Protesters involved in blockades could soon face stiff penalties as the government attempts to avoid another "Freedom Convoy" in the future.

The Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act, tabled Monday afternoon, would allow police to suspend drivers' licenses and permits and seize license plates for 14 days. That can be done on the spot, without going through the courts. The law would apply to drivers of vehicles used to block "protected transportation infrastructure," or anyone aiding them.

The government could take a wide scope in defining "protected transportation infrastructure."

The bill explicitly includes any border crossing between Ontario and the United States, as well as airports. But it also includes "any other transportation infrastructure that is of significance to international trade," which will be defined by regulations the government will establish later. Those regulations expire after 30 days.

The bill lets police remove objects and other vehicles that are part of the blockade. Police can store these objects or vehicles for up to 30 days, with the costs paid for by the owner.

The bill is similar to Alberta's Critical Infrastructure Defence Act, which was Premier Jason Kenney's response to environmental protests that blocked pipelines and rail corridors. But Ontario's act has stronger penalties: a $100,000 maximum fine and one-year prison sentence for individuals, compared to Alberta's $10,000 and six-month sentence maximums.

A director of a corporation "who causes, authorizes, permits or participates in an offence" could see a fine of up to $500,000 and a one-year sentence under Ontario's Act. Corporations could be fined up to $10 million.

The government also promised to spend nearly $96 million on police training and equipment like heavy tow trucks — as well as a permanent Ontario Provincial Police "Emergency Response Team." Solicitor General Sylvia Jones' office didn't provide a response by deadline to clarify what would be involved in that team.

Lawyers and civil rights experts have raised concerns that governments will use the new laws to crack down on protests of all stripes. Jones said on Monday the bill is "narrow in scope" and won't impact "peaceful, lawful and temporary protests."

The solicitor general will have to review the act after it's been on the books for a year and make that report available to the public.

The bill was spurred by anti-COVID-measures protesters who occupied Ottawa for weeks and blockaded Windsor's Ambassador Bridge for days. The blockade halted the flow of billions of dollars worth of goods between the United States and Canada and caused plant shutdowns and work stoppages. The protests were eventually defeated by a state of emergency unlike anything Canada had ever seen, but damage to the economy — and businesses' and lawmakers' confidence in Canada as a trading partner — was already done.

Premier Doug Ford has feverishly tried to reassure businesses after the blockade, vowing it won't happen again. He and Jones framed the bill in those terms on Monday.

"Investors can have confidence that Ontario is open for business. We will not accept any attempts to block our borders or interrupt our economy," Ford said in his opening remarks at a roundtable event hosted by the Canadian American Business Council in Washington, D.C. on Monday.

"Earlier this year, we took decisive action to remove the disruption on the Ambassador Bridge and restore the flow of trade. Today, we're making those measures permanent with legislation being introduced back home today. The Keeping Ontario Open for Business Bill will law enforcement the tools they need to protect our economy from illegal blockades."

Opposition parties were muted in their criticism.

Liberal attorney general critic and Ottawa—Vanier MPP Lucille Collard said in a statement that “from first glance, this bill does nothing to prevent another occupation of Ottawa’s downtown core. I have requested a technical briefing from the minister and I am eager to understand why the province has chosen to neglect the people and businesses of Ottawa. We will have more to say in the coming days.”

Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca has said before that Ontario needs new tools to deal with protests, as the Ambassador Bridge blockade illustrated. The law should also be crafted with input from Indigenous stakeholders, Del Duca added.

New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said she wanted to "wait and see" what the bill said before she commented. She and Liberal house leader and Ottawa South MPP John Fraser criticized the government for waiting too long to disperse the convoy protests. The NDP didn't make anyone available to comment further on the bill by press time.

Before the bill was tabled, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association had said legislation was unnecessary, noting that laws to disperse illegal protests already exist, and the charter lays out limits on freedom of expression. One Toronto defence lawyer noted that police have a tendency to treat racialized groups' protests more harshly than those mainly composed of white Canadians — as the "Freedom Convoy" was.

Police were filmed shaking hands and hugging protesters at another convoy border blockade in Coutts, Alta.

PCs table anti-protest bill to restore business confidence after blockades

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