Ontario Premier Doug Ford has declared a state of emergency in Ontario in response to protestors occupying the city of Ottawa and blockading the border crossing in Windsor, including enacting emergency orders to protect critical infrastructure with non-compliance resulting in maximum fines of $100,000 and up to a year in jail.
“Today, I’m using my authority as Premier of Ontario to declare a state of emergency in our province,” Ford said at a media conference at Queen’s Park on Friday (February 11), also attended by solicitor general Sylvia Jones, attorney general Doug Downey, and transportation minister Caroline Mulroney.
Ford made the announcement after stating the province is “on track” to remove almost all remaining public health restrictions including removing the vaccine passport system, one of the demands of those occupying Ottawa and blockading border crossings, and after acknowledging the frustration of Ontarians after two years of public health restrictions because of the pandemic.
“I know these frustrations have reached a boiling point for many Canadians,” he said. “The result is what we are seeing in various cities across our province and our country.”
However, Ford said, the rights to free speech and to peacefully protest are not “without reasonable limits.” He said Ontario’s economy is built on trade, especially with the United States, with more than $700 million of trade flowing every day over the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor alone.
“That trade employs hundreds of thousands of Ontarians who work in auto plants and factories across our great province,” he said. “Those jobs feed millions of families. They are the lifeline for our province and its economy. And while I appreciate the right to protest, that right cannot and must not extend to cutting off that lifeline.”
Calling the situation in Ottawa a “siege” and an “illegal occupation”, Ford urged the remaining protestors to go home and to take their children with them.
“This is no longer a protest. With a protest, you peacefully make your point and you go back home. And I know that the vast majority of the people did that — they came, they peacefully demonstrated, they made their point, and they left. And I want to say to those people, you’ve been heard loud and clear. Canada has heard you. My message to those still in Ottawa, to those at our border crossings: please go home. To those of you who have brought your children, please take them home. I urge you. It’s time to leave. And it’s time to do so peacefully.”
For those who choose to remain, Ford warned there will be “severe” consequences.
“To the very small groups who’ve chosen to take a different path, to those who’ve chosen to take a city of one million people hostage for the past two weeks, to those who’ve attempted to disrupt our way of life by targeting our lifeline for food, fuel, and goods across our borders, to those trying to force a political agenda through disruption, intimidation, and chose, my message to you is this: your right to make a political statement does not outweigh the right of hundreds of thousands of workers to earn their living.”
“It does not outweigh our right to get food across our borders. Your right to make a political statement does not outweigh the rights of the million people in Ottawa to live peacefully, free of harassment and chaos in their own homes. So let me be as clear as I can, there will be consequences for these actions, and they will be severe.”
As for the state of emergency, Ford said he will convene Cabinet to use legal authorities to enact emergency orders that make it illegal and punishable to block and impede the movement of goods, people, and services along critical infrastructure in Ontario.
“This will include protecting international border crossings, 400 series highways, airports, ports, bridges, and railways,” Ford said. “It will also include protecting the safe and essential movement of ambulatory and medical services, public transit, municipal and provincial roadways, as well as pedestrian walkways. Fines for non-compliance will be severe, with a maximum penalty of $100,000 and up to a year imprisonment.”
Ford said the province may also take away the personal and commercial licences of drivers who do not comply with orders.
While stressing the emergency orders are temporary and will not restrict the right of Ontarians to peacefully protest, he said the province has “every intention to bring new legislation that will make these measures permanent in law.”
Calling the situation a “pivotal moment for our nation”, Ford appealed for a return to civil peace and unity.
“The eyes of the world are upon us right now, and what they are seeing is not who we are,” he said. “It’s not what Canada’s about. This is not how we change things here in Canada. We do it through the ballot box, because we are Canadian and we are better than that. So, as a province, as a nation, we must collectively draw a line.”
“We must stand for the values that define us. We must come together right now, we must heal the divide that is fracturing our society. We must come together now, not as opponents, but as Canadians.”
