Ottawa mayor, city manager, three councillors to testify before Public Order Emergency Commission
Hundreds of trucks remain parked on Wellington Street and surrounding streets in downtown Ottawa on day 10 of the "Freedom Convoy" demonstration in downtown Ottawa. (Josh Pringle/CTV News Ottawa)
Ottawa mayor Jim Watson, city manager Steve Kanellakos and three city councillors are on the list of witnesses set to testify before the inquiry into the invocation of the federal Emergencies Act in February.
The Public Order Emergency Commission, led by former Ontario Superior Court justice Paul Rouleau, is scheduled to begin hearings Thursday, with the mandate to assess the government’s use of the Act for the first time since it became law in 1988.
A list of anticipated witnesses, released Tuesday, includes Watson and Kanellakos and Watson’s chief of staff Serge Arpin, along with councillors Catherine McKenney, Mathieu Fleury and Diane Deans.
McKenney and Fleury’s wards were the most significantly impacted by the convoy occupation in downtown Ottawa. Deans was the chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board until she was voted out during a council meeting in mid-February.
Interim Ottawa police chief Steve Bell, acting deputy chief Patricia Ferguson, and inspectors Russell Lucas, Robert Bernier and Robert Drummond are also on the list, as is former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly.
The witness list also includes several high-profile organizers and leaders with in occupation group, such as Pat King, Tamara Lich, Tom Marazzo, Chris Barber, James Bauder, and Benjamin Dichter.
The Emergencies Act was invoked for the first time in its history in February after three weeks of Freedom Convoy protests including on Parliament Hill, at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont and the Canada-U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta. By law, an inquiry into its use must be held. Hearings were originally set to begin in September, but were delayed because commissioner Paul Rouleau had to undergo surgery.
Six weeks have been scheduled for the hearings so they will now finish on Nov. 25. The commission has until mid-February to deliver its report.
--With files from Mackenzie Gray, CTV News
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