Auditor cites poor communication, inconsistent bylaw enforcement in report on city's convoy response

In her public consultations during her investigation, the auditor general received 229 complaints from residents that their complaints to the bylaw department had been ignored.

Ottawa’s auditor general exposed a litany of failures by the city before and during last winter’s convoy occupation in a report published Wednesday into the municipality’s response to the “unprecedented” three-week demonstration.

In her 51-page report, Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon recounted failures of communication between the city and police, failures to keep city councillors informed of actions, inadequate service from the city’s legal advisors, haphazard bylaw enforcement and poor or absent documentation of the city’s actions.

The report includes 20 recommendations that Gougeon hopes will improve the city’s response to similar situations and provide better support for affected residents.

Gougeon laid part of the blame on Ottawa police, who she said failed to keep city officials informed of their traffic-control plan and didn’t share enough intelligence about what to expect when the demonstrators arrived. Crucially, police didn’t communicate with the city’s Office of Emergency Management, which has overall control of emergency response.

But she also found plenty of faults with the city’s actions. One was a failure to properly keep councillors informed.

“Councillors were provided with little information on what plans the City had made prior to the convoy’s arrival. In turn, this hindered Councillors’ ability to communicate decisions concerning services / issues to ward residents,” Gougeon wrote.

At the city council meeting on Jan. 26, 2022, just two days before the first trucks rolled into town, “the City made no presentation or discussion about the impending convoy protest,” she wrote, and had little information for reporters who peppered councillors with questions afterward.

The city’s much-maligned bylaw enforcement during the occupation also drew the auditor’s attention.

“The audit also found that numerous by-law service requests were reported, but not addressed by by-law officers due to safety concerns and were closed without further communications to those who reported them. Improved communications with concerned residents are needed during an emergency.”

Ottawa police warned bylaw and regulatory services officers not to be “the spark” that would incite violence from protesters because police were already stretched too thin to respond, she noted.

“However, vehicles within the same area without convoy-related markings were ticketed by BLRS officers. A number of these vehicles belonged to residents or members of the media,” she wrote.

Of 2,139 tickets issued in the convoy “red zone,” 56 per cent of fines were collected, nine per cent are at trial and 31 per cent remain outstanding, the report said.

One of the report’s recommendations is that the city switch to setting up a municipal alternative to traffic court to speed collection of fines. The Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) is already used in Toronto, Mississauga, Waterloo and other municipalities.

In her public consultations during her investigation, the auditor general received 229 complaints from residents that their complaints to the bylaw department had been ignored.

During the protest, the city and police had a hard time finding towing companies willing to help remove vehicles, and Gougeon recommended the city look for alternatives “to better ensure the availability of towing services in the event of a similar emergency.”

Gougeon was also critical of the city’s legal advisors, saying they didn’t do enough to inform city managers about seeking a court injunction to end the demonstration. It took 10 days for the mayor and councillors to receive a memo about the city’s legal authority, she wrote.

“Had the merits and potential downfalls of each option been presented in the early days of the protest to City management, the City may have decided to pursue an injunction against violations of municipal by-laws sooner. Having sought an injunction against municipal by-law violations earlier may have deterred some of the violations and eased the impacts on residents. However, we cannot state with any certainty the results of seeking an injunction sooner would have had on the protest.”

While the demonstration had little to do with the municipality, the city was responsible for managing it and supporting its police service, Gougeon wrote. City staff worked “tirelessly” to do that while also coping with the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With the benefit of hindsight, the audit noted areas where the City faced challenges and areas for improvement that can better the City’s future response to similar emergencies,” she wrote.

The auditor’s report into the city’s response was one of three released Wednesday, with others examining how Ottawa police and the Ottawa Police Services Board handled the demonstration. The reports are available online on the Auditor General’s website, oagottawa.ca, for public access.

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