Ambassador Bridge blockade a priority, but Windsor police refused initial offers for help: OPP

As Windsor's mayor asked federal and provincial ministers for help to clear the Ambassador Bridge blockade during the height of the protests last February, the commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police said he was being told by Windsor's police chief they didn't need additional assistance.

The mixed messages were highlighted in testimony on Day 11 of the Public Order Emergency Commission from OPP commissioner Thomas Carrique, who said that clearing the blockade was a priority for the police service.

Carrique's testimony focused on the events in Ottawa as the commission works to understand if the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act was warranted.

During his testimony, Carrique was asked by commission counsel Eric Brousseau about the blockade in Windsor, which protesters started on Feb. 7 and police cleared Feb. 13, the day before the act was invoked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Carrique said that removing the blockade needed to be "surgical" because of the number of Freedom Convoy protests happening across the province.

But he said Windsor was sending mixed messages when asked about the assistance the police service needed. 

Formal request for help came hours after offer was denied

In a Feb. 4 intelligence report, the OPP said that there were social media calls for commercial vehicles to conduct slow-roll protests near the Ambassador Bridge and there may be an attempt to block the bridge. 

Carrique said he told then-Windsor police chief Pam Mizuno about the threat and was told additional assistance was not required. 

Carrique had made a note to himself that same day saying that Mizuno had requested assistance with the protests, days before the blockade. 

When asked to clarify the discrepancy in his testimony and his notes, he said there was no formal request made by Windsor police.

That formal request came in the form of two letters sent by Mizuno on Feb. 9 to the federal minister of emergency preparedness and Ontario's solicitor general, requesting 100 additional officers along with marked vehicles and tow-trucks. 

"It had come in only hours after I had spoken with chief of Windsor and offered support and was advised that there was no additional assistance required," Carrique testified.

While that was happening, Windsor's mayor Drew Dilkens was in communication with Solicitor General Sylvia Jones and the federal public safety minister, according to the commission. 

"It is not the typical way nor the preferred way that police resources would be requested," said Carrique.

"In particular when just hours earlier I had spoken to the chief of Windsor, had offered additional assistance and was advised it was not required at that time."

Carrique said Mizuno told him the request came in "as a result of having further conversations with the mayor."

Windsor police did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. Mizuno has since retired.

A senior Windsor police officer, interim deputy chief Jason Crowley, is expected to testify at the hearings next month.

Dilkens will also appear before the commission. Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Dilkens said that as a witness who will provide testimony, he had been advised not to comment on the proceedings.

Windsor blockade a priority

Carrique said he had made it clear to the deputy solicitor general that because they didn't have a plan for Ottawa, they felt they could clear up the Ambassador Bridge in two to four days.

"It was a priority to resolve Windsor. We had a plan ready to go and there was an enormous, enormous financial impact on the closure of that bridge."

But there was still confusion about the requests from Windsor, according to Carrique.

"There was some confusion," he said, because Mizuno's letter wasn't clear if they were requesting 100 officers total through the OPP and RCMP or 100 officers each. 

Carrique said the OPP eventually deployed more than 400 officers to Windsor to clear the blockade, a number he said was agreed on after deciding how many staff were needed to enforce the plan to clear the bridge.

He said that it wasn't possible to clear Ottawa and Windsor at the same time, and that it was managed as a multi-jurisdictional event. 

Carrique said that Ottawa may have cleared sooner if there was a plan ready and there weren't multiple protests across the province requiring official presence.

A key difference between Windsor's blockade and the protest in Ottawa from a policing perspective, said Carrique, was that the OPP only agreed to assist if it was in charge of developing and executing a plan to clear the bridge.

"I felt it was absolutely crucial that we maintain the trust and confidence of Ontarians and that we absolutely needed to succeed."

Negotiating with protesters but planning for removal

Carrique also testified that an OPP team on the ground in Windsor worked to secure an agreement with protesters that would see them leave immediately and denounce the protest in exchange for a meeting with representatives of the provincial government.

"It was certainly worth the effort," he said.

Carrique said it was part of the "ongoing efforts to de-escalate" before moving to enforcement. 

As the letter was handed to the protesters, officials had intended to active a plan to clear the blockade on Feb. 12.

"You ought not to wait until all opportunities to de-escalate have exhausted themselves and then turn your mind to an operational plan to utilize public order," he said.

In the end, the letter did not result in the protesters leaving. 

On Feb. 11, a court injunction forcing protesters to leave was granted by a judge as Premier Doug Ford declared a provincial emergency. 

"I can't say that any of those were effective in isolation. What was effective was a holistic complete plan to deal with the situation."