The Toronto Police Services Board has given its nod to an operational plan for dealing with another possible round of convoy protests in the city this weekend.
The board held a closed-door meeting Thursday to be briefed by Toronto Police Chief James Ramer on the plan for managing this weekend’s anticipated "Freedom Convoy" protests.
“Board Members were briefed on the details of the operational plan, including the priorities and objectives for the operation, and had opportunities to ask questions of the chief and obtain further information,” the board said in a statement released following the meeting Thursday afternoon.
The Toronto Police Services Board is a seven-member civilian body that oversees the Toronto Police Service.
As part of recommendations adopted by the board following the raucous G20 summit in Toronto back in 2010, the board agreed that it has a responsibility to inform itself about the relevant operational plans for a major event in the city.
“The anticipated ‘Freedom Convoy’ planned for this weekend meets this threshold,” the board said in its release.
Toronto police began closing off roads around Queen’s Park on Wednesday after learning that the trucker convoy protests against vaccine mandates could be heading back to the city for another round.
Police vehicles and city dump trucks could be seen parked at the intersection of Bloor Street West and Avenue Road on Thursday in order to bar any traffic from coming down the road.
“The board is supportive of Chief Ramer’s and the service’s plan, and the extensive work that is underway to provide adequate and effective policing services this weekend,” the TPS board statement read. “The board also thanks the members of the service for their professionalism, and overarching commitment to keeping Toronto residents safe, while ensuring the rights of everyone involved – including those who wish to peacefully assemble and express themselves – are respected.”
Neither the board nor the police service are disclosing exact details about their plans.
Toronto police said last weekend that it was their job to facilitate peaceful protests, but that they would not allow large vehicles or encampments of protesters around the provincial legislature.
While loud honking could be heard around the city for much of Saturday, the protests remained peaceful and dispersed by Sunday.
Officials in Toronto have been eager to avoid a situation similar to that which has unfolded in Ottawa, where protesters have now been occupying a section of the city for nearly two weeks.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office said Thursday that it has won a court order freezing some donations to the convoy group amid questions about the source of some of the funding.
For the past few days, convoy protests have also throttled commerce between Canada and the United States at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, North America's busiest border crossing.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said Thursday that the city is going to court to seek an injunction against the protest.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer meanwhile penned a letter to Canadian authorities calling on them to bring the protest to an end, saying that it was hurting the economy of her state.
