On March 21, the Ontario government announced the introduction of new legislation to increase policing specifically to prevent another Freedom Convoy from setting up blockades.
According to a news release, the dubiously-named Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act, 2022 would “enable the province to respond immediately to future disruptions to international border crossings such as bridges and airports when those disruptions interfere with public safety, the economy and international trade.”
“We will do everything in our power to protect our workers, job creators and international trade relationships from any future attempts to block our borders. The world can be confident that Ontario is open for business,” says Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
For obvious reasons, Ford did not Tweet out the announcement.
If passed, the legislation will allot nearly $96 million in new measures and tools to “support province-wide responses during unlawful demonstrations and illegal blockades…” In other words, it will better allow police to target peaceful protesters who set up bouncy castles and hot tubs in Ottawa. The horror.
These measures include providing enhanced training for future officers, beefing up the operational strength of the OPP in emergency management and investigation and intelligence, and establishing a permanent Emergency Response Team.
Perhaps comically, the news release also notes the purchase of government-owned heavy tow trucks — tow trucks notoriously refused to aid the government in removing trucks, only doing so reluctantly after Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, and tow truckers were threatened with jail time for not helping the government.
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones says that “These measures are narrow in scope and will not impact the right to peaceful, lawful and temporary protests.”
However, it isn’t clear what is considered a peaceful or lawful protest. Is it even possible to have a “lawful” protest that in no way can be regarded as “disruptive” to businesses and is effective at sending a message to lawmakers? What can you do if you can’t take to the streets (as this could easily be misconstrued as a blockade)?
Of course, no one is buying this. The Freedom Convoy has forced the government to conceive entirely new legislation to address it precisely because it was popular, effective, and immediately led to the removal of nearly all of the government’s beloved restrictions. Every day Canadians won, and the government can’t have that happen again.
