Windsor sues Ottawa for $900K in remaining Ambassador Bridge blockade costs

Article content

The City of Windsor is suing the federal government for roughly $900,000 in costs stemming from the 2022 Ambassador Bridge blockade.

With all 10 city councillors standing by his side at city hall, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens announced the lawsuit on Monday, roughly 33 months after protesters angry about COVID-19 mandates cut off access to the busiest border crossing in North America.

Article content

The week-long blockade prompted a nearly $7-million response from the city, most of which went to policing and legal fees.

Although Ottawa last year reimbursed Windsor for about $6.1 million in expenses, it left the city on the hook for $900,491, an amount city council is now pursing in court.

“This city council, all of us as Windsorites, we stepped up to help handle a federal economic emergency,” said Dilkens. “All we’re asking for here is fairness and reimbursement of the costs that Windsor property taxpayers paid to see that happen.” 

The lawsuit, likely the first one the City of Windsor has ever launched against the federal government, has three main goals. It seeks full reimbursement of all costs the city incurred responding to the blockade, a formal declaration of federal responsibility for policing and securing federal border crossings, and compensation for ongoing expenses related to protecting Windsor’s international border crossings. 

“This lawsuit today is a stand for fairness,” said Dilkens. “It’s a stand for accountability, and it’s a stand for the federal government to do what’s right by the residents of this city.” 

Article content

Article content

The city said the legal action underscores its “continued demand for equitable support in protecting federal infrastructure, which is essential for the City and Canada as a whole.” 

Finalized costs relating to the bridge blockade totalled just shy of $7 million. The majority of those expenses stemmed from policing and legal fees. The rest came from public works, Transit Windsor, emergency medical services, fire and rescue services, parks and facilities, and communications.

In September 2023, Liberal Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Public Safety Canada would issue the city $6,094,915 to help cover “extraordinary expenses incurred in dealing with and ending the illegal blockade” in February 2022.

The letter called the reimbursement an “extraordinary measure” to support Windsor residents, “and ensure their taxes are not ultimately rerouted to bear costs” from the blockade.

At the time, Dilkens called the funding shortfall one of the “most offensive things” he’d seen in his then 17-years at the council table. He argued the city was forced to respond immediately to “an incident that clearly was not a municipal issue.”

Article content

In December 2022, then-Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino announced up to $6.9 million to cover blockade expenses, including for policing. The city said Monday that the federal government pledged the $6.9 million, “through an official agreement,” to fully cover Windsor’s  blockade costs.

The city said that agreement, struck on Dec. 29, 2022, was “critical” in the 2023 municipal budgeting process. 

Three months later, Public Safety Canada contacted city staff and asked them to provide further explanation of the costs incurred. Following the review, the federal entity advised city staff that the funding could not exceed the previously announced $6.9 million, leaving a shortfall.

Then a September 2023 letter from LeBlanc to the mayor’s office announced the federal government had approved almost $6.1 million to assist Windsor.

Article content

Only half of the city’s $1,780,982 in legal fees were covered. In addition, the city’s request for $10,000 to compensate for foregone transit revenue was not approved.

The city said Monday that the feds refused to compensate the outstanding $900,491 in expenses, but “offered no valid legal reason for this refusal.”

“They do not want to make Windsorites whole,” said Dilkens. “We all feel aggrieved by these actions, because we know what it took to deliver the response (to the blockade).” 

Speaking with the Star on Monday afternoon, MP Irek Kusmierczyk (L — Windsor-Tecumseh) said the federal government “stepped up to the plate” to cover all eligible blockade-related costs. Lawyers’ fees, he said, were ineligible, but he “pushed hard and we came to the table to cover 50 per cent of those costs.”

Kusmierczyk noted that the province, which has jurisdiction over policing and roads, did not reimburse Windsor for any blockade expenses.

“We are a strong partner for this community. We’ve been there every step of the way. We stepped up to cover the eligible costs. The province needs to step up as well and be a partner.”

The Ambassador Bridge blockade saw protesters opposed to pandemic mandates, including masking and vaccine policies, occupy Huron Church Road near the mouth of the bridge for a week in February 2022. Hundreds of police officers, including many brought in from outside of Windsor, helped dismantle the blockade.

The bridge shutdown triggered local job layoffs and temporary factory closures.

tcampbell@postmedia.com

twitter.com/wstarcampbell

Article content