NDP calling for emergency debate on trucker convoy, feds to provide update

With the nation’s capital heading into a second week of trucker convoy protests, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling for the House of Commons to hold an emergency debate on the ongoing standoff in downtown Ottawa.

In a letter to House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota, Singh said later today he will be seeking approval for the special debate, which could happen as early as Monday evening.

After a second weekend of protests and an uptick in tickets and arrests, the city of Ottawa declared a state of emergency on Sunday.

As of Monday morning, trucks continue to clog streets throughout the city and organizers are showing no signs of packing up, despite police seizing fuel from a protest staging area in a parking lot of a baseball stadium five kilometres east of downtown.

The pressure on the overlapping levels of government who have jurisdiction in and around Parliament Hill appears to be ramping up, with Ottawa residents growing increasingly frustrated as the protesters dig in on their demand for politicians to end all COVID-19 mandates.

At 12:45 p.m. EST, the lead federal ministers will be providing an update on the situation, the first press conference of this kind since the convoy protests kicked off.

So far, the federal government has largely taken the position that Ottawa police are the lead and would be working to meet any formal requests issued.

Ontario’s Solicitor General Sylvia Jones issued a statement over the weekend saying that police—including a contingent of OPP officers sent by the province—“have full discretion and extensive existing legislative authority” to respond and manage the situation.

Federally, 275 RCMP officers have already been called in to assist, though the Canadian Armed Forces has yet to indicate they have any plans to become involved. Calling in the military is a move that has rarely been taken in the history of civilian demonstrations in this country.

Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc, Treasury Board President Mona Fortier, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and Ottawa-Centre MP Yasir Naqvi will be taking part in the press conference.

Trudeau, who tested positive for COVID-19 one week ago, is scheduled to be in “private meetings” throughout the day.

“The situation has reached a crisis point. And in times of crisis, it is important for federal leaders to show leadership, to urge de-escalation, and to work together to find solutions,” Singh wrote in his letter, adding that an emergency debate would give parliamentarians the ability to “address the critical situation.”

He is also calling for Trudeau to sit down with the municipal and provincial governments to get on the same page and develop a plan to end the protest.

Continuing to describe the city as under “siege,” Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is once again suggesting that Trudeau should step in, something both he and Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly have suggested will be needed to see an end to the demonstrations now into their second week.

Watson told Ottawa’s CTV Morning Live that he wants the prime minister to appoint a mediator in an effort to end the “Freedom Convoy” occupation in the city’s downtown.

The mayor indicated he’s suggested to federal cabinet ministers that a mediator could be “an honest broker on both sides to try to find some common ground, if that’s possible.”

“Someone of great stature in our community and the country who can actually open doors and bring some peace and calm to the situation,” Watson said. “That’s one option that I think the federal government should pursue, because right now we’re at a complete standoff.”

Singh said Monday that he doesn’t agree with Watson’s suggestion, because in his view, the organizers of the convoy have “made it clear their intention is to overthrow the government.”

With files from CTV News Ottawa