Emergencies Act inquiry: Bill Blair says there was ‘significant disorder’ in downtown Ottawa

Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told the Public Order Emergency Commission, which is investigating the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act in response to the so-called “freedom convoy” of February, 2022, that he believed there was “significant disorder” in downtown Ottawa that he feared could create a “very unsafe” situation. He said more serious criminal behaviours are more likely to occur in a “situation of significant disorder.”