The Peterborough Examiner e-edition

Watson unresponsive fficial says

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson’s office would not return a call from the Parliamentary Protective Service during the height of the “Freedom Convoy,” its acting director told a committee Thursday evening.

Larry Brookson, the acting director of the service, told members of Parliament and senators during a joint committee hearing he tried to reach out to Watson and Ottawa’s city manager during the protests that occupied downtown Ottawa for three weeks in February.

But he said he received responses from both of their offices that they weren’t available to talk.

Brookson added that the mayor’s office did not communicate with the protective service, which is responsible for security on Parliament Hill, about a failed deal between the city and convoy organizers to bring the protest to a negotiated end during its height.

The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brookson told the committee that he supports the extension of the parliamentary precinct to include Wellington Street, a change that is currently under review, and said things would have gone differently if the road fell under his jurisdiction.

Despite his concerns, he said the city and Ottawa police granted protesters permission to drive and park on the street, which faces Parliament but is not governed by parliamentary security.

“The streets would’ve been blocked” if he had been in charge, he said.

“There would’ve been no vehicles permitted to come onto Wellington Street.”

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2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thepeterboroughexaminer.pressreader.com/article/281642489054912

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