Windsor considered delaying plan to clear bridge blockade because of Ottawa protest

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Supt. Dana Earley says she briefly considered putting off an operation to clear a blockade of protesters at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont. fearing it might make the ongoing occupation in downtown Ottawa worse.

Earley is testifying before the commission investigating the federal government's decision to use the Emergencies Act last winter to remove demonstrators who were protesting COVID-19 restrictions by blockading streets in Ottawa and multiple border crossings.

Protesters in Ottawa had already been entrenched around Parliament Hill for weeks, with no end in sight, when police were ready to move on the protest blocking Canada's busiest border crossing in Windsor.

Earley says on Feb. 11 she had a plan and her officers were ready to go, but she worried a large police operation could make matters worse in Ottawa.

Her strategic commanders convinced her to focus on what was best for Windsor.

They launched their operation the next day and reopened the bridge on Feb. 14 — the same day the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2022.