A month after the so-called Freedom Convoy was cleared out of downtown Ottawa, city council is pressing the federal government for a new model of policing for the core of the nation’s capital.
At its first in-person meeting in more than two years Wednesday, city council passed two motions asking for the federal government to enter serious talks about the future security of the city’s downtown and the parliamentary precinct.
“I think [both motions] are looking for ways on how we can better co-ordinate our responses to serious situations, and do a much better job of intelligence gathering before something like another truck convoy comes back and takes over our city and does so much harm,” Mayor Jim Watson told reporters after the meeting.
A few reviews have already been set in motion to look at how the protests were able to grip the downtown for four weeks, and how a possible lack of co-ordination between the Ottawa Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP delayed an end to the protests.
Late last month, city manager Steve Kanellakos told council there’s no formal process for senior bureaucrats at various levels of government to speak with each other when an emergency arises in the capital. Kanellakos called it a “big gap” that players in the capital only come together in an ad hoc manner.
The section of Wellington Street that runs on the south side of Parliament Hill, between Bank and Elgin streets, remains closed with no set date to reopen it.
Working group and new policing model
The National Capital Region has long struggled with its jurisdictional layers, and Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury said it’s time to clarify those roles and modernize the oversight.
His motion called on the federal government to form a working group of officials from the Ontario and Quebec governments, the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau, the National Capital Commission, the federal public works department, and Indigenous elders.
Local residents and businesses shouldn’t have to bear the financial burden of events that are national in scope, Fleury adds.
Ottawa city council met in person on March 23 for the first time since the pandemic began two years ago. (CBC)
Innes ward Coun. Laura Dudas also argued the jurisdictional obstacles need to be solved “once and for all.”
She tabled a motion that goes even further, petitioning the federal government to enter into “formal discussions” with the two provincial governments and two municipal governments for a completely new policing model for the capital.
Her motion points to Washington, D.C., as an example of “concurrent jurisdiction” where a number of policing agencies work together to oversee 200 blocks around the United States Capitol building.
Dudas said the federal government could look at other jurisdictions for ideas, as well, “but they just need to choose to do something.”
Both motions were passed unanimously.
Kanata North councillor appointed to police board
In a more practical move on the policing file, council also appointed council’s newest member, Kanata North’s Cathy Curry, to the Ottawa Police Services Board.
Council named three people to the board last month, while one spot remained vacant.
Cathy Curry sat in council chambers for the first time on Wednesday about four months after she was appointed councillor of the Kanata North ward. (CBC)
Then earlier this month, all three provincial appointees to the board stepped down after it was revealed one had attended the protest. That left the board with only three members — and the board couldn’t meet with so few members.
Curry, the only council member to express interest in the role, said she has a keen interest in governance as she sits on a number of boards.
“I often say nobody cares about governance until they do,” Curry told CBC News. “When we had the convoy, it was pretty clear that governance really matters. So I think I can bring that to the police board.”
Curry said she agreed with where the Ottawa police had been headed in terms of “progressive policing,” and wants to reassure the community she’s still committed to that model. She said there needs to be “extensive consultation” with the public before hiring a new police chief.
The next police board meeting is scheduled for Monday and it is set to take place in person.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
