Ontario NDP suggests revoking licences in response to convoy protests in Ottawa

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said ongoing convoy protests in Ottawa “border on sedition” as she urged Premier Doug Ford to do “everything” Ottawa requires to dismantle the demonstrations, which have now been going on for 12 days.

“I'm urging this premier to do everything that's asked of us, of the province, by Ottawa, but also to consider what we can do provincially to dissuade these folks from continuing their actions,” Horwath said at a virtual news conference on Tuesday.

Horwath’s remarks come more than a week after thousands first began to gather in the nation’s capital to protest vaccine mandates. To date, a core group of hundreds remain in the downtown core and refuse to leave Ottawa.

Instead, protest organizers have proposed forming a coalition of opposition parties and meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a local hotel on Tuesday. 

While Ford spoke ahead of the convoy protest that took place in Toronto over the weekend and condemned hateful symbols displayed at the demonstrations on Parliament Hill, Horwath said Ford “hasn’t been around much.”

“He has responsibility as the premier to come out from hiding,” Horwath said.

In an effort to end what Horwath called an occupation in Ottawa, she proposed “concrete” tools already in the province’s tooblox, such as revoking commercial vehicle licences, driver’s licences and invalidating licence plates. In essence, removing potential future earning for truckers participating in the convoy.

“The potential losing of your licence, of your ability to earn, it's certainly a heavy-handed tool, but it would be a powerful incentive,” Horwath said.

Canada’s Transport Minister Omar Alghabra also presented the idea of leveraging regulatory powers, like suspending licences, while speaking at the first federal update since the start of the ‘Freedom Convoy’ on Monday. He committed to discussing the topic with Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney.

“It’s clear, blockades of streets and bridges is against the law and should bring serious consequences for the owners,” Alghabra said.