Premier Ford denies ‘abandoning’ Ottawa during ‘Freedom Convoy’ occupation

Premier Doug Ford insists he never abandoned Ottawa during the 'Freedom Convoy' occupation last winter.

Earlier this year, the Emergencies Act Commission Report concluded that Ontario was reluctant to become “fully engaged” with the City of Ottawa and the federal government and called the province's reluctance to resolve the situation in Ottawa “troubling.”

During a press conference on Tuesday, March 21, Ford was asked about the report's findings.

“Well, I think that's their opinion, that's furthest from the truth, we were on this every single day,” said Ford, thanking the additional police enforcement that were deployed to Ottawa during the weeks-long protests.

Although Ford didn't directly name Ottawa's former mayor, Jim Watson, and Ottawa's previous police Chief Peter Sloly, at the press conference, he mentioned how Toronto's leaders, including that city's former mayor, handled the convoy.

“When the convoy came to Toronto, they came, they did their little protest (and) they were gone, because Chief (James) Ramer had operational experience, he was ready, Mayor (John) Tory did a great job,” said Ford. 

The Emergencies Act Commission noted Ford's refusal to testify at the inquiry, along with his then-solicitor general, Sylvia Jones. The report also documented Ford's absence from tri-level government meetings on the occupation and his priority for ending the Windsor border blockade. 

Justice Paul Rouleau, the inquiry's commissioner, also found that better collaboration at the political level from the start could have helped the “communication, jurisdictional, and resourcing issues that plagued the early response to the protests.”

In February, the Public Order Emergency Commission found the federal government met the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act.

With files from Cormac Mac Sweeney and The Canadian Press.