Ottawa, Ontario haven't said how they'll prevent another Ambassador Bridge blockade: Windsor mayor

The mayor of Windsor, Ont., is still waiting for a response from upper levels of government about his request for a debrief about the Ambassador Bridge blockade in February and ways to help prevent something similar.

During the commission last week in Ottawa that's examining the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act, it was revealed Drew Dilkenssent a letter to the Ontarioand federal governments on March 17. He asked for a "collaborative debriefing" with the goal of "mitigating similar risk in the future."

On Monday, the mayor's chief of staff, AndrewTeliszewsky,told CBC News they hadn't received a response before or after Dilkens testified before the commission last week.

"The need for broader collaboration and support from provincial and federal governments to bolster the safety and security of our borders appears obvious," Dilkenssaid in thetwo-page letter to provincial and federal ministers.

The protest against COVID-19 public health measures blocked traffic bound for theWindsor-Detroit border crossing. Itbegan on the evening of Feb. 7 and lasted until Feb. 13. Two days after protesters were cleared, police announced they laid at least 90 charges against 46 people. In July, police arrested and charged two people they believe were the leaders of the blockade.

Dilkens sent the letter to Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino.

Mendicino was in Windsor last week, but when asked, didn't say why there hasn't been adebriefing with Windsor.

Instead, he said the commission may expose lessons learned from the blockade, something he calls "a new type of phenomenon."

"I think one of the important questions will be whether or not we need to update our existing legal authorities so that all branches of law enforcement can more quickly mobilize and co-ordinate their efforts to ensure we can address this new type of threat," said Mendicino.

Mendicino's chief of staff toldCBC News he speaks with Dilkens "very regularly." The spokesperson said the two have spoken many times since the blockade ended and have a one-on-one meeting scheduled in the coming weeks.

Ontario's deputy solicitor general of community safety,Mario Di Tommaso, testified Thursday he wasn't aware of the letter sent to his boss, Sylvia Jones, the solicitor general at the time.In February, Di Tommasowas the commissioner of emergency management.

He also said he has not spoken to the current minister, Michael Kerzner, about this issue.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General said the Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act was passed and better enableslaw enforcement to protect international border crossings.

The ministry also said the OPP held an operational debriefing with the Windsor Police Service in September.

Hundreds of police officers from across Canada, including the OPP and RCMP, came to Windsor to help.The city had asked the federal and Ontario governments to reimburse more than $5.6million in expenses related to the week-long blockade at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing.