The Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association warned the city of Ottawa and Ottawa Police Service that some Freedom Convoy protestors planned to occupy the city for weeks, according to evidence released on day three of the Public Order Emergency Commission..An email shown Monday showed Steve Ball, president of the Ottawa-Gatineu Hotel Association, wrote to the mayor's office on January 25 to say someone from the Canada United Truckers Convoy wanted to book a hotel room for 30 days.."He laid out the plan, which is basically that they will leave their trucks in place, chain them together and attempt to block all accesses to the city," read the email.."What is our level of preparedness to respond to this should it go on for many weeks or months? Who is our lead in responding and presumably liaising with the federal authorities?".During that time, the Ottawa Police Service believed the protesters would go home after the first weekend. In June, former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly testified before a parliamentary committee that the protest was "unprecedented" and "unforeseen.".City of Ottawa Manager Steve Kanellakos, who testified in front of the commission on Monday, said he forwarded that email to Ottawa police..On January 26, another email from a city councillor sent to officials said, "many are now saying shut down the city until restrictions are lifted. This is going to last more than a weekend.".Kanellakos said the police intelligence at the time indicated protesters would leave by the following Wednesday after the first weekend. Kanellakos added he initially felt assured Ottawa police would be able to handle the protest.."That is a normal situation in my experience," he said. "I was confident that we were prepared for that first weekend with the assumption that they were leaving after the weekend.".Kanellakos also said Ottawa Police wanted to keep the protestor's trucks confined to the downtown core, as they were concerned LeBreton Flats could turn into an "encampment.".An email with notes summarizing a January 31 meeting with the mayor of Ottawa was also shown during the hearing. The document noted there had been only one arrest, no injuries or major crimes, and no "lone wolf terrorism." But it said that the risk of escalation had remained, "high all weekend."."Massive risk implications in short, medium and long term course of intervention, especially risk of conflicts that will ripple across the country," it said..Kanellakos, who acknowledged he had been through "hundreds" of protests in Ottawa during his time working with the city, said the Freedom Convoy protest was "without precedent."."I've never seen anything like it my 37 years."
