The mayor of Canada’s national capital said officials failed to act fast enough to curb demonstrations that paralysed his city earlier this year. Jim Watson was testifying at a public inquiry looking into whether it was warranted for Canada to invoke emergency powers to end the protests. The so-called Freedom Convoy protests began at the end of January and gridlocked Ottawa for three weeks. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on 14 February. The Public Order Emergency Commission began six weeks of hearings last week to examine the Trudeau government’s decision to invoke the federal act, the circumstances that led to that declaration, and the measures put in place by Ottawa to clear the anti-vaccine mandate and anti-government protests. Invoking the law requires that a formal inquiry be held. The hearings have given a behind-the-scenes look at the confusion and frustration between the municipal, provincial and federal governments as well as local police as they sought a solution to end the protests.(BBC)…[+]