Ottawa' emergency services manager is expected to take the stand for the third day in a row in the criminal trial of two 'Freedom Convoy' organizers. Kim Ayotte, General Manager of Emergency and Protective Services at the City of Ottawa, arrives at the courthouse in Ottawa where he will appear as a witness at the trial of "Freedom Convoy" organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – Notes taken during a meeting between city employees and “Freedom Convoy” protesters show the City of Ottawa entertained allowing big-rig trucks to remain on the street along Parliament Hill indefinitely.
The notes were produced during the criminal trial of two convoy organizers, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, who struck a deal with the former mayor to move trucks out of residential neighbourhoods onto Wellington Street during the demonstration last year.
The city’s emergency services manager, Kim Ayotte, was at the meeting between city staff, police and convoy organizers, which took place on Feb. 13.
He said on the witness stand today that police never agreed to stage the trucks indefinitely, and that was not part of the deal.
The agreement they struck did result in several trucks being moved on Feb. 14, but efforts were stopped on Feb. 15 after an incident between police and protesters.
Ayotte testified that he was given only very limited information about why the deal fell through.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2023.
