OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — Pro-lockdown and pro-mandate Progressive Conservative premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, cited damage to the economy and the disruption of the “lives of the people” as the reasons he supported Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act (EA) in order to crush the peaceful “Freedom Convoy” movement.
This is not something to brag about, Premier. https://t.co/acm6z7J42A
— Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) October 17, 2022
Speaking alongside Trudeau at an announcement for a new Nokia technology hub in Kanata, Ontario on Monday, Ford said he stood “shoulder-to-shoulder with the prime minister” during the anti-COVID mandate “Freedom Convoy” protest that overtook Ottawa earlier this year, indicating his support for the Liberal prime minister.
Doubling down on his support for Trudeau’s invocation of the EA – which allowed the Trudeau government to deploy the national police force to physically remove protesters, in addition to directing banks to freeze their accounts without a court order – Ford added: “If you disrupt the lives of the people of Ottawa every single day, disrupt the lives of economic flow across our borders, I have zero tolerance for it.”
Despite citing a concern for the daily lives of his citizens and the strength of the economy, Ontario, under Ford, enacted some of the strictest and lengthiest COVID-related lockdown measures in the developed world, which included the mandatory closure of many private businesses for months on end. The result was severe economic damage that caused numerous businesses to close permanently, leading the provincial GDP to shrink significantly.
Despite his alignment with conservative politics, Ford kept the province of Ontario locked down and segregated by vaccine status for nearly a year longer than the border states of Michigan and New York, which are both run by left-wing Democratic governors.
Ford’s recent supportive statements about Trudeau come as the public inquiry into the justification of the EA is being scrutinized in a set of public hearings.
While Ford’s comments indicate he supported Trudeau all along, recent information suggests that the province directed City of Ottawa officials to consult with the Ontario Provincial Police, and not the federal government, as a means of handling the “Freedom Convoy” protest.
The national inquiry also heard Monday that Ford was invited, but didn’t participate in meetings in February – during the convoy – aimed at arming the City of Ottawa with more heavy-handed resources as a way to quell the popular anti-mandate movement.
Ford also clarified on Monday that he was not asked to testify as part of the Emergencies Act proceedings, meaning his statements are not part of the official record of the ongoing investigation.