Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Friday he was declaring a state of emergency in his province. Ford stated, “Today, I’m using my authority as Premier of Ontario to declare a state of emergency in our province, and I will convene Cabinet to use legal authorities to urgently enact orders that will make crystal clear it is illegal and punishable to block and impede the movement of goods, people and services along critical infrastructure.”
Before Ford’s announcement, protesters had opened a lane for Canada-bound traffic at Ambassador Bridge, CBC reported.
Protesters open one lane for Canada-bound traffic at Ambassador Bridge. Protesters say move is a show of their good faith ahead of an expected announcement on the blockade by the Ontario premier, and a court hearing on an injunction application. https://t.co/0wSPYJshnE
— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) February 11, 2022
Ford began by defending the actions of the government during the coronavirus pandemic, saying, “Faced with an unprecedented threat to our health and safety; faced with the very real prospect of patients being turned away from overwhelmed hospitals; faced with consequences of inaction, this virus has consistently forced us to make decisions that no one wanted to make. Looking at where we are right now and how far we’ve come pushing Omicron back, there’s no doubt these were the right decisions. There’s no doubt they protected our hospitals from collapse and saved lives.”
He tried to assuage the public, asserting, “Today, we’re on track to very soon almost remove almost all restrictions for businesses as part of our reopening plan.”
“People are frustrated, they’re scared, they’re angry,” he said. After lauding Canada’s “right to free speech,” he continued, “But, with all rights, these are not without reasonable limits. Our economy in Ontario is built on trade, especially with our partners in the United States. The Ambassador Bridge in Windsor alone sees more than $700 million of two-way trade every single day.”
After stating that jobs were at risk, he said, “We are now two weeks into the siege of Ottawa. I call it a siege because that’s what it is; it’s an illegal occupation; this is no longer a protest. With a protest you peacefully make your point and you go back home.” After referencing the truckers and protesters who had left, he told the remaining truckers and protesters, “Please go home. …. It’s time to leave.”
Ford stated, “To the very small groups who have 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 have 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 chaos, 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 make their living. It does not outweigh our right to get food across our borders.”
“So let me be as clear as I can,” he threatened. “There will be consequences for these actions and they will be severe. We’ve already started by going after the money funding the illegal occupation.”