Sometime in the New Year Canadians will get a ruling from the judge at the "Freedom Convoy" hearings in Ottawa.
Mr. Justice Rouleau will decide whether the federal Liberal government's use of authoritarian powers in the Emergencies Act last February was warranted and reasonable.
Testimony from 230 witnesses has included much wrangling about the interpretations of the Act.
Testimony has also revealed an Ottawa police chief who apparently feared co-operation with other police agencies and didn't pay attention to warnings, or didn't receive them.
The Ottawa police were prepared for a "normal" three days of protests with trucks leaving after making a point.
Instead, they got a large number of trucks with blaring horns, diesel fumes and parties taking over part of downtown Ottawa for three weeks.
The Ottawa police leadership was so iffy that Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP were loathe to work with them, believing there was no plan to get the protesters to leave.
While the protests were relatively peaceful, protesters were breaking local traffic and noise bylaws and interfering with life by residents and businesses in the area.
Another incredible piece of testimony came from RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, who seems to have believed police could end the protest but failed to tell that to cabinet in a meeting. Why?
The lack of communication contributed to the confusion.
The situation reminds one of the bungling in the Keystone Cops movies.
Added to the information, Ottawa had - information that some convoy members possibly planned attacks on government - was the fact there were no leaders speaking for all convoy participants.
The convoy was a mixture of anti-vaccine protesters, anti-Trudeau voters and a few persons who wanted to have the governor-general throw out the Liberals to form a new government with the Senate and the governor-general.
That seems to show an obvious understanding on how the Canadian system works.
When the RCMP seized a weapons cache at the Coutts border convoy and arrested four men, ears perked up. Was this the start of a nation-wide conflict to overturn the government?
One black cloud hanging over the hearing was the government's refusal to present the legal advice used to make the final decision.
In the end, most observers will decide their opinion based on personal politics. Conservatives will probably point to early consideration of the Act by cabinet ministers saying they planned it all along.
Others will probably say early consideration was just being prepared.
People should ask themselves what would they have done?
In the face of three weeks of continued protests interfering with the lives and work of Ottawa residents, no end in sight, and with police unable to handle the situation, what would you have done?
Did the discovery of weapons at Coutts and the possible link to a militant group called Diagalon, push the feds over the brink?
It seems, the Jan. 6 Washington riots were still fresh in the minds.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
