Dana Earley, who was responsible for developing and executing a plan to clear the blockade, spoke on day 19 of the Public Order Emergency Committee inquiry, which is gathering evidence to better understand the use of emergency law by the federal government in February. 14 to clear people in protests against pandemic orders. Facing the economic impact, growing crowds and risk to public safety of the blockade, Early said she was told by two OPP deputy commissioners “that Windsor was the priority” on Feb. 10. At the time, the protest in Ottawa was in its second week, and then-Police Chief Peter Sloly was telling city council that 2,000 more police would be needed to clear the transport trucks parked in the city’s core. The OPP took over as the lead agency responding to the Ambassador Bridge blockade on February 9 after the Windsor Police Service (WPS) requested support from provincial, federal and nearby municipal police agencies. The act was invoked following the February 13 clearing of the Ambassador Bridge following a court order that led to the clearing of protesters in Windsor. On Monday, Windsor Police Deputy Chief Jason Crowley said they did not use the act in the southwestern Ontario city. Mayor Drew Dilkens said the legislation was extremely helpful in preventing future foreclosure.
The OPP believed the police could end the blockade
Earley is a 28-year veteran of the OPP who was strategic commander of 14 detachments in western Ontario as part of her posting to London before being appointed critical incident commander at the bridge protest. Prior to his role in Windsor, Earley oversaw the OPP’s response to slow flows in January and February in the western part of the province, including reviewing intelligence reports warning of possible blockades at international crossings. On Feb. 6, Earley oversaw the OPP response to a blockade on the Bluewater Bridge in Lambton County that connects Sarnia, Ont., to Port Huron, Mich. “It was two to three hours at most,” Early said of the time it took to clear the blockage. The next day, protesters blocked the Ambassador Bridge. Ontario Provincial Police. Dana Earley answers a question Tuesday as she appears before the Public Order Emergency Committee in Ottawa that is looking into the federal government’s use of the Emergency Act. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) On Day 2 of the protest – which prevented truck traffic from using North America’s busiest international crossing, which is responsible for nearly a quarter of Canada’s overland trade – the WPS asked the OPP for additional resources. Earley arrived in Windsor on Feb. 10, having arranged for multiple missions of OPP officers tasked with planning to arrive in the border town to help create a plan to clear the bridge. He testified that there was a policing option that would end the blockade, unlike Slowley, who said last week that he was “increasingly concerned that there is no policing solution to this”. “I still believed and hoped that negotiations could be made,” Early said.
“A Unified Command”
While driving to Windsor from London on February 10, Earley testified that she shared a phone call with OPP Deputy Commissioners Chris Harkins and Rose DiMarco “It was a priority for the province,” she said she was told, testifying that her conversations with WPS helped inform her why the bridge blockade was a nuisance. “The increasing size, the financial impact, the risk to public safety and officer safety — that came from my awareness from the conference calls I was on and the discussions with Deputy Chief Crowley,” he testified. Protesters against the order maintain a blockade of the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ont., on February 11. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) Earley said WPS was “very welcoming” when she arrived on site. “They also expressed satisfaction with the experience our organization has with large, sustained events,” Earley said. “From the beginning, it was a unified command.” He said while Windsor police acknowledged they had the final say on the plans, all decisions were made under the leadership of WPS, which allowed for “a remarkable team effort.”
Windsor enforcement could spark Ottawa protest: OPP
Earley said she faced no interference as a critical incident commander from the OPP or Windsor police. During a call after the plan was created, Earley said she reconsidered going ahead with it out of fears it would spark the protest in Ottawa. Part of that plan was to deliver a letter signed by Ontario’s attorney general saying they would meet with protesters if they called off the blockade and left the bridge. Protesters demanded the letter but did not leave when it was given to them on Feb. 11, Early testified. Earley decided to move forward with her enforcement plan, which began on February 12. Almost weekly protests in Windsor in February lasted almost a week. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) That plan used Public Order Units (POUs) and Provincial Liaison Teams (PLTs), which Earley said should be created in municipal powers like Windsor. A POU team aims to police large, disruptive crowds. PLT is used to build relationships with disruptive groups. When the bridge was cleared on Feb. 13, Earley said, the OPP continued to monitor online threats to “take back the bridge.” “There was certainly a fear that they would think members were being sent to Ottawa and try to take advantage of that,” he said. Police intercepted a group of people driving transport trucks on Highway 401 toward Windsor who officers believed were planning to block the Ambassador Bridge days after it was cleared and invoked the Emergency Act. When asked if the act had any impact, Early said, “It’s hard to say.” He agreed that it may have been a deterrent to protesters who may have tried to return to the bridge.
