we have to find a way to get this open.
	And I certainly agreed with him and understood that as well.
	Did he make any offers of assistance or anything of that nature?
	No, I had told the Premier that we asked for 100 officers and that OPP already had some resources on the ground, PLT, liaison teams, that were already here.
	So I told him that and told him about the 100 officer request.
	And then he asked for Minister Mendicino's phone number, which I texted to him.
	And now this is two days before the province declared a provincial state of emergency.
	Did that come up in your discussions with him?
	Never, no.
	So he didn't ask you whether you wanted that or whether you needed that or anything to that effect?
	No.
	Okay.
	What about the Emergencies Act, the Federal Emergencies Act?
	Was that ever discussed with the Premier?
	Never.
	Now, the next day on February 10, you spoke to the media and said that additional resources were being deployed by the OPP and that the Premier and Solicitor General were responding rapidly to your call for support.
	Was that accurate at the time?
	I'm sorry, can you ask?
	It was on February 10. You told reporters that this request was being actioned very quickly and that...
	The OPP was being deployed and that the Premier and Solicitor General were responding rapidly to your request for resources.
	I believe that to be true, yes.
	And do you have a sense for when, it says there, OPP resources started to arrive.
	So by the 10th, you were receiving, or the City was receiving OPP resources?
	Yes, we had some resources, cars that you could see, OPP cars along the Huron Church Road.
	And the chief told me that there were PLT units that were already here negotiating.
	And then she did tell me that public order units were also starting to arrive.
	Because my understanding is that the Windsor Police Service did not have at the time a PLT unit or a POU unit.
	Is that correct?
	That's correct.
	So they were coming in from other...
	The OPP was providing those.
	Is that right?
	Yes, OPP, RCMP.
	Okay.
	Do you have a sense for when our RCMP officers arrived in Windsor?
	I don't.
	Exactly, no.
	Did the board have any role in swearing RCMP officers in?
	No.
	Do you know how that was done or who did that?
	I just was aware that that was an issue and I'm not sure the mechanics behind the scenes on how that was resolved.
	Now, my understanding is that there was an injunction that was sought and granted with respect to the blockade, correct?
	Correct.
	And how did this idea come about?
	Who was the initiator of this?
	Well, I was.
	And on February the 9th, in sort of the mid to late afternoon, I'd had a conversation with our Commissioner of Legal Services, Shelby Askenhager, about the prospect of an injunction.
	She wanted to think through it and make sure she understood the best way to move forward with that idea.
	And then on the 10th in the morning, we had to move quickly if we were going to make that happen.
	And so I said, we need to do this.
	And the reason for doing this was there were multiple reasons.
	What people need to appreciate is that not just the temperature on the ground of the protesters, but the temperature of the general public, To this protest was amplifying as well.
	And I could not, as mayor, I could not, as chair of the Windsor Police Services Board, direct police operations and tell the chief or the police administration how to move forward and when to move forward.
	I had no clear line of sight on how many resources were coming here.
	I knew there, you know, I'm getting dribs and drabs of, you know, yes, some folks are on route.
	Well, are they on route from Alberta?
	Are they on route from Newfoundland?
	Are they coming from Orillia?
	I have no sense of the timing.
	And so the public temperature to this protest was also growing rapidly, to the point where you had Facebook groups being set up, where people wanted to go out and undertake sort of vigilante-type justice on the streets to remove these protesters themselves.
	And it was, as it relates to, you know, the pandemic that we'd all lived through.
	In Windsor, we had lived through the same thing that many others have lived through, the stops and the starts of businesses, people not getting paid for a period of time, and going through that frustration and friction as we've all dealt with the pandemic collectively.
	And so just when we were at a point where there seemed to be, you know, light on the horizon, this was seen to be very, how do I say it, assaultive.
	To many people in Windsor that this was a small group of people, a relatively small group of people who are now going to jeopardize their employment.
	And so you had, like I said, Facebook groups that were starting where people were suggesting and union leadership suggesting they were going to, they were prepared to help move the protesters themselves and take action themselves.
	And so part of the reason for applying for the injunction was to send a signal to the public.
	That I'm doing everything, that the city is doing everything, that city council is doing everything we can from our side of the table to try and resolve this issue.
	It was really the only positive step I could think of taking that would be helpful in terms of a signal to the public.
	Before I did this, I did talk to the chief and said, would this be helpful to you?
	And she said, listen, it won't hurt.
	And so on the morning of the 10th, very early, We activated legal teams to start putting the materials together, trying to see if we could get a scheduled appointment in court to present the application.
	And I worked with our Commissioner of Legal Services and our city manager and all of the right people on the city side to see that move forward very quickly.
	And so, you know, the conversation really was first thing in the morning, seven or eight o 'clock in the morning, and by two o 'clock we were...
	We were appearing in front of Justice Morowitz to have this discussion.
	Right, so I'll...
	And I would just say, so the one part was the public, letting the public know we're doing everything we can.
	The other thing was putting, you know, another arrow in the quiver for police.
	It was another tool that they could use with respect to saying, you are now in violation.
	If we were successful in getting the injunction that you were in violation of this injunction, and it was another arrow in their quiver.
	And so City Council adopted a resolution that an injunction be sought, right?
	Correct.
	And this was on February 10th.
	That's right.
	So you were able to call a meeting that quickly to get everybody together from the 9th when you kind of conceived this to the 10th.
	That's right.
	And it seems like the police was on board with the injunction.
	They thought it wouldn't hurt in any event.
	Wouldn't hurt.
	And so, ultimately, as you say, the injunction became effective at 7pm on February 11, is my understanding.
	Is that right?
	That's correct.
	And why was the City an intervener in that application and not the main applicant?
	Do you know?
	I think through our discussions, before we proceeded, we talked about who was most impacted.
	You know, and how could we tell the story here about who was impacted?
	And it was clear.
	In the first 60 minutes of Huron Church Road being blocked, our phone rang at the mayor's office from our largest employer, Chrysler, now Stellantis, to say what's going on at the Ambassador Bridge.
	You know, there are 5,000 people directly who work in that facility making Chrysler Pacificas and minivans that rely on smooth and efficient border crossings because the whole The whole auto industry works on a just-in-time basis.
	There's no parts being stored on site.
	They are brought in, and that bridge is moving, and the material is moving across that bridge every hour of every day.
	And so it's, you know, for perspective, the average part that goes into a car that rolls off the assembly line at the end of the manufacturing process, those parts have crossed the border on average six to seven times, back and forth, Detroit, back to Windsor, you know, as they continue to be.
	You know, upgraded and built.
	And so within the first 60 minutes, they called and said, what's going on at the Ambassador Bridge?
	And so we knew that the APMA, the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, the CVMA, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, were impacted dramatically by the activity at the bridge.
	And so they were certainly, you know, good parties to put forward the request.
	And then we were, we took the role, we played the role that we played, I think, appropriately.
	And so my understanding is the Attorney General of Ontario was also an intervener in that application?
	That's correct.
	And how did they become involved and what was the coordination with them like?
	I'm not sure.
	Okay.
	Who took the lead on the injunction from the city's side?
	Shelby Askenhager, who is our Commissioner of Legal Services.
	Okay.
	So she would have had the coordination with the Attorney General.
	Is that right?
	She would be the one.
	In the best position to answer your question.
	Okay, fair enough.
	So, as we said, on February 11 at 7 p.m., the injunction came into effect.
	It was extended then on February 18. Is that right?
	That's correct.
	And what, if anything, did it change on the ground?
	What impact did it have, if any?
	Well, I think that once the injunction became effective, that it sent a signal to the public that this has now, from the public watching from the outside, That we have done all that we can do.
	And again, it gave another tool to police to go in, and they did.
	When the police went in and actually had to arrest people, those folks were charged with violating the terms of the injunction.
	And so it sent a signal.
	But I think, you know, I would like to think that from a protester's perspective, it also meant that the protesters had their day in court, had the opportunity to present their position to...
	Justice Morowitz, Chief Justice Morowitz, and have a conversation in court through the established legal structures that we have in place.
	All parties had a chance to do that.
	And Chief Justice Morowitz ultimately made his decision that was favorable to grant the injunction.
	But everybody had an opportunity.
	In fact, our application on February 10th was delayed and heard on February 11th to ensure that all parties, including the protesters, were given notice so that they could participate.
	Police went out and plastered every telephone pole, the jersey bearers with copies of the order.
	We had to set up a website.
	We promoted it on social media.
	Certainly it was amplified in every major media source and through every social media channel that I saw.
	If you could just slow down a bit for the interpreter.
	Thank you.
	Efforts made to make sure that all parties who had an interest in this application had an opportunity to have their day in court.
	And the City, in fact, assisted to distribute these pamphlets once the injunction was granted to give notice of the injunction.
	Is that right?
	Correct.
	So would you say there was adequate notice given about the injunction to those in the blockade, in the protest area?
	Absolutely.
	Did it have the effect of having people leave?
	Did anybody leave as a result of the injunction?
	Or was it simply that then they were charged with violating the injunction once the arrest took place?
	You know, the reports, I wasn't on the ground, but the reports that came back to me is that many of the protesters were looking at this as, you know, another court order, another law, another thing that just, you know, was dispensable.
	They could violate it.
	It was no big deal.
	It was just words on a paper.
	And so I'm not sure that it had.
	On the face of it, I'm not sure that it had the effect of having people say, oh, there's a court order, I'm going to leave now.
	I think it just, you know, gave the protesters another thing to rally behind, saying nothing's going to make us leave.
	Now, was there any discussion with the Windsor Police Service about whether they had the resources at that time to enforce the injunction and whether that was a concern at all?
	Well, I think it's fair to say as we got to, that was a Friday, the 11th.
	As we got to the Friday, all of the communication from the Chief to myself was that we had major resources that were here on the ground and the plans were devised and being, you know, sorted out with the help of the OPP commander and our own incident commanders.
	Everyone was working through how to...
	How to affect a resolution to this blockade.
	So fair to say that the injunction and the resources were coming at the same time, essentially.
	Exactly.
	So there was also a board meeting, a special in-camera board meeting on February 11th.
	Do you recall that?
	Yes.
	So that was the second board meeting with respect to this blockade.
	And I'm going to take you to the minutes, WIN 402173.
	yeah and if we go down if we keep going down Okay, and yeah, keep going down a little bit.
	There's a part where you ask a question.
	I'm just trying to find that.
	Keep going down.
	Okay, let's go back to the first page.
	Oh, there it is.
	Chair, Mayor Dilkens, is there anything required from WPS from the board?
	Chief Mizuno, no other resources required at this time.
	We initiated OPP resources Wednesday.
	Additional resources are flowing in.
	RCMP have come to town as well and are helping.
	So this lines up with what you're telling me.
	By the 11th of February, it sounds like resources have been mobilized.
	They're starting to come in and there's no real concern over resources anymore.
	Correct.
	And if we go down a little bit more.
	So Chief Mizuno there says, if and when we take action, we will be well positioned with resources to support that.
	State of emergency does help and gives us additional tools in terms of future protests.
	Now, this is on February 11. I assume she's referring to the provincial state of emergency, correct?
	That's correct.
	And do you have a sense for what those tools were that the provincial state of emergency could assist with?
	I don't recall.
	The entire list, but I knew that there were significant financial penalties.
	And the province, through their emergency action, also sent a very strong signal that if you continue to participate in these protests, that at these locations or border crossings that you could lose, if you were a truck driver, your commercial vehicle operating license.
	And you could also lose your driving license if you were, you know, just not a truck driver.
	Those are pretty significant penalties that I think sent a signal to any reasonable or sensible person to say we better think long and hard about wanting to continue the protest at this location because the disincentive is huge.
	Right.
	And do you have any sense for whether that provincial state of emergency encouraged protesters to leave the site?
	I think that that provincial emergency...
	You know, when the police were ready to move, and they did the next day and ultimately cleared up two days after this meeting, that you had compliance.
	When the Jersey barriers were moved, when the police put their line in place and they started moving forward with their line, and they got to the point where there are vehicles there, the vast majority of people ultimately left.
	Now, I want to go back to your discussions with the Minister of Public Safety.
	Sorry, Minister Mendicino at WIN 402295.
	And these are the text messages that we had seen before.
	Thank you.
	And if we can go to page three.
	So you say, I told Premier I spoke to you and he asked for your number.
	I get the sense he is going to follow Alberta and Saskatchewan.
	What did you mean by that?
	You know, the Premier, I think, appropriately was feeling the temperature across the province, was seeing these protests probably in Ottawa, but certainly in Windsor as, you know, an outlet for some who...
	Wanted some of the restrictions to be lifted.
	And Alberta and Saskatchewan had moved to start lifting some of the restrictions.
	And my sense from the Premier is that he wanted to find a pathway to get back to normal as soon as it made sense as well.
	And did you have a sense that that was because of the protests across Ontario?
	No, not necessarily.
	I think my...
	My sense from the conversation is that, again, he had his finger on the pulse of the people in Ontario and was watching, of course, what was happening across the country as well, and was feeling some of the frustration that we were all feeling with respect to the lockdowns, recognizing that it was January of 2022 where we were in a lockdown as well, a provincial lockdown.
	So the Premier...
	Sensibly was echoing some of the sentiments and looking at this as, you know, a percentage of the population who was protesting because they felt most aggrieved by this.
	And if we go to page nine, Go down.
	You say, I'm told our police support is going to be good.
	I think protesters are looking to make...
	Show of things.
	So in terms of the police support going to be good, was that from your discussions with Chief Mizuno?
	Yes.
	Okay.
	Well, I should say Chief Mizuno and Deputy Chief at the time, Belair.
	Belair.
	Okay, thank you.
	And my understanding is you texted...
	Once the injunction was granted, you texted the Minister as well as Deputy Premier Jones and the Premier to let them know that the injunction had been granted.
	Correct.
	Okay.
	And if we go to page 12 of this document.
	Okay, and he says, do you think it will end today?
	And you're saying, I'm thinking it will.
	So what was your sense on February 12th of where things were at in terms of resources and a plan to move forward to clear the blockade?
	That everything was in place, that the resources were in Windsor, that the plan had been devised, and in fact, on the 12th, the police started their operation.
	They put out the line with public order units and all of the equipment behind them and they started to move forward on the 12th to deal with the situation on the ground.
	And in the text above, you mention the congregation from Harvest Bible Church.
	My understanding is they had something to do with continuing the blockade at some point on the 12th.
	Can you explain that situation?
	The picture above my words, I think, is a link or a screenshot from the pastor at the time.
	I'm not sure if he still is, but as the police started to move forward and make advances on the 12th, there was a call put out by the pastor at this church to ask for folks to come down and support.
	The protesters.
	And very quickly, which might have been, you know, 100 to 200 people turned into 600 people, including parents with kids and strollers.
	Like, it was almost unbelievable.
	How fast that situation grew in terms of the number of people.
	But seeing the police action, I mean, it was disheartening to see the police action and them making advances and then to see parents bringing their kids down to that situation.
	And that's exactly what happened, which is largely why it wasn't resolved that particular day on Saturday.
	It took until Sunday for the situation to be resolved.
	I see.
	So the police started moving in on the 12th and weren't able to because now the number of protesters grew in size.
	Well, and I think someone in the police structure, probably several people, said this would be, you know, the most sensible thing here is to wait because at some point these kids are going to get cold.
	It's February.
	They're going to get cold.
	They're going to get tired.
	They're going to get hungry.
	And they're going to, you know, they're going to leave.
	So we're not going to move forward with...
	The policing posture they had in place when you had a lot of young kids there.
	They were being very wise in their approach and saying, let's do this at a different time when it makes more sense.
	And if we go to page 12 of this...
	Oh, we are on page 12. Okay, keep going down, please.
	Keep going down.
	Okay, so you say it will end today.
	Fingers crossed.
	Police have full control of the area now.
	And this is now on the 13th, correct?
	Yes.
	Good.
	Bridge reopened today.
	If so, it will be later once Jersey barriers, etc.
	are removed.
	There is still some activity in the plaza at...
	I can't really read that.
	To come see in Huron Church.
	To come see in Huron Church.
	Police just got permission from owner to trespass these people.
	Stay tuned.
	Okay.
	Keep me posted.
	Headed into meetings with the PM.
	And if we go to page 18. So this is now 3.40 PM on the 13. And he says, about to head into meeting with PM.
	Any critical updates?
	And you say, small flare-up, a block from Huron Church, a few arrests made, simultaneously working to get Huron Church open.
	25 to 30 malcontents on scene.
	Keep going down.
	Update, about 25 arrests now.
	Police hoping to reopen bridge tonight, trying to secure 1100 Jersey barriers, failing which one side of Huron Church will reopen and operate for two-way traffic like a construction zone.
	If we go down.
	And then it looks like then on the 13th, that's when the...
	The bridge reopened, or the blockade was cleared on the 13th, right?
	Correct.
	And then on the following day, he asks, how's it going this a.m. on the 14th in the morning?
	Smooth so far.
	And then you say, are you guys taking some legislative action re-emergencies act?
	And then he says, we'll call you this afternoon.
	To the extent you can be supportive of any additional authorities that gets Windsor the resources you need to keep the bridge open, people safe, that would be great.
	So I want to ask you about that exchange.
	What gave you the sense that there was some consideration of the Emergencies Act being considered at that time?
	I had seen a report, and I don't know which media source, CTV or CBC, had...
	Or Globe and Mail had made some post that I saw that proposed that that may be in the works.
	And so it just caused me to send him the question.
	And he said he would call you about that.
	He didn't respond over text, but he said he would call you.
	And did you have a discussion?
	I don't know.
	We did not.
	Oh, you didn't?
	No.
	Okay.
	And then what did you understand him to mean when he says to the extent you can be supportive of any additional authorities?
	Well, I think, you know...
	We all know that that act has never been used before, and we all know that it's a serious act and requires this type of thing to happen afterwards, which is extraordinary.
	And so if they were going to move forward with that, I think he's saying, you know, if you could express, the way I took that is if you could express what was happening on the ground that would help justify this, that would be helpful to us.
	And I think it's really, really important.
	You know, to reflect on that statement, but also use that statement based on what we were seeing on the ground in Windsor.
	And so there may have been some great relief.
	There was great relief to a lot of people in Windsor.
	On the 13th, once the folks were moved, all of a sudden, you know, in lightning speed, 1,100 Jersey barriers were replaced, six kilometers of Jersey barriers, creating a direct pipeline from the 401 to the Ambassador Bridge.
	The piece that needs to be explained here is the heightened state of alert that was in place by police in the community and the city with respect to some sort of recidivism that may happen as a result of this blockade being moved.
	And it's the type of behavior that's happened throughout the pandemic, where you have members of the public in Windsor saying, you know, there's a protest.
	We're all supposed to be masked and meters apart from one another.
	And there's a protest and 100 people down, you know, by our...
	Great Canadian flag at the waterfront.
	Why aren't police doing anything?
	Why is that behavior being allowed to continue?
	And it's hard to explain to people that if you move 100 people out and take action against these 100 sort of lawbreakers or rule breakers, that you could have 3,000.
	The next weekend, you know, you become the rallying cry for this.
	And so that was the thought in place here from a police perspective.
	Conversations that we certainly had amongst many of the senior staff and myself at the city is, you know, this action needs to be resolved.
	This action needs to be taken to resolve the situation on the ground.
	But what happens after they're gone?
	And so the number of police that were sent to the city of Windsor to move the protesters out was one thing.
	But a significant number of police resources remained in order to make sure that this didn't flare up again.
	And so from an Emergencies Act perspective, you know, anything that would send a signal to people contemplating coming to Windsor to start this over again, I thought, from my chair, was extremely helpful to send a signal.
	You had the city declared an emergency, the province declared an emergency, and then the federal government declared an emergency.
	And I think that ought to have sent a signal to a lot of people that this is a serious matter and will not be allowed to happen again.
	Now, on that point, the city of Windsor actually declared a municipal state of emergency after the province did.
	Is that right?
	Correct.
	And it was on, I believe, on the 14th.
	Is that right?
	That's correct.
	Maybe just explain why the municipal state of emergency was called after the blockade had already been cleared and not prior to that.
	Yes, thank you for asking that question.
	So what happened is we had had a council meeting prior to me signing off on the declaration of emergency on the 14th.
	One of the concerns that council had generally was there was a portion of the resolution in front of council Wide latitude to the city manager to do a number of things that council didn't feel comfortable giving sort of carte blanche to the city manager at that particular time.
	And we're talking about acquiring resources, moving transit routes, like the city operational type stuff.
	That I said, well, don't worry, if you have a concern with that, let's not get held up with that.
	I'll declare the emergency, which then would wrap that authority up.
	In me, to me, and anything that's required with respect to dealing with this direct pipeline that's been created, I'll have the ability to deal with.
	And so I signed it on the 14th and I, you know, ended it 10 days later.
	Right.
	So that allowed us just, and I don't even think there was much that came out of that in terms of, you know, needing to be dealt with operationally.
	Everyone just sort of figured it out.
	And we did what we had to do.
	I think I may have given free transit to people who started on the west side of Huron Church to be able to get to the other side because the disruption was big.
	There were a few things like that, but nothing material, I would say, was used, was done by me with respect to that emergency power.
	Right.
	And as you had mentioned, the injunction was really a signal to the public that...
	The city was doing everything it could.
	Why couldn't the state of emergency also be a signal, even if measures wouldn't necessarily be used or there wasn't much additional powers that could be gained from it?
	Wouldn't it be a signal to the public that the city was doing everything it could?
	Do you mean, why didn't I sign a declaration of emergency prior to the 14th?
	Yes.
	Well, you know, I felt like that wasn't going to provide anything new that I needed at the time.
	So we didn't have, like police were telling me what they needed.
	I was trying to amplify their requests from a city perspective with respect to public works and Jersey barriers and all the things that we had to mobilize.
	No one came to me saying we can't do this or they're charging us 10 times the amount.
	Nothing would have benefited.
	I can't see the situation becoming better because I signed it at that particular time.
	What happened on the 14th, though, when everyone woke up and they saw this tunnel from the 401 to the Ambassador Bridge in both directions, if you live in Windsor, you know that that was like...
	A major, major thing.
	All cross traffic was blocked.
	Bus routes were rerouted.
	There were going to be impacts on business.
	Many businesses, over 200 businesses that were impacted as a result of that particular action.
	And again, that wasn't something that was my decision.
	That was a police decision to put these Jersey barriers in place and create a safe pipeline to and from the bridge.
	So I anticipated that there would be some requirement to deal very, very quickly on the municipal side with The stuff that we deal with operationally, that that tool would have given me the benefit of acting quickly.
	And so that's why I did it on the 14th as opposed to doing it earlier because I didn't see the need to do it earlier.
	And so the purpose then was to get some sort of financial compensation for the businesses that were prevented from getting...
	Business because of the Jersey barriers that were blocking east-west traffic?
	I just knew, not necessarily.
	I knew that what had been done was going to have some form of material impact on a variety of different operations and businesses.
	is, a material impact on the way people live their lives on either side of Huron Church Road.
	And what I wanted, it wasn't so much at that time sending a signal to the public.
	I'll take that authority under the Emergencies Act and be able to deal with anything very, very quickly.
	And again, in 10 days, once the situation stabilized and normalized, I signed off and said there's no longer a municipal emergency.
	And how long were those Jersey barriers in place along here on Church Road?
	Weeks.
	Several weeks.
	I can't remember the exact date when they were finally removed.
	There was an incremental, for a couple of weeks they were there and it was a direct pipeline and you had hundreds of police on duty making sure that if trucks stopped, that they were acting very quickly to have folks move on.
	But incrementally and over time, you saw...
	Certain jersey barriers removed at certain intersections so people could cross here on Church Road.
	And then police maintained a, you know, I would say a heightened state of readiness at those locations, just in case there was a flare up.
	And.
	Thank you.
	To continue that type of protesting activity, it's one thing to do it in Ottawa at the seat of the federal government.
	It's another thing to do it at the busiest border crossing between our two countries that has a significant impact on the lives of tens of thousands of Canadians, not just people in my community, people all across this province that rely on smooth and efficient border crossings for their livelihoods who've been impacted over a couple of years with the pandemic.
	And so, you know, there was, I think we all knew that if you wanted to have the biggest impact, the biggest impact economically would be in Windsor, leading up to the Ambassador Bridge.
	And if I can take you to WIN 50972.
	Now, this is February 16. So a few days after the blockade has been cleared.
	And this is a briefing.
	I believe these were some remarks that you gave.
	Is that correct?
	That's correct.
	And if you go down, keep going.
	So there, the bolded section there.
	You say, let me be clear, this remains a national security situation that prevents us from simply reopening here on Church Road to regular traffic at this time.
	What did you mean by national security situation?
	Well, I would add even national economic security situation.
	The amount of trade that crosses at the Ambassador Bridge is material.
	It's material for our province, material for our nation.
	And so every day that that bridge is closed...
	It has a huge impact on the lives of tens of thousands of Canadians who rely on smooth and efficient border crossings for their livelihoods.
	And so national security situation, we had the deployment of three kilometers of Jersey barriers in each direction.
	I didn't make that decision.
	That was a police decision using the intelligence that they had and all the tools and information they had at their disposal in order to find a way.
	The best way forward to get access to the Ambassador Bridge from the 401 so that this bridge was open, that the economy was moving once again, and that they could maintain control of what I would argue is a piece of infrastructure that is in our national economic interest.
	It is a very material, critical piece of national infrastructure that just doesn't happen to be, that happens to be owned by a private interest.
	Did you have any discussions with Minister Mendicino or anybody else at the federal government about the risk of another blockade after the one on the 14th was cleared?
	I probably did.
	You know, there were check-ins.
	Minister Mendocino was very good at checking in, saying, how are things going today?
	He did that many days in a row.
	And to the extent I had information from police where there was something worth reporting, I sent that back to him so that he had situational awareness of what we were dealing with on the ground.
	Minister Mendicino is someone who lived in Windsor.
	He went to law school at the University of Windsor, so he also knows the area.
	And once you have a perspective of what it's like on the ground, it's easier to have a conversation.
	He knows the impact of what happened on here on Church Road without me even having to discuss it with him.
	He just intuitively knows that because he had experience in the area.
	And so, yeah, we went back and forth, and he was very good at checking in, just asking for an update and trying to gather information for his perspective.
	So in terms of continuing threats to the Ambassador Bridge, you're getting that information from the Chief of Police or the Deputy Chief of Police.
	You're not getting any information from any federal entities giving you kind of intelligence or information?
	That's correct.
	Okay.
	And to your knowledge, were any of the federal emergency powers ever used to prevent further blockades?
	I'm not aware.
	Now, on March 17, you wrote to Ministers Mendicino and Blair and to the Solicitor General explaining some issues that you believed had been brought to light.
	Do you recall that?
	Was this the letter asking to have a, you know, sit down and try and figure out the path forward?
	Yes.
	Yes.
	And so what were some of those concerns that you had at the time?
	Well, this is a, the Ambassador Bridge in the City of Windsor is a unique circumstance.
	So you have, as I said, the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest commercial border crossing between the United States and Canada, which is privately owned, that sits at one end of a municipal roadway.
	And three kilometres on the other end is a provincial highway.
	And so, you know, the 401 is a roadway where there are no traffic lights.
	It's sort of barrier-free.
	But as soon as you get off onto Huron Church Road, you're on that municipal road, which falls under the responsibility and authority of the City of Windsor and the Windsor Police Service.
	You have six or seven traffic lights.
	So trucks, as they make their way from the 401 to the Ambassador Bridge, have to go through those series of...
	Municipal traffic lights.
	And it is a unique situation that you have, you know, a provincial highway at one end, a municipal roadway linking what I would suggest is sort of important federal infrastructure.
	And so my request to them, to the other levels of government, was we need to sit down and figure this out.
	We need to figure out in the event that something like this were to happen again, how do we respond and...
	You know, sort of pull the template off the shelf, that the response is seamless, that it's not, you know, a day or two here trying to figure out how many folks we need and who's going to do what and who should take the lead and then ultimately who's paying for it.
	You know, so the City of Windsor has carried all of the water.
	We're paying all of the bills, $5.3 million for the execution of this particular police action, which was absolutely necessary, but I would submit is...
	Completely unfair that the City of Windsor is shouldering those costs.
	It was not a typical municipal policing matter.
	In fact, it was a national economic emergency.
	And we responded appropriately.
	The Windsor Police did a great job.
	The OPP did a great job.
	The RCMP.
	They all worked very well together.
	But we need to figure this out moving forward because the Ambassador Bridge is not going away, our Municipal Road is not going away, and the 401 is not going away.
	So what does this look like in the future?
	And that was my request to them, is to sit down and try and figure out how we do this together in the future to eliminate any sort of delays that might be inherent in the way we moved in February.
	And have you had any response back?
	No.
	So, can you give us a sense for the impact of the blockade, specifically on the auto sector in Windsor?
	Well, it was, you know, almost immediate.
	Again, within the first hour, our largest employer called saying, what's going on?
	The very next day, on February the 8th, they suspended some of their manufacturing operations and it was intermittent during the week of the blockade.
	We also had parts suppliers.
	Basically stopped producing parts because they had nowhere to send them and they don't stockpile large quantity of parts.
	And, you know, there was a huge, huge impact in the auto sector.
	But don't forget, even in Essex County, you know, City of Windsor is plus or minus 230,000 people.
	If we take the neighboring county, we're part of that county, just not part of their government.
	It's about 450,000 people total in that area.
	We have...
	The largest greenhouse operation in North America, second in the world next to Holland.
	And so a full 80% of all greenhouses in Canada are in Essex County.
	And so the produce that is produced in those facilities that operate 24-7, 365, the vast majority of it is exported to the United States through the Ambassador Bridge.
	And so the regional impact, which we cannot discount, was material.
	It was major.
	And having folks idled, having plants idled is not good just for our economy.
	It also had an impact on the U.S. side because of the integration of our supply chains.
	And so that's why we had folks from the United States, senior leaders in the United States calling for an end to this as well and trying to push for a resolution because it was impacting their economy too.
	And what discussions did you have then with counterparts or others in the U.S.?
	You know, I spoke with folks at Homeland Security, but more from an operational perspective at the bridge, so the port director at the bridge.
	And I spoke with the mayor of Detroit, you know, once during the blockade, just to sort of, you know, touch base, because I was getting a lot of media questions about whether I'd spoken to the mayor of Detroit.
	And I knew there really wasn't a whole lot that he could do, but I wanted to touch base with him.
	So, you know, we were trying to resolve this situation.
	There wasn't a lot that...
	That I think could be provided from the U.S. At one point, we did have an overture from the governor of Michigan's office to provide tow trucks.
	I think she made a comment to the media and then folks brought that to our attention.
	And when we reached out and had a conversation with her chief of staff, it really wasn't that the state of Michigan had tow trucks.
	They just offered to facilitate an introduction to tow truck companies that may be able to provide the support.
	I see.
	Any other discussions with...
	With U.S. folks?
	No.
	Okay.
	So I want to take you to WIN 401628.
	And these are remarks that you gave.
	Now we're going back in time on February 9. But you said at the bottom of, sorry, the top of page 2. You said, if Canada becomes known as a difficult jurisdiction to do business with, to move goods in and out, for example, then supply chains will evolve and reconfigure to remove this element of risk and avoid Windsor-Essex.
	What were you basing that information on?
	Well, I think everyone is aware now, so I can contextualize this a little differently than I could at the time.
	The City of Windsor was successful in landing a $5 billion investment from LG, a joint venture from LG and Stellantis.
	And so they're building the first Canadian electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in the City of Windsor.
	All of that discussion, all of that work, and the pre-planning was well underway during the protest in February.
	It just hadn't been announced publicly.
	And so, in fact, the CEO...
	of Stellantis Global went to Canada during this time to have a meeting with senior officials.
	And so this was me sending a signal to the extent that any of those folks who are watching that we understand that this has to end, that we understand that you have a choice in terms of where you locate these facilities, and that we're doing all we can to try and move folks on.
	And that sort of plays into the whole Injunction piece as well, that it's the public facing part of it that was important, as was it important to make sure police had another tool that they could use.
	But I wanted to make sure that with respect to the folks, you know, early on here, we're in the very early part of sort of rolling out all of the pieces back in February for this major, major investment.
	I wanted to make sure that they knew very clearly.
	That we were taking the situation very seriously and applying all resources that we could from a municipal perspective to get this situation resolved, reflecting on the fact that, you know, did I think that the first Ford factory in Canada, 1904, I didn't think a 100-year, 120-year relationship was going to be eviscerated because of a seven-day event.
	But at this particular time, it was critical that I sent that signal and had them...
	Have me acknowledge that this is an important issue that needs to be resolved because they were asking.
	Right.
	And so were you concerned to some extent that the image or the...
	The viability of Windsor as a city to invest in might be compromised by this.
	100%, because this investment that I'm talking about, we are fortunate and we worked very hard to get this investment, but there were options up to 401 in Ontario, and there were lots of options across the border.
	In the state of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.
	And so I was determined on behalf of the city to make sure that that landed here.
	And we were at a very fragile point in the process that this could have been derailed.
	If they had looked at this and taken a perspective that we don't want this hassle, it's just easier to do business in the United States, this is the type of event that could have derailed this major investment for Canada, for Ontario, and certainly for the city of Windsor.
	And in terms of impacts on residents, what impacts did the blockade have on city services, social services, medical services, transportation?
	Can you give us a sense?
	Well, major.
	And so let me mention several.
	When this all started...
	EMS had to move an ambulance to the other side of Huron Church.
	They had to make sure that they could cover that part of the city.
	Our fire chief moved and deployed fire resources.
	There's a fire station literally 100 meters from where the protesters were protesting, but it's on the east side of Huron Church.
	They moved a truck to the west side to make sure that they could get there and provide service to the west side of the city.
	The transit routes were disrupted.
	The natural...
	The flow of people back and forth and having Huron Church Road closed was significant because there are no grocery stores on the west side of Huron Church.
	They're all on the east side.
	And a lot of folks have to take the bus.
	They don't have their own car on the west side of Huron Church.
	And so they require the city system to be able to move around and live their daily lives.
	The University of Windsor.
	The University of Windsor is directly adjacent to Huron Church, directly adjacent to the Ambassador Bridge.
	The primary road that people in the city of Windsor would use to get to the University of Windsor is here in Church Road.
	So 17,500 students that attend the University of Windsor.
	You have a high school that was actually in the protest zone, Assumption High School.
	It's been there for probably 100 years.
	And so that school was directly impacted by the protest activity.
	And, I mean, those are several.
	But the impact was material during the protest and then even after the protest because of the deployment of the Jersey barriers along here on Church Road had a direct impact to the hotels, the motels, the businesses, the small businesses, large businesses, grocery stores, you name it.
	They were impacted, including the high school, including the University of Windsor, because everyone had to find another way around.
	And you had mentioned that the cost to the city was over $5 million, correct?
	Correct.
	And most of that, I understand, was for the Windsor Police Service.
	Is that right?
	It really is a mix, and we certainly have welcomed any audit of those expenses.
	Some police services sent us a bill.
	Some police services didn't.
	But we had to pay for the Jersey barriers.
	We had to pay for overtime.
	There was a whole list of expenses that made up the $5.3 million that we are carrying that cost at this particular time.
	Right, because in addition to OPP and RCMP, there were several local police forces that came to assist, correct?
	Correct.
	And so public order units, I know some were deployed from other parts of Ontario, but we contracted directly with the City of London.
	They have trained resources.
	They have a standard contract that they sent to us.
	I signed immediately.
	But the provision of that service was $200,000, plus or minus.
	We had to feed people.
	You know, the chief asked for 100 officers.
	I'm told that 500 showed up.
	Well, they may not have charged us.
	Some of the services may not have charged us for the salary and benefit costs, but we still had to put some of those folks up in hotels.
	We still had to feed them.
	We had to move them around.
	There were direct costs, which we would welcome any other level of government to audit.
	But at the end of the day, it's the residents in the city of Windsor who have carried the full share of those costs today.
	And just to be clear, the blockade was cleared and the bridge reopened before the Emergencies Act was invoked.
	Is that right?
	On the 14th.
	So the 13th around midnight into the 14th, I think the bridge opened around midnight on the 14th.
	So the emergencies act came was invoked sometime on the 14th.
	So yes, the answer to your question.
	Okay, great.
	So none of the measures in the Emergencies Act were used to clear the blockade since it came after, correct?
	Correct.
	Okay, thank you.
	Those are my questions for you.
	Thanks.
	Okay, so I think this is probably a good time for the morning break.
	So we'll take 15 minutes and then come back to continue.
	The commission is in recess for 15 minutes.
	Thank you.
	And Røde Otter.
	The commission has reconvened the commission of pro.
	Ready to go?
	Yes, sir.
	Okay, so now if I could call on the democracy fund to go first.
	Morning, Mr. Commissioner.
	Good morning, Mayor.
	My name is Antoine Dailly.
	I'm Counsel of Citizens for Freedom, a group representing the peaceful protesters in Windsor, Ontario.
	First of all, Mayor, congratulations on your recent re-election.
	I understand we heard earlier that you've been the Mayor and the Chair of the Police Services Board since 2014, but you also served prior to that in the capacity as a City Councillor.
	Is that correct?
	Correct.
	And when did that start?
	December 2006.
	And so, since your tenure of December 2006, would you agree that you have got some significant influence and connections within the City of Windsor and are a central point of contact for organizations such as the University of Windsor, the businesses in the area, and that you wield quite a bit of political influence?
	I would say that as mayor, certainly you're in touch with a lot of different people in the community, businesses, residents, and institutions as well.
	And so, just in terms of the Division of the Powers, because I understand you do wear several hats, one being, again, the Chair of the Police Services Board.
	In your capacity as Chair, you said that it is not the Board's responsibility to direct the activities of the police.
	Is that correct?
	Correct.
	We don't direct police operations.
	Would you say that you influence what tactics and methods they may use?
	No.
	And when it comes to requests for resources, is that usually something that comes from the police and that request is made to the police services board?
	Or is the police services board itself making requests for resources and things like that from the city?
	We go through an annual budgeting exercise.
	So the chief presents a budget to the board.
	We go back and forth until we land on something that ultimately gets approved by the board, which is then sent to city council.
	I will.
	Sorry.
	I'll speak slower.
	A budget approved by the Windsor Police Services Board is then sent to Windsor City Council for approval, and the Chief would lay out in the budget document what is needed for each department.
	If something extraordinary happens, if there's an expenditure or a request outside of the normal budgeting process, the Chief would then make a request to the Windsor Police Services Board, and the Board would make whatever decision they felt appropriate.
	Understood.
	And in your capacity as Mayor as well, I presume that you also had regular communication over the last couple of years leading up to the protests with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and the Chief Medical Office of Health of the region.
	Is that correct?
	Frequent, yes.
	Not daily, but there has been more contact during the pandemic between my office and the Health Unit than any other time that I can recall.
	And would you say that over the last two years that there was, in that increased communication, is it typically the city seeking guidance from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, or is it that, you know, these decisions are being made together in a collaborative fashion?
	What's that relationship between you and the Chief Medical Officer of Health?
	They have very distinct roles as spelled out in legislation.
	And so there are oftentimes because none of us have ever lived through a pandemic before, at least most of us haven't.
	There are times where during the pandemic, we've tried to sort out a course of action with the health unit to have a better understanding of where the medical officer of health may land on a certain topic.
	But ultimately, my experience with the medical officer of health is they may give you an impression or some guidance or some advice.
	So would it be fair then to say that typically the recommendations, because we saw a number of Section 22 orders issued by the Health Unit that were the subject of some of the protests that led up to the demonstration at the bridge, would it be fair to say that the recommendations of the medical officers is the medical advice?
	And that the actions of the City Council in terms of the bylaws and the orders that are being passed are more of the political aspect of that?
	Well, the Medical Officer of Health independently makes any orders that he makes.
	It's not dependent on us in any way.
	And then, of course, City Council passes bylaws, resolution, and policy, which is our normal governance role.
	Understood.
	And just in terms of that community control group, so am I correct that this community is a community control or a corporate control group?
	Community control.
	And the community control group, they met during the week of February 11th on a daily basis, 9.30 every morning.
	Is that correct?
	I don't know if it was every day, but we met very frequently.
	And did you attend all of those meetings personally, whether remotely or in person?
	Did you rely on others to communicate and relay to you the information that was discussed during those meetings?
	I'd have to look at the minutes themselves for each day.
	I attended several, but there may have been a time where I didn't attend, and if I didn't attend, my chief of staff, Andrew Teleczewski, would have attended.
	And so I presume then that the days that you did not attend those briefings about the bridge, you had other priorities to attend to at the time?
	Correct.
	And I guess you...
	You had an understanding that, you know, whether it's your chief of staff or the police services or whoever else attending those meetings was in control of that situation and that your immediate attention on that was not required.
	Is that correct?
	Well, the CCG does a good job at providing one source of information to multiple people, so we're on the same page, but it's not exclusive.
	And so I may have had on any given day, not may have, probably more than five conversations every day with the chief of police about the activity that was happening in Windsor related to the Freedom Convoy.
	And so it didn't mean if I wasn't in that particular meeting that there was an absence of information because there was great communication throughout the city, great communication intergovernmentally at the time and for the duration of the protest.
	Okay.
	And when you speak of the...
	The duration of the protests, is it fair to say that as mayor of Windsor, part of your role and responsibility is not only to represent the majority of citizens that elect you, but also the minority opinion?
	I represent the city of Windsor, and so certainly I absolutely represent the people in the city of Windsor.
	And so would it be fair to say that part of your role and responsibility then is to attend to those minority...
	Those minority opinions and views are at least to take them under consideration, particularly when there's active protests in the city.
	Of course.
	You would consider what's being said on social media.
	You would try to understand the perspective.
	And as we did here, trying to find a resolution, trying to get this thing over with so we could open the route to the border crossing.
	Right.
	And I understand that you testified earlier that you at no point in time actually went down and spoke with the protesters at the Ambassador Bridge protest.
	Is that correct?
	Correct.
	In terms of the leadership, were you aware that many of those attendees had also been protesting on almost a weekly basis since 2020 down at the Great Canadian Flag?
	No.
	You are not.
	As Mayor, are you typically informed by somebody within the city's apparatus of the protests that are happening?
	Only if it was exceptional.
	So, for example, if there was a protest on the lawn of City Hall today between 4 and 5, I may never be given notice of that.
	I may walk out and see the protest, but it's not normal that for sort of a general protest, which probably happens every week in some form, that the mayor's office would get notice of that.
	Okay.
	So you say that you didn't receive notice of, you know, anywhere between 25 to 50 people that gathered almost on a regular basis every weekend down at the flag.
	You say you were not aware of those?
	Oh, I was notified of frequent protests at the flag, but I think your question was, was I aware that people who were at the protests at the flag were also part of the protests of the Freedom Convoy?
	I can't create that connection.
	Okay.
	And in the information that you received about those weekly protests leading up to the Ambassador Bridge, were you able to identify any of the organizers or the leaders of those protests?
	Yes.
	And did you at any point communicate the names or identities of those leaders to the Windsor Police Service or anybody else within the city?
	I didn't have to because the police were attending those functions independently.
	And so you saw the interaction with the protesters, or at least the leaders of those protests, as more of a policing matter than a political matter.
	Well, and I don't know if it was weekly.
	I don't think it was weekly protests at the flag.
	But, you know, going back to when they started the protests at the flag with respect to COVID restrictions, there were points where the gatherings were illegal.
	They were contrary to provincial legislation at a minimum.
	And so police were there because you, again, had illegal activity, but you also had members of the public who were saying, why aren't you guys doing anything about that?
	Why are you letting this illegal activity happen when we have to follow the rules?
	We are following the rules, and clearly this behavior is not following the rules.
	It's illegal.
	Why are you not taking action?
	Right.
	Would you agree with me that over the course of the two years, those protests were building, there were many changes to the legislation, and there was different times where perhaps the number of people allowed at one of those protests was within the bounds of law, and other times, you know, that there could be further restrictions in terms of the number of people that could gather, and that that was a fluid situation, and that not all of those protests were legal?
	I don't know because I wasn't receiving a debrief after every time folks gathered at the flag to protest COVID restrictions.
	So I can't help you with an answer there because I just don't know.
	Okay.
	Thank you.
	Is it fair to say that in the protests leading up to the Ambassador Bridge, there were multiple occasions where there was a far bigger turnout of protesters and demonstrators than ever appeared at the bridge?
	I'm aware of the fact that you have I forget the fella's name, but he had some notoriety online and came to Windsor a couple of times.
	And that seemed to generate more activity at the flag when he came.
	Chris, somebody, I think.
	But I can't remember his full name.
	But anyway, this person, when he came to Windsor and there was at least two occasions that I'm aware of, more people seemed to gather on those two occasions over two years.
	And did I hear you correctly earlier that...
	Your understanding of the composition of the protesters is that many of those at the bridge were locals, and it was not all from out-of-towners, and to the extent there were people from out-of-town, a lot of them were coming from Toronto and other places in southwestern Ontario rather than Ottawa.
	Yeah, so my understanding was it was about 50-50 from the Chief.
	Okay.
	So then, as your role as part of the CCG, would you say that...
	Part of your responsibility was communicating with the other branches of government, whether it was, I think we saw some text messages earlier with Minister Mendicino, the Solicitor General in the province.
	So one of your key responsibilities was being that spoke on the wheel to these other government agencies.
	Is that correct?
	And our local members as well, members of Provincial Parliament and Parliament.
	And so can you just explain who is Brian Massey?
	He's the NDP Member of Parliament for Windsor West, which is the area where Huron Church Road and the Ambassador Bridge is located.
	And did you have much correspondence or communications with him during the time leading up to the ambassador protest?
	Leading up?
	I mean, I'm in frequent contact with him about that particular issue.
	I don't recall any conversations specifically about the protests that were going on.
	But when it happened, I did have communication with him once it set hold in Windsor.
	Okay.
	Can we just pull up a document here?
	win four zeros one six five nine
	So, Mr. Mayor, we heard earlier that you said, you know, the traffic at the Ambassador Bridge is of particular economic importance, that every hour of every day there's goods and services crossing that border, and that, in your opinion, a significant interruption to those products and services flowing across the border is of economic importance.
	Did I hear you correctly on that?
	That's correct.
	I believe, Mr. Massey, if we can scroll down here on this letter, appears to be dated February 9th to many of the other federal ministers.
	And if we scroll down, if we look at the top of the second paragraph there, it says that traffic disruptions along the road corridor to the Ambassador Bridge are not uncommon.
	Do you have any idea of what Mr. Massey is referring to here?
	I don't.
	I mean, unless he's talking about just sort of general construction that happens on Huron Church Road, which is, you know, a requirement on any road, I'm not aware of any major disruptions.
	Okay.
	Okay.
	So I understand that in your capacity as mayor, you may not hear about every protest that's going on in Windsor, but do you recall...
	A protest in March 20th of 2019, I think this was during your tenure, where a gentleman named Eddie Haddad, is that name familiar to you?
	Yes.
	And who is Eddie?
	Eddie is a Windsor resident, recently ran for city council and has run several times in the past.
	And do you share my understanding that he's also currently the chair of the Liberal Party of Canada in the Southwest Division?
	I don't know if he holds that position.
	And did you ever receive any indication that he was also the chair of the Essex Federal Liberal Riding Association?
	I have no idea if he is or not.
	Do you recall hearing a statement from him on March 20th of 2019 in relation to a protest dealing with funding for the university that apparently led to a temporary blockage of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor?
	And Mr. Haddad's quote saying that we're going to continue to shut down the bridge at every protest we do.
	Until they reverse the cuts.
	Do you recall that?
	No.
	So in addition to construction, do you recall any other interruptions to the flow of goods and services across the border at the Ambassador Bridge?
	Over what period of time?
	Well, let's say most recently.
	Is it true that on October 3rd of 2022, both the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor Tunnel were shut down for a marathon?
	Yep, that happens every year.
	That happens every year.
	And is it your understanding that as part of that planning, both the bridge and the tunnel were completely shut down to commercial and pedestrian traffic for a period of time?
	Correct.
	It's the Detroit Free Press Marathon that happens every year.
	So it's very well defined, very well prescribed, and the entire community on both sides of the border knows it's going to happen.
	Right.
	And we're also aware of...
	A CBSA strike and protest in support of that over some wages or the fact that they had been working without a contract that caused major slowdowns and disruptions at the bridge in August of 2021, as I understand it.
	I wasn't aware of any major disruptions at the bridge, but...
	So would it be fair to say then that this particular protest that happened in February of 2022 was not the first protest that impacted...
	The free flow of goods across the border at the bridge.
	Well, I would say it was the most unique and caused a complete shutdown of traffic to the Ambassador Bridge.
	The others that you're trying to compare to are very distinct and different.
	And different but also insignificant to the point that you don't recall that as a major event.
	Is that correct?
	Exactly.
	OK.
	Now, you'd indicated that, for example, the Detroit Marathon that happens every year, it's well planned, it's well thought out, so all parties kind of have noticed that this is happening.
	Would you agree with me that the primary concern, perhaps from the city's perspective as to this particular protest in February of 2022, was the uncertainty in terms of how long it might last and, you know, whether or not the city or the province or even the federal government had the resources to handle that type of demonstration?
	Yeah, we didn't know whether the slow roll was ever going to become permanent.
	We weren't certain on that.
	And how long was it going to last?
	It was a complete closure.
	The other ones were very time-limited for very discreet events.
	And this was something that, you know, there was no known end date.
	And when you say it was a complete closure...
	Are you aware of briefings through that CCG group where at various times there was certainly at least one lane open or two lane open to allow traffic and at least emergency vehicle access?
	Well, again, I think I mentioned that this morning that there were times when the chief told me that they've regained control of one lane and they thought they were talking to someone who had authority as a group leader to make sure that they could have emergency access through one lane.
	But then that quickly did not last because one party was never empowered to speak for the other parties and they decided to sort of block that lane.
	And that was part of the problem here, that this was in many ways a leaderless movement where, you know, there was no one specific to talk to and no one responsible for the outcome of the entire group.
	I understand.
	And you spoke earlier too about, you know, constructions and other delays.
	And the importance of the just-in-time delivery system for many of the auto parts manufacturers locally.
	Would you agree with me that a slowdown or a significant slowdown, whether it's a construction or otherwise, would also have an impact, albeit not as severe, but certainly has an economic impact on the auto parts manufacturers?
	Not necessarily.
	And so as long as one lane is open in each direction and vehicles can move, That works.
	I mean, we could work with that over a short period of time to continue commerce back and forth and let healthcare workers get to work.
	That can continue as long as one lane was open.
	And that is what police were trying to do from the very beginning, was find a way to keep one lane open, allowing the protests to continue, the slow roll protests to continue, but allowing one lane in each direction to be open so commerce could continue.
	Right, and so traffic disruptions, but the border's still open.
	When we pull up poe.cff, it'll be the seven zeros one.
	Just scroll down here.
	Just notice the date that it's May 13th, 2019.
	And is this an accurate representation of Huron Church Line here?
	What are we looking at in terms of the nearest cross street where those traffic lights are?
	I would have to have you tell me that answer.
	I'm not sure.
	Would it be fair to say that this is close to the Ambassador Plaza and that we're looking at roughly 200 to 300 metres, maybe a kilometre away from the mouth of the bridge?
	Yep.
	That's correct.
	And would you agree that this type of traffic and slowdown is not unusual along that main corridor in your experience since 2006?
	I would say that there is, because of the number of trucks that use here on Church Road, there is always the need for some form of repair, rehabilitation or construction along that road.
	We receive money from the provincial government under a program called Connecting Links, which is designed to fund repair and renewal of roads that are municipally owned.
	But really serve a greater purpose, like here on Church Road.
	And so this is an example of construction where traffic is continuing to move in both directions.
	And there's construction happening today on that road that would look much the same, where it's disruptive, but it does not stop international trade.
	And so you would agree with me then that this picture here in terms of the delays in the traffic is also emblematic and similar to the current state of the bridge since, let's say, the beginning of this summer.
	Yeah, there is ongoing construction on another portion of Huron Church Road, which would look similar to this as well.
	I'd like to briefly touch on sort of who knew what when within the CCG.
	You had indicated earlier that you were made aware of some demonstrations in Sarnia.
	And that there were the slow rolls happening in Windsor.
	But am I correct in saying that Chief Mizuno was not terribly worried about the slow rolls that were happening at the end of January?
	That was no particular cause for concern.
	Yeah, she expressed to me that those were peaceful, that the vehicles continued to move, and international trade continued to move as well.
	All right, and we also made aware that the OPP had shut down the highway junction at Highway 402.
	In an attempt to block either the west or eastbound traffic and to control that situation.
	On or about February 6th?
	I don't recall.
	can we put up document win 6041 If we can scroll down.
	And so this email, I understand, came from Joe Dedeckert.
	Do you know who he is?
	No.
	But would you agree with me that if we scroll up here that this was sent to a City of Windsor employee, Carolyn Brown?
	Looks that way, yes.
	And so you were never advised as to the contents of this email or this particular update that the OPP had shut down Highway 402?
	Yeah, I don't recall seeing that email.
	All right, if we scroll down a little bit further there.
	That the OPP, in fact, shut down the highway and that no traffic was able to go westbound to the U.S. through Sarnia due to police action.
	Is that a fair assessment of the content of this email?
	I think it speaks for itself.
	Understood.
	And so if we could pull up Windsor document 0006039.
	And who is Andrew Ray?
	That's me.
	Okay.
	And so were you informed then by Stephen Laforet, and Stephen Laforet is the Windsor Chief of Fire, is that correct?
	Correct.
	And he also sits on the CCG?
	Yes.
	And so he notified you.
	About the protest at Blue Water Bridge.
	He was informed by EMO that the 402 is now closed and it was closed by OPP and not by a blockade.
	Were you made aware of this fact on February 6th around 3 in the afternoon?
	It looks like that email was sent to me but I don't recall reading it.
	Okay.
	And I think later in this document too that they say that they are trying to block off the Ambassador Bridge or at least threatening to do so.
	Is that further down in this email?
	Oh, let me scroll up a little bit.
	There's concern, based on some limited intelligence, the convoy will be or is heading to Windsor today.
	Earlier, Intel indicated that the bridge was going to be targeted on Monday.
	So would it be fair to say that on February 7th, you had some intelligence that there may be an action at the Ambassador Bridge?
	I think it was even earlier than that.
	And so I wasn't too concerned about, I mean, I was interested in the Blue Water Bridge, but that's not within my scope of responsibility.
	But I think if, you know, as soon as February 4th came and the chief told me, and she actually elevated the fact that there was a slow roll protest, we started making arrangements that weekend.
	I think I mentioned this morning with respect to Jersey barriers.
	We started making arrangements with respect to moving the tunnel bus.
	I initiated that action, trying to get the tunnel bus on the duty-free side so that we would have a way to get healthcare workers through the tunnel in the event that there was a blockade at the tunnel as well.
	And so we started that particular weekend making arrangements, not knowing if the slow roll blockade or protest would ever become a full blockade.
	Okay, and then if...
	So...
	After you were made aware of the potential action in Windsor, you basically left it to the Windsor Police Service to implement the plan and to deal with the possibility of a blockade.
	Is that correct?
	Well, again, they had a role to play with respect to actions at the Ambassador Bridge.
	I was looking at other things as well.
	Again, the tunnel bus issue and making sure that...
	You know, the chief had the resources she needed as things developed, making sure that they could respond very quickly because we were watching what was happening in Ottawa.
	We were watching what was happening across the country.
	And we collectively wanted to make sure that we were finding best practices so as not to see that type of behavior happen in Windsor as well.
	Understood.
	Can we pull up Windsor win four zeros, two, one, seven, four?
	I believe these are the in-camera meeting minutes from February 8, 2022 at 7 p.m.
	Do you recall being in attendance at this meeting?
	Yes, sir.
	And if we scroll down here, I believe it's on page 2. Let's scroll down a little further.
	I think there's a quote there that says that at any point we can extend the circle of control.
	Do you see that here?
	Perhaps closer to the bottom of the page.
	Perfect.
	So that's Deputy Blair saying that at any point we can extend the circle of control.
	What did you understand that to mean?
	That if this escalated, they could expand the area in which they were going to provide enforcement.
	And did you have any understanding in terms of what was within the circle of control on February 8th at 7 p.m.?
	No.
	I mean, I just assumed it would have been here on Church Road, but I was never given a plan that delineated the boundary.
	Okay.
	And I believe somewhere in here Chief Mizuno says as well that we are ready to ask should we need assistance and that the amount of assistance will be dictated by what happens in the coming days.
	Do you recall hearing Ms. Mizuno or Chief Mizuno saying that?
	Yep.
	I believe that to be accurate.
	Perfect.
	And if we could just...
	Pull up your witness statement.
	You said earlier no changes needed to be made.
	I believe this is WTS 5019.
	I believe in that document, you said you weren't sure where the number 100 came from, referring to the request for additional officers.
	Well, I know where it came from.
	It came from the chief to me, but I never asked her to sort of explain to me how she came up with 100.
	I simply asked her, what do you need to help get this situation resolved?
	She got back to me and said, I need 100 officers.
	Okay, if we could pull up document WIN 402306 at pages 10 and 11. I've been fairly liberal, but...
	You're now well over your time, so you're going to have to wrap up.
	I thought we have 45 minutes here today.
	No, you have 25 minutes.
	Okay, I'll pick things up then.
	Okay, if we look at page 10 and we scroll down, on the right side, is that...
	Is the text messages that are darker, is that you to the chief?
	That's correct.
	And is it there that you indicate that we need to make an official request to the province and feds for the 100 officers?
	That's correct.
	So could you help me reconcile that?
	Was the request for 100 officers or the estimate of 100 officers, did that come from you or did that come from the chief?
	100% it came from the chief.
	Is that February the 8th?
	If we can scroll up.
	I believe, yeah, if we go up a little further, I think there's a time stamp on it.
	Yeah, there we go.
	February 8th in the evening, right?
	So February the 8th, that's correct.
	And so February the 8th, the chief had told me she needed 100 officers, which I amplified up to the provincial and federal governments.
	What happened in the evening of February the 8th, my chief of staff, Andrew Talaszewski, had a meeting with chiefs of staff at the federal level of government who asked that we put the request in writing.
	Talaszewski then told me that we need to put it in writing.
	I sent it to the chief saying, we need to put this in writing.
	So your testimony is that the request for 100 officers came directly from the chief of police and it was not at your direction?
	Correct.
	Okay, can we pull up Windsor document 402295?
	I believe these are text messages between the mayor and Minister Medecino.
	So if I've got the timeline correct here, so February 8th at 7 p.m. during the in-camera meeting Chief Mizuno says we are ready to ask for assistance should we need it.
	Then later in that evening you text her and it appears to say probably about a hundred officers.
	If we're looking at here page four.
	So on Wednesday The following evening, then, it appears that Minister Minichino is under the assumption that the police chiefs, that would be Chief Mizuno, told the OPP Commission that they are not requesting additional enforcement resources.
	And you said that that was inaccurate?
	I said wrong, because that's completely contrary to the conversation that I had had with the chief and that we had discussed with the board.
	And if we scroll down a little further here, you had indicated earlier, correcting your statement, that CBSA went to offer tow trucks support to Windsor, and the local police was saying that that wasn't necessary.
	Is that correct?
	That's Minister Mendicino's text to me.
	Right.
	And so what I said was that we were offered tow truck support.
	And what CBSA offered to do is to find the pathway to allow tow trucks and tow truck drivers into Canada, which may not normally be admissible, sort of as a matter of right.
	They agreed to work with us if we needed to bring in U.S.-based tow trucks to find the pathway to get them through the border so that they could be of assistance.
	Would it be fair to say, then, that the two parts of this conversation we saw you having with Minister Mendicino, Minister Mendicino was incorrect about whether or not the Chief Mizuno had requested resources and was also incorrect as to the type of assistance that was offered by CVSA?
	I think what happened, when I received that message from Minister Mendicino and my response was wrong, I called the Chief immediately.
	To make sure I understood what was going on.
	The chief explained to me that in the conversation that she had had with Commissioner Karik, that at that precise moment in time, they weren't asking for any more because officers were coming in and she didn't know how many officers were coming in.
	I understood.
	Okay.
	And it was also your understanding then that there was a plan in place as early as February 10th to dismantle this protest.
	Is that correct?
	Well, I knew that officers were coming in.
	I did not know.
	The chief could not tell me how many officers were coming in, nor was I aware of how long it would take to resolve the issue.
	Okay.
	Can we pull up WPS?
	I'm going to have to stop you.
	You're now well over your time.
	So if you could wrap up, please.
	Thank you.
	There's some latitude just to show a couple pictures here to make sure we're on the same page in terms of what the enforcement action did look like on the February 13th.
	If we could pull up CFF609.
	Sorry, Council, is there another digit after the 9?
	Not according to this note here.
	Okay we can we can skip that one and look at CFF0000260 instead.
	And so those officers there, you're saying those are Windsor Police officers or are those OPP?
	I can't tell from the flash on their arm.
	It does not look like a Windsor flash though.
	What about CFF0000261?
	Those appear to be officers on the roof.
	Do you know if those are Windsor police or is that OPP?
	I can't tell.
	And do you think, Kate, that you weren't sure exactly what time on either the 13th or the 14th that the bridge had been cleared completely?
	Do you recall reading a report from, again, I believe this is Chief of Fire Stephen LaFerre, that the blockade is clear and that all needs have been met?
	It's at 9.52 p.m. on February 13th.
	Yeah, I do recall the, you know, the bridge had been, the roadway had been cleared earlier than the bridge opened.
	And so they had to get the barriers in place once the people were moved out and the vehicles were moved out.
	They had to get the barriers in place before they could open the bridge.
	And then, of course, they had to make sure.
	But the area was secure.
	As secure as it could be.
	But there was a heightened state of alert.
	On that particular day and for weeks afterwards.
	Understood.
	And just in terms of the intentions of some of those protesters there...
	I understand that you referred to what happened at the Ambassador Bridge almost as the last of the Mohicans moment, and that when asked to clarify, you indicated that some people there were willing to die for that cause.
	Would you agree, based on some of your observations, that in the evenings, at least it was a party atmosphere, that the vast majority of protesters there were not willing to be shot in the streets to maintain that protest, and that it was, by and large, absolutely peaceful?
	Well, I Thank you.
	That was a compound question that my friend has asked.
	I think it's an unfair question to the mayor, and he hasn't provided any of these statements for him to see.
	I object to that question.
	Okay, I'll move on there.
	And just to clarify, so Chief Pan Mizuno, she is no longer the Chief of Police in Windsor.
	She announced her sudden retirement on March 22nd.
	Is that correct?
	She has retired, yes.
	Okay, I asked you to wrap up five minutes ago.
	No more questions, just for the circumstances.
	Thank you.
	Okay, thank you.
	Next is the Government of Canada.
	Good morning, Mayor Dilkens, Commissioner David Chiroki for the Government of Canada.
	In your evidence-in-chief through the Commission Council, you'd indicated the City had supported an interim injunction that was granted on the 11th of February.
	I'd like to pull up the reasons for that interim injunction, which I think can be found in a number of places, but it's OTT-407333.
	And as that's being pulled up...
	You'd indicated in your evidence-in-chief that there were concerns about vigilantism leading up to enforcement, and that was a factor that went into seeking the injunction.
	Is that correct?
	Absolutely.
	Where were these concerns coming from?
	Social media, for sure.
	A Facebook group had been set up.
	We had local labour leadership that was being very vocal about gathering a group of people and going down there and ending this blockade.
	And so it was a theme that I would suggest had a head of steam fairly early on because everyone appreciated the impact of what was going on here.
	And were you aware of any organized efforts either through that social media or through announcements through official groups?
	Well, I'm aware that there was a discussion with police that had people lower the temperature.
	People who are purporting to want to do that, to lower the temperature and just let us resolve this in a peaceful way.
	And so we have the document open, which are the reasons that were for the injunction granted on the 11th of February.
	And specifically, I'd like to go to page 9, and in particular, paragraph 46 of the decision.
	And so, paraphrasing a bit, the court finds that there's no question that the blockade had caused and would continue to cause irreparable harm to Windsor.
	Would you agree that the harm that's being discussed here by the court, and in fact the harm that the City of Windsor was talking about in supporting this injunction, was the harm caused by a continuous blockade and not temporary increases in traffic?
	100% that the harm was economic harm to a lot of people in the community.
	And is it your understanding that roughly around midnight, either the night of the 13th or the 14th, the blockade was cleared and the bridge reopened to traffic?
	Correct.
	And with respect to the timing of that enforcement, in your evidence in chief, you indicated that there was a delay in enforcement due to the arrival of children at the protest.
	Correct.
	What were you hearing from police about the impact of the presence of children at the protest?
	What I heard from the chief is they were going to stand down on the Saturday night, resume enforcement on Sunday.
	You know, there were people live streaming on social media.
	From the area.
	So I watched some of that as well.
	And media was there reporting.
	And you saw the numbers of protesters swell dramatically.
	And it was all of a sudden you saw kids in strollers.
	You saw young kids.
	And it was, I would submit, in direct relation to the sort of call to support by the pastor in that one particular church.
	All right.
	And sort of in a similar vein, I'd like to take the witness to WIN 402238, please.
	And while that's coming up, you'd indicated the city had asked for an extension of the interim injunction and that this was an indefinite extension.
	Is that correct?
	That's correct.
	And the document that we're pulling up, again, are the court's reasons for granting that indefinite extension to the injunction.
	If we could go to page 8. In specific paragraph 47. And at the bottom there, I think it's at Roman numeral 4, the court found that the city of Windsor had established a continued threat of a new blockade.
	And with respect to, again, the evidence and the submissions were being brought to the court to extend this injunction, is that the concern?
	Was it either a continued blockade or a re-emergence of the blockade?
	Yes, more a re-emergence.
	I mean, at the time, obviously, it was to try and have everyone move on.
	But again, I think it's said this several times, the heightened state of alert that everyone was under, that police were under following the removal of the protesters in their vehicles, I've never seen that in my city in the past.
	And so there was a strong concern that this would happen again, which would...
	Put us on a cycle of having, you know, another week of trying to move people out and mobilizing resources from across the province and across the country.
	And so the city provided a number of affidavits in support of this injunction extension.
	And I believe the application record from the city is at WIN 50925.
	And I won't ask that that be brought up.
	It's a very long document.
	I just would like to refer to it.
	That there was evidence provided that spoke to this continued risk of a blockade reemerging.
	And so a document that I would like pulled up is WIN50803.
	I'll just wait for that to come up.
	Mr. Mayor, what are we looking at here in terms of geographically within Windsor?
	The yellow line is here on Church Road, and the Xs are intersections that access here on Church Road.
	If we could scroll down briefly.
	So there's an indication there are no local traffic beyond this point, and that's the period.
	You spoke of sort of a tunnel.
	I know there is a literal tunnel, but the tunnel leading down here on Church Road to the Ambassador Bridge.
	That's correct.
	Once you pass that red bar where it says no local traffic, you basically had to get on the Ambassador Bridge.
	And if I told you that this was a map of the traffic structure on the 16th of February, would that sound about right to you?
	That's correct.
	So this was a closure of a major municipal road in Windsor, wasn't it?
	Yes.
	And it impacted residents in nearby homes and neighborhoods?
	Massively.
	And you'd indicated the specific neighborhood of Sandwich Town as being to the west of Huron Church Road.
	That's correct.
	And there were no access to groceries for the residents of Sandwich Town as a result of the blockade and then the subsequent closure of the road?
	They had to take a very long road to get to the same grocery store that they would normally get to.
	And so the city had to provide alternative bus services to those residents so that they could go about their lives?
	And we did, yes.
	And you would agree with me that the city and the police would not choose to continue to limit access?
	By residents to Huron Church Road, unless it believed there was a real risk that a demonstration could return.
	Correct.
	And I know you said that you were uncertain on the date, at which point these traffic closures stopped, but you would agree with me that the measures to prevent the reestablishment of a blockade remained in a place after the 23rd of February?
	Yes.
	So, Commission Council took you to WIN 50's 972.
	And I'd actually like that to be brought up, please.
	And I'll take you to a similar portion where you refer to it remaining a national security situation.
	If we could scroll down, there's bolded text.
	There it is.
	And so this is the situation that, again, it says here, prevented reopening here on Church Road.
	And that's the closure we were just looking at on that map.
	Yes.
	If we could go to page three.
	And so it says here, we cannot ignore these ongoing threats because of the inconvenience that's being caused along Huron Church Road.
	With respect to these ongoing threats, can you speak a little bit about, I know you said the information was coming from police, but what were you hearing?
	During that time period?
	There were, for several weeks, I mean, immediately, once the Jersey Bears were put in and access to the bridge was made available, there was a high state of alert for police.
	There was still a huge police presence along here on Church Road.
	And there was a strong concern expressed to me by Chief Mizuno that there was a concern that this could flare up again.
	That lasted for several weeks.
	It lasted, in fact, you know, until the situation was dealt with in Ottawa.
	And the thought was that when Ottawa, the protest in Ottawa was disbanned, that folks would get in their trucks and come back to Windsor.
	So this lasted for quite some time.
	And so you referred in the statement to it being a national security situation.
	Did you see the events in Windsor as being connected ideologically or otherwise to other events happening nationally?
	Yeah, I mean, certainly, you know, watching what happened in the U.S., where there were freedom convoys in the U.S., and that happened in several cities.
	That was concerning.
	Seeing what happened in Ottawa, that was concerning.
	Knowing the money that was being reported with respect to flows from those give, send, go, or whatever it's called, GoFundMe, that was concerning.
	And so there were lots, there was no shortage of concern.
	And this was, in my mind, and will remain until I'm long gone, a national economic emergency.
	And that is a direct, there is a direct correlation to a national economic emergency, and I would submit to a national security issue.
	This is exactly what this was.
	And with respect to the specific topic of security, were you aware of the arrests that took place in Coots, Alberta on the 14th of February?
	Yes, sir.
	How did you become aware of those?
	Through traditional media.
	And what's your understanding of those events?
	That police were able to intercept a group of people who had weapons that intended to do harm to others.
	And they were part of the protest in Coutts, Alberta.
	And acknowledging, of course, that Coutts is quite geographically distant from Windsor, Ontario.
	Reading that, with respect to, again, talking about security, were there any concerns that were raised in your mind at that time?
	You know, I would say that what...
	From my impression, what I saw happen in Coutts was the type of behaviour that police were posturing for here, the type of behaviour they thought may play out here, and I think that played out in the posture that they presented and the way that they handled themselves in Windsor.
	And so the Coutts situation happened after the fact, but there was that level of temperature on the ground where police in Windsor were quite concerned and did not want to...
	And so you said both in your evidence in chief and in your witness statement, your understanding or belief that the invocation of the Emergencies Act sent a signal that the federal government was taking the blockade situation seriously.
	I agree with that.
	And that it may have discouraged the reestablishment of the blockades, particularly with respect to the Ambassador Bridge.
	I agree with that fully.
	Is that still your view?
	Yes, sir.
	Moving on to economic issues, I'd like to take the witness to ssm.can50495-rel, and in particular, page 2. And while that's coming up, actually, we'll start on page 1 just so we can identify the document.
	Now, this is likely not something you've seen.
	This is a background or report with respect to the impact of the road blockade on the Ambassador Bridge that I believe was prepared by Finance Canada.
	So, if we move to page two, the reason I'm bringing this up is if we scroll down.
	Now, there's a discussion here about both the exports, and I think the exports have been well covered in your evidence.
	What's your understanding about the items?
	Or goods that are imported from the United States into Windsor?
	I don't know that I have a discreet knowledge on the imports versus the exports.
	And I would just say that with respect to the trade that we see regionally in our community, or at least locally in my city, I go back to the parts that cross the border.
	six to seven times before they're put into a vehicle that rolls off the assembly line.
	It speaks to the tightly integrated supply chains that we have in Windsor and Detroit, which are respectively our own auto capitals of our countries.
	And so going back to the report in the last paragraph that's on the screen there, it speaks to Canada importing $4 billion worth of pharmaceutical products and $2.4 billion in medical equipment that go through the Ambassador Bridge.
	And that was in 2021.
	Is that a figure?
	That would be surprising to you?
	No, I believe that.
	You also mentioned the bridge's impact regionally.
	Would you agree with me that the imports that come in through the bridge don't stay in Ontario in their entirety?
	In their entirety, no.
	And that it's part of a national supply chain?
	100% agree with that statement.
	I'd like to now take the witness to WIN401628.
	Thank you.
	And this is a statement that my friend, Commission Council, took you to earlier that was delivered on the 9th of February.
	And if we could scroll down to, I believe, the top of the second page.
	So it's the statement here again that if Canada becomes known as a difficult jurisdiction to do business with, to move goods in and out, for example, then supply chains will evolve and reconfigure to remove this element of risk.
	It was part of the concerns for the reason that I mentioned, and they actually play out in part of the conversation, the readout which has been submitted in terms of documents, my readout with my conversation with the Prime Minister, where I even raised the issue of the battery factory and that conversation with him.
	And so there is no doubt that we...
	Must tread very lightly with respect to these types of incidents as they relate to our competitive position, not just as a city of Windsor, but provincially and nationally, because we are competing against Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee for these types of investments.
	And you've seen big automakers make investments in those states.
	And we knew that we were...
	Fourth and goal, to quote a football term, on landing this battery factory.
	And so I needed to make sure that the signal was sent to those who would be interested in this, that we take this very seriously and we're going to resolve this very seriously and very quickly.
	Acknowledging that I'm just at my 15 minutes, if I could just briefly take the witness to one more document and wrap up, would that be acceptable?
	Thank you.
	Go ahead.
	It's a PB.CAN, sorry, yeah, dot six zeros, .6023 underscore REL.
	And while that's coming up, I'll provide some context.
	This is another document that you may not have seen.
	It's a February 10th email chain between employees at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. and the Consulate General in Detroit.
	And specifically, I'd like to go to page two.
	These are a series of tweets from a U.S. representative, Slotkin, who I understand is the 8th Congressional District Representative in Michigan.
	And if the commissioner will allow, I'd like to give the witness some time to read.
	There's a series of tweets that go down the page.
	So if you could take a look and let the clerk know when you can scroll a bit.
	further you can keep scrolling it's the upside of a tweet is at least they can be read quick yeah Just underscores those statements, underscore my explanation.
	And so you would understand these statements to be a political representative from the U.S. saying that we would need to move manufacturing to the U.S. as a result of incidents like the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge?
	That's absolutely correct.
	And my friend with Commission Council took you to some texts that you had with Premier Ford, and in the interest of time, I won't ask that they be brought up again, but do you recall him texting you that he had every major company all over him?
	Yes.
	Do you understand what he meant by that statement?
	Absolutely, I do.
	What was your understanding of that statement?
	That this was not just companies in Windsor or companies in Essex County.
	This bridge and this border crossing, it's of provincial and national significance.
	So when it's blocked, he gets phone calls from major manufacturers all the way up to 401.
	At the risk of pushing my luck, Mr. Commissioner, if I have two more questions.
	Go ahead.
	Thank you very much.
	You would agree with me that a blockade of the Ambassador Bridge would be more economically damaging than blocking the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel?
	Yes.
	And that an experienced truck driver would know that they could not use the tunnel?
	Correct.
	Those are all my questions.
	Thank you very much for that indulgence, sir.
	Thank you.
	Next, the convoy organizer.
	Good afternoon.
	Good afternoon.
	For the record, Brendan Miller, I appear as counsel for Freedom Corp, which represents the protesters that were in Ottawa in January and February of 2022.
	Good afternoon, sir, again, and thank you for appearing here today.
	My first question is, prior to you taking on your current office, your former office, what did you do as a job prior?
	I'm a lawyer as well.
	You're a lawyer as well.
	Yes, sir.
	And I take it you didn't ever work in national security law, did you?
	No, sir.
	All right.
	And so it's fair to say you're not a national security expert and you don't have background on what constitutes a national security emergency.
	Is that fair?
	I would say that I've never practiced national security law, but there are some things on the face of it that present themselves and I think would be obvious to everyone could be related to national security.
	Right.
	And when it comes to national security, I take it you rely a lot on law enforcement, is that correct, with respect to providing you information?
	Correct.
	Right.
	And in your capacity, of course, municipally, that's primarily going to be your municipal police force and the OPP?
	Mostly municipal police.
	Mostly municipal.
	That's right.
	And can you agree, you said you have some of an understanding of national security, so you're familiar with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service?
	Yes, sir.
	And what's your understanding of what they do?
	Well, they have their own act.
	And certainly, I'm sure it's well spelled out in the act that if you brought it up, we could go through it.
	Yeah.
	But you agree with me that there's the Federal Intelligence Service, sort of the Canadian equivalent to the CIA.
	Is that fair?
	Yes.
	Okay.
	And so the intelligence they gather with respects to threats to the security of Canada, can you agree with me that they would probably have the best information?
	I think they're certainly a good source.
	I think RCMP would also be a great source as well from a policing perspective.
	Okay.
	Could we please bring up a document?
	I've sent an email about it arising from my friend's cross.
	ts.nsc.can.001.0000206_rel_0001.
	Jennifer King for the City of Windsor.
	Commissioner, we received an email, it appears, from my friend Mr. Miller less than 15 minutes ago with three documents that he...
	If I can assist, I'm only referring to the one.
	That's it.
	In any event, we had no notice of these documents.
	It's contrary to the rules.
	We haven't had any notice that he intends to put this to Mayor Dillkins.
	Okay, Mr. Miller, I don't think this is the first time.
	Yes, and it only arose from cross-examination from my friend, as I made clear in my email, not from the City of Windsor, not from the Commission, but from my friend with the federal government, which made it relevant.
	Well, let's see what the document is and if there's a problem, either if the witness needs time or if counsel for Windsor has an objection, we can deal with it.
	Now, sir, this is a document from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service summarizing what it is they discussed with Cabinet regarding threats to national security.
	And if we could just scroll down to page five, please.
	Okay, so I just want you to see that.
	So on that document there, on February 3rd, CESIS assessed, there is no indicators that known IMVEs, and I take it you know what that is, actors were planning to engage in violence.
	And then if you scroll down to the other bullet points, it states, on February 13th, CSIS advised that the implementation of the EA would likely galvanize the anti-government narrative within the convoy and further radicalize of some towards violence, referring to the increase in violent rhetoric following the declaration of the state of emergency in the province of Ontario.
	Furthermore, CSIS advised the...
	Thank you.
	Furthermore, CSIS advised that the invocation of the EA by the federal government would likely lead to the dispersing of the convoy within Ottawa, but would likely increase the number of Canadians who hold extreme anti-government views and push some towards the belief that violence is the only solution to what they perceived as a broken system and government.
	Following the invocation of the EA, Cease's brief cabinet and reiterated the potential for the EA to increase anti-government views and violent ideologies, including in those not yet radicalized.
	Now, can you agree with me that you would never want to do anything that could create further radicalization of extremists within the city of Windsor?
	Is that fair?
	I'm going to object to this question on this document and object to this document being put to the Mayor.
	Withdrawn.
	I'm done.
	Thank you, sir.
	Okay.
	Next is the City of Ottawa.
	You can get started if you'd like.
	and they will, seems to always happen at the city of Ottawa to be at lunchtime.
	Good afternoon, Mayor.
	My name is Anne Tardif.
	I'm one of the lawyers for the City of Ottawa.
	You mentioned in your testimony, and I think in your witness summary, that you had calls with both the Solicitor General Sylvia Jones for Ontario and the Federal Minister of Public Safety, Minister Mendicino, correct?
	Correct.
	And you were requesting additional police sources, and I should say that you were amplifying the request that your chief had alerted you to.
	Fair?
	That's correct.
	Thank you.
	And you mentioned that the federal government in particular was very supportive.
	So was Minister Jones.
	Both were very supportive, fair enough.
	And I take it that staff, if I understood you correctly, staff at the federal level asked that your request or the request for additional resources be put in writing.
	Is that correct?
	That's correct.
	And we saw the letters that Chief Mizuno sent further to that request to both the provincial and the federal government, right?
	That's right.
	And I take it they were sent more or less at the same time.
	Fair?
	That's true.
	And it's fair to say then that no one at the federal government said to you, you've got to go to the province first.
	You're not following proper protocol or anything of that nature.
	Well, they didn't say don't send me the letter, but, you know, there was a conversation that the order of operations is municipal to provincial, provincial to federal.
	But, you know, the nature of what was happening here and the nature of what was going on across the country, we knew, I think a sensible person would know that there's limited resources and they're being drawn to assist in different areas.
	From my chair and my perspective, and I think it's fair to say from Chief Mizuno's perspective, we didn't care whether it was the OPP or the RCMP that arrived.
	We just needed more boots on the ground to help resolve the issue.
	Perfect.
	Thanks very much.
	If I could bring up WIN 50410.
	And while this is coming up, Mayor, it's an email exchange between Jason Raynar, am I pronouncing that correctly?
	Yes, you are.
	Thank you.
	At the City of Windsor and Chief Lafere, who I understand is the fire chief in Windsor and was also the chair, if I understood correctly, of the CCG.
	That's true.
	And if we scroll down to the bottom.
	There's the email from Mr. Raynor to the entire corporate leadership team, including, of course, Chief Laforet.
	And he's advising that the injunction has been granted and will come into effect at 7 p.m. tonight, which is Friday, February 11th, correct?
	That's correct.
	And if we could scroll down, Mr. Clerk.
	He says, but these advances may have the effect of, quote, unquote, ratcheting up.
	The protesters and their supporters.
	We will be watching closely to see what developments happen over the next 24 hours.
	And it goes on from there.
	So this concern about ratcheting up the protesters with the issuance of an injunction was something, I take it, that the city was aware of on the 11th.
	Well, the city was, but the chief, when I told her, when I asked her, you know, we're going to apply for an injunction, do you think this would be helpful?
	That was never...
	A conversation or a concern that she expressed to me from a policing perspective.
	So our fire chief saying that, I'm not sure where he, you know, where he put that, where he got that from to think of putting that in an email.
	But clearly, you know, we weren't looking to ratchet things up.
	We were looking to resolve things in a sensible way.
	And I take it then your chief reassured you that that was not a concern or not one that she had at heart?
	She never expressed to me a concern about and drew a correlation between an injunction.
	And the thought that we would be ratcheting up or escalating the situation.
	Thanks very much.
	I understand and we've heard already in your testimony that there was an original injunction, time limited for 10 days, obtained on February 11th and that the City then moved to obtain an indefinite extension of that injunction, correct?
	That's correct.
	And this will be the last document I'll ask Mr. Clerk to put up and it is WIN 50921.
	Mayor, this is the factum or the legal argument, well, you're a lawyer, the factum, because I can use that word, that the City of Ottawa, if we scroll down just a little bit, the City of Windsor, pardon me, filed in support of the order or seeking the order for an indefinite extension of the injunction.
	If we just scroll down, you'll see it there.
	Factum of the intervening party, the corporation of the City of Windsor.
	And if we could go to paragraph two, Mr. Clerk.
	Before I take you through this, you've given ample evidence already about the concern that the city had about the possible resurgence of a blockade at the bridge if the injunction were to expire, correct?
	Yes.
	And I just wanted to draw this out.
	This is the argument before by the City of Winder, and it says, the events in the days since the February 11th order was made have reinforced the ongoing need for the injunction.
	Since the February 11th order came into effect at 7 p.m. on February 11th, 2022.
	Subparagraph A, protesters defied the February 11th order, with numbers increasing and peaking at between 600 and 800 individuals during the evening of Saturday, February 12th, 2022.
	And I take it that was information the city obtained from police?
	Yes.
	Okay, and that was information that formed part of the city's decision then to seek a continuation of that injunction?
	Yes.
	Thanks very much, Mayor.
	Those are my questions.
	Okay.
	So I think this is an appropriate time to take the lunch break.
	So we'll take an hour and come back to continue the questioning.

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