Court hears of failed deal to move truckers during convoy protests

Ottawa’s manager of emergency and protective services testified Wednesday that the city struggled to keep emergency lanes open as streets were congested by illegally parked vehicles during the weeks-long truck convoy protest in the city.

Kim Ayotte was back in court for the criminal trial of two leaders of what became the “Freedom Convoy.” 

Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are charged with mischief, counselling others to commit mischief, intimidation and obstructing police for their role in the February 2022 protests against COVID-19 measures, as well as other grievances with the federal government. 

The Crown is trying to establish the two had “control and influence” over the crowds and encouraged others to join the protests while also fundraising. 

“This case is not about their political beliefs,” prosecutor Tim Radcliffe said in his opening. “What is at issue here is the means they employed — not the end — the means to achieve their political purpose, and whether it was lawful or not.”

Brokering deal to have trucks moved to Wellington

Ayotte said plans to keep an emergency lane open on Wellington Street, which runs directly in front of Parliament Hill, failed and it was “lost” after the first night of protesting due to trucks being chained together to stop them from being moved.

He told court that despite losing the lane on Wellington, “several” of the emergency routes in residential neighbourhoods were maintained throughout the protest.

Ayotte was one of the city officials involved in brokering a deal with convoy organizers to have protesters move trucks out of residential areas and onto Wellington. 

He exchanged a series of text messages with Barber about moving trucks off residential streets.

On Feb. 13, former Ottawa mayor Jim Watson announced the details of a proposed deal with some protest organizers that would see 400 vehicles removed from residential areas.

Wellington Street was already home to dozens of large trucks, other vehicles and tents set up by protesters at that time. 

But the plan to move the trucks ultimately didn’t come to fruition.

Proposed deal came up at commission

Ayotte testified Wednesday that the city had limited information on police operations at the time.

At the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) held in October and November to examine the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act that ultimately ended the protests, more information about the proposed deal came to light. 

Steve Kanellakos, who was the city manager during the protests, told the POEC there were concerns from other security forces with the deal to bring trucks onto Wellington.

The Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS), tasked with keeping government buildings in the area secure, disagreed with the city’s arrangement with some convoy organizers.

“The [security service] expressed concern with respect to Wellington being turned into a parking lot of 200-plus trucks,” reads a summary of an interview Kanellakos gave to the commission. 

“The [police] then stopped moving vehicles close to Parliament Hill.”

Evidence presented to the commission showed Larry Brookson, acting director of the PPS, took issue with the deal in an email he sent to Kanellakos.

“Quite honestly Steve I am at a loss as to how this sort of agreement could have been worked out with a clear disregard to security,” the email said.

“Especially considering that we just finished a bomb blast assessment which included the threat of explosive being transferred via large vehicles.”

The federal government was also not consulted on plans to move more trucks near Parliament Hill.

The commission heard the deal prompted about 40 large trucks and other light vehicles to leave five or six residential streets, but officials concluded protesters “did not respect their end of the bargain.”

In court Wednesday, Ayotte testified that when he went to check if trucks had been moved, he saw none had left the city as was agreed upon. Instead, he said he saw vehicles “jockeying” for a better position closer to Wellington.

By Feb. 14, after the deal failed, police started warning protesters that it was time to leave and when the weekend came a few days later, they used forced to clear anyone refusing to go. Ultimately more than 100 people were arrested as part of the sweeping police action.

Ayotte told court he observed the convoy protests from his office, by walking around and by viewing traffic cameras. He said he heard honking almost constantly over the first two weeks of the protest and that the city received complaints about a diesel fume odour in the air. 

His testimony will continue Wednesday afternoon. 

The Crown had originally planned to call 22 witnesses over 10 days but proceedings are significantly behind schedule, and only three witnesses have completed their testimony.