Days before calling a provincial emergency to deal with the convoy protests, Doug Ford vented some frustration to Justin Trudeau.
"I'll be up their ass with a wire brush," the premier said on Feb. 9, expressing a promise to follow up with the Ontario Provincial Police on its plan to clear the blockade.
A readout of the call was disclosed to the Emergencies Act inquiry, which published it.
It provides rare insight into how the two leaders worked together during the anti-government mandate protests earlier this year. During the call, Ford remains steadfast that he "can't direct (the OPP)" and seems focused on preventing more protests that would disrupt international trade rather than ending the occupation in Ottawa.
"I'm just as frustrated as you, and if I could direct the police, I would," Ford said to Trudeau after the prime minister laid out a string of problems the protests had caused. "There is one thing to have a protest in a city, but when you are impacting the economy and costing jobs, it's a problem."
"Are you saying the OPP can't help?" Trudeau asked in response.
"I can't call (the OPP) and say get your asses in there and kicking ass. It's up to the OPP," Ford said.
By that date, protesters had occupied Ottawa for a week and a half. Another group of protesters blocked traffic across the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor by the end of the day on Feb. 9. Windsor police requested help from the Ontario and federal governments that same day.
Protests had also spread to Sarnia, Ont., causing disruptions at its border with the U.S.
The transcript of the call between Trudeau and Ford shows the two leaders strategizing how their governments could work together to limit disruption across Ontario.
Early in the call, Trudeau said their governments had to help police stop economic disruption — like at the blockaded border points — "as soon as possible ... (so) we can prevent Ontario becoming a laughing stock."
At one point, Trudeau asks Ford what the Ontario government's "next steps" are and tells him the Ontario Provincial Police need to act quickly.
Ford replied it was hard to know what the OPP's game plan is without directing them.
"They'll have a plan, unlike Ottawa (where) they didn't have a plan. I'll get briefed tomorrow from the solicitor general and we'll keep you updated. This is critical, I hear you," he said, and then made the wire brush remark.
Trudeau responded by promising to help provide resources.
"You and I need to work together on this," Trudeau said. "People will be reassured by the two of us working together, and we need to demonstrate this is not a place of lawlessness."
Earlier in their call, the premier criticized the City of Ottawa for its handling of the protests up until then.
"I'll say that the (Ottawa) police chief and Ottawa mayor totally mismanaged this," he said, before commending the efforts of the City of Toronto. "The Toronto PD and Toronto mayor did a great job."
Ford then said that the "bigger one" for Ontario and the country was the protests at the Ambassador Bridge.
"What I think is we gotta stop the spread of these protests, and we protect Niagara and Sarnia and others," Ford said. "It's costing $500 - $600 million of trade, and we'll be up to $3.1 billion by tomorrow.
"What we can recommend and what we can work together on is that I've asked our (attorney general) to look at legal ways to give police more tools and exhaust legal remedies because the police are a little shy, and I can't direct them."
Ford also said he felt the two governments could "shut down (protesters') fuel consumption and cordon off highways."
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