City manager hits back at idea meeting with feds would have sent convoy members home

The City of Ottawa's general managersays he doesn't think last winter'struck convoywould have left the cityif the federal government agreed to meet with some members because the convoy was made up of different factionsthat didn'tact in unison.

"Not everybody was part of their group and listening to them,"Steve Kanellakossaid of his own talks with some convoy membersat one point in the occupation.

"There's no question that there were many leaders and they didn't all sing from the same hymn book," echoed Mayor Jim Watson, who did not meet with protesters directly, but used an intermediary to negotiate the movement of some heavy trucks off residential streets.

From Jan. 28 to Feb. 19, people ralliedagainst pandemic restrictions and government leadership and blockedlocal and main roadsaround Parliament Hill by clogging the streets with vehicles.

Kanellakosand Watsontestified Thursday night before the special joint committee on the declaration of emergency.

Thatcommittee ofMPs and senators which was triggeredby the federal government's use of emergency powers to end the protest hasbeen meeting on and off again for several months.

Their hearings come on top of the ongoing public inquiry into the use of theemergency powers, which is expected to hear from dozens more witnesses for several more weeks including embattled former Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly on Friday.

Kanellakos and Watson,along with the Thursday night's other committee witnesses Rideau-VanierCoun. Mathieu Fleuryand Kim Ayotte, the city'sgeneral manager of emergency and protective services had already been questioned for hours during theearly days of the public inquiry.

Glen Motz, a Conservative MP on the committee, usedKanellakos's and Watson'sThursday night appearance to argue that Justin Trudeau'sgovernment should have met with protesters because they had "legitimate concerns."

Under questioning by Motz, Kanellakossaid the convoy members he met with, including leaderTom Marazzo, were "reasonable [and]respectful."

But when asked by Motz if he believed protesters would have been "in a position to vacate" had they been "heard" by a higher level of government,Kanellakossaid no.

"They didn't have control over the entire group of people that were here in Ottawa and that's why we ran into trouble,"Kanellakossaid.

Rachel Bendayan, a Liberal member of committee who is also an accredited mediator, said "mediation requires the right parties around the table."

KanellakosandBendayan's remarkscame two weeks after Sloly told the same committee "there was never a unified other for any police agencyto come to any substantive understanding [with]as to whether what was agreed to would actually happen."

Theirtestimonyto the committeealso came only two days after evidence entered into the inquiry indicated that an Ontario Provincial Police inspector thought a meeting betweenfederal government representatives and theconvoy organizers could have helpedthe protesters "save face, get a win and go home."

'Our city was hurting'

Sen. Gwen Boniface, who also sits on the committee, said "there were many people there from avariety of views."

"What started out perhaps as a single grievance morphs into many grievances. You start negotiating with someone and you find out they can't lead and they switched, there's a different group in charge.So I think we all understand that's a convoluted situation to try to figure out."

Kanellakoshas told the publicinquiry the city was asked to negotiate with protesters after the Ottawa Police Service's own talks with convoy members broke down.

He said a deal negotiated by Watson's intermediary resulted in about 40 heavy duty trucks leaving residential streets.

But he added thatother protesters in pickup trucks and other lighter vehicles refused to moveand some even blocked the effort to concentrate the protest on Wellington Street.

"There wasn't an alignment of purpose by everybody that was on all those streets. They had different reasons for wanting to stay,"Kanellakostold that inquiry.

Members of the convoy, includingMarazzo, Tamara Lich and Pat King, are expected to testify later in the inquiry.

Late into Thursday's committee hearing, during its most heated moment, Larry Brock, another Conservative MP on the committee, criticized Watson for calling convoy members "yahoos."

"People who were there to support those truckers also include residents of your city," Brock said. "Were they yahoos as well? Were they those who were holding unacceptable views? Were they engaging in unacceptable behaviour?"

Brock ran out his clock before Watson could answer that question, but the mayor later doubled down and said "we were at the mercy of this mob that had taken over our city."

Watson then again criticized Conservative MPs, as he did during the protests, for theirmeeting with convoy members during the occupation.

"It was not helpful at all to be mugging with selfie sticks and taking pictures withthe convoy," he said under questioning by Liberal MPYasirNaqvi.

"Our city was hurting and we needed some empathy and sympathy, not these kind of tactics."