The Freedom Convoy threatened “mental health” but was not literally violent, Ontario’s deputy solicitor general told the Public Order Emergency Commission. The testimony followed evidence from the Ottawa Police Service that the protest “felt” violent..“It was having a significant impact on the mental health and well-being of the community, and I completely accept that,” testified Deputy Mario Di Tommaso. In handwritten notes taken at the time, the deputy solicitor general wrote there were “no outbreaks of violence” but that protesters “verbally assaulted people.”.According to Blacklock's Reporter, cabinet has maintained the protest was so lawless that Parliament had to resort to the Emergencies Act. “It was an urgent and critical situation of a temporary nature that seriously endangered the lives, health or safety of Canadians and was of such proportion as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with,” the Department of Justice wrote in a June 7 briefing note..Di Tommaso described the protest as noisy, but not dangerous. “From my perspective there were no overriding public safety concerns at that particular time in terms of physical violence,” he said..“There were not any overriding safety concerns,” said Di Tommaso. “In other words, from my perspective what we do not see is any serious violence taking place at that point in time. No murders, shootings, robberies, stabbings, aggravated assaults, nothing of that sort.” Di Tommaso elaborated under questioning from Commission Counsel Natalia Rodriguez:.Counsel Rodriguez: “Public safety can mean more than physical violence, would you agree with me?”Deputy Di Tommaso: “Exactly right, yes.”Counsel Rodriguez: “Were there other public safety concerns aside from Criminal Code violations, murders, assaults, that type of thing?”Deputy Di Tommaso: “Yes, absolutely, this protest was having a significant impact on Ottawa residents. We have heard it described before by various witnesses that it was having a significant impact on the mental health and well-being of the community and I completely accept that.”Counsel Rodriguez: “Did it rise to the level of a public safety concern?”Deputy Di Tommaso: “No.”.Steve Bell, deputy police chief in Ottawa, testified Oct. 24 the Freedom Convoy “felt” violent even if it wasn’t. “Not the Criminal Code definition of violence but the violence they felt by having excessive horns blared,” testified Bell..“So the violence they ‘felt,’ not actual violence, is that what you’re saying?” asked Brendan Miller, counsel for the Freedom Convoy. “That is correct,” replied Bell.
