Windsor, Ont., suing federal government for money spent during Ambassador Bridge blockade

The City of Windsor says it's suing the federal government for $900,491 incurred during an Ambassador Bridge blockade two years ago over pandemic mandates.

Mayor Drew Dilkens and the rest of council invited the media to a briefing at city hall Monday, announcing the city is pursuing legal action.

"The city's lawsuit against the federal government is about justice and fairness for Windsor taxpayers," Dilkens said in a release.

He said he commends the emergency services response, but "our residents should not bear the financial burden for ensuring safety and security of the Ambassador Bridge, which is the responsibility of the federal government."   

In a release, the city said the legal action is around the following:

• Full reimbursement of all costs incurred in response to the 2022 blockade.
• A formal declaration of federal responsibility for policing and securing federal border crossings.
• Compensation for ongoing expenses related to protecting Windsor's international border crossings.

People protesting COVID-19 restrictions, called the Freedom Convoy, blocked the bridge for several days in February 2022. 

The city says it spent $1.8 million in costs associated with getting an injunction to remove the protesters. 

Dilkens says the federal government deemed those costs ineligible for reimbursement — but he believes they are eligible. 

The federal government covered half of those legal fees, and the remaining half is what the city is suing to recover. 

"The federal government has left us with no other option and recourse than to pursue this action today," said Dilkens. "For many years, we've called the federal government to create a fair inter jurisdictional framework for sharing costs associated with policing and securing federal infrastructure like the Ambassador Bridge.

"Similar frameworks already exist in Ottawa, yet there's no equivalent for Windsor, a city that will soon host three of Canada's busiest commercial border crossings."

MP says province is 'AWOL' on the issue

Liberal Windsor —Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk has said the government stepped up with $6.1 million for Windsor in the wake of the blockade.

Kusmierczyk said that he fought to have 50 per cent of the city's legal fees covered, which are usually not eligible for reimbursement. 

"What's important here is to date, the provincial government has stepped forward with exactly $0 to help defray the costs of the City of Windsor and its residents," he said. "The question that I have is, where is the premier, where is the provincial government on this, especially considering that policing is 100 per cent fully the responsibility of the provincial government?"

Kusmierczyk also pointed to billions in investment from the federal government for Windsor-Essex in the last five years, as well as money from the federal government for businesses on Huron Church Road that were impacted by the blockade.

Dilkens noted that Ottawa, as the seat of the federal government, has a fund paid into by the federal government the city can draw from for expenses that are related to the government. 

To that, Kusmierczyk said he was "always ready to sit down with the mayor and also with our provincial partners."

"But again, in this case, 100 per cent of policing responsibility is provincial and they've been AWOL on this file. They have not provided a single penny of support," he said. 

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for the provincial government's Office of the Solicitor General noted that the OPP was sent to Windsor and the city wasn't charged.

"We stand in support of the City of Windsor and it's up to the federal government to step up and support with the outstanding costs," the spokesperson said.

Public Safety Canada did not immediately have comment Monday afternoon. 

NDP — Windsor West MP Brian Masse says he's supportive of Windsor's lawsuit. Both the Ambassador Bridge and the soon-to-be-open Gordie Howe International Bridge are located in his riding. 

"I'm not surprised, but I'm disappointed in the federal government's lack of response for this. The city is going through a very difficult budgetary process," Masse said. "The city has assumed a lot of different costs on the border just on a regular day-to-day basis ... and the exceptional circumstances of the illegal blockade and having to actually deal with it.

"I'm very proud to be part of a city that's not afraid to stand up to Ottawa."

Masse said the city should be "rewarded, not punished" for how it managed the blockade. 

In response to Kusmierczyk's criticism that the province has a role to play, Masse says he agrees — but it's the federal government that needs to take that on. 

"It shouldn't be left to basically the City of Windsor to try to make that case against both governments ... We should be coming in and covering the cost. And if the federal government wants to press the province of Ontario for some of those costs, so be it."

Masse also said he was supportive of Windsor having a program similar to Ottawa's that accounts for the costs the city bears when hosting border crossings.