'It feels like vindication': Ottawa residents react to Emergencies Act inquiry final report

Centretown resident Tim Abray says the final report into the federal government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act to end the 'Freedom Convoy' protest last winter, "feels like vindication".

Commissioner Paul Rouleau says the federal government met the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act in February 2022. The inquiry also found a "series of policing failures" contributed to the protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other public health measures spinning out of control for three weeks in downtown Ottawa.

Abray also agrees with the commissioner that it never should have gotten to that point.

"It confirmed what a lot of the things people living through it knew the whole time, that it was a dangerous chaotic situation that public officials should have stepped in and done something about. It feels pretty vindicating," Abray said.

He says the three weeks of the convoy "were pretty terrible".

"We were pretty much locked in our homes. There was nowhere to go safely, easily." 

Abray says living through the convoy compelled him to advocate for change. Abray now works for a city councillor.

"The feeling of being cut off from services- no taxi access, no OC Transpo access, no deliveries of any kind- nothing. So there was this really strong sense of being cut off," Abray says. "It really did feel like an abandoned city."

John and Margaret Reeder also live in Centretown and say they followed the entire inquiry process, and watched Justice Rouleau deliver his findings on the television.

John Reeder says, “For weeks on end, we could not move about freely downtown without being harassed or intimidated by hundreds of people who were up there."

"Anything that would draw attention to the fact that what they did was unacceptable in my conclusion was an apt conclusion and an appropriate conclusion."

In tabling his final report, Justice Rouleau says, "Things that protesters saw as celebratory, such as horn honking, drinking and dancing in the streets, were experienced by Ottawa residents as intimidating or harassing. Either way, the bigger picture reveals that the situation in Ottawa was unsafe and chaotic."

Rouleau found the lack of safety was particularly apparent with the blockage of emergency lanes on Kent Street, which was entirely blocked by parked trucks, the report said. He also said he accepted the evidence that many participants took advantage of a lack of policing supervision to disrupt and intimidate residents.

Margaret Reeder says the situation was far worse for other residents who had no access to services.

"It was miserable, going out and people in the hotels shouting at you, all the cars, I feel sorry for all the stores and services, people with disabilities," Margaret said.

Businesses who also suffered reacted to the decision. John Saslove owns Saslove Meat Market in the ByWard Market.

"I think it was a good decision, we basically went through hell last year, we were closed some days because the roads were blocked and other days we sat here doing nothing with four employees working, making next to nothing," Saslove said, adding business is still recovering from the protest one year ago.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe issued a statement on Friday, saying there are many lessons to be learned from the inquiry's report.

"We have already implemented numerous public safety measures and recommendations at the Ottawa Police Services, and within Ottawa Emergency Management unit," Sutcliffe said.