Lani Rouillard

Title
Counsel
Organization / Affiliation
Paul Leschied

Lani Rouillard spoke 41 times across 1 day of testimony.

  1. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Hi, there. My name is -- oh.

    19-146-19

  2. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    My name is Lani Rouillard and I appear for Paul Leschied. And I'd just like to confirm prior to the proceeding with the witness that the protections of Section 9 of the Ontario Evidence Act and Section 5 of the Evidence Act of Canada are invoked for the witness.

    19-146-22

  3. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Yes. Thank you, sir.

    19-147-15

  4. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Can I ask the relevancy of this line of questioning, please?

    19-181-25

  5. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Yes, may I please ask the relevancy of this line of questioning?

    19-181-28

  6. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Sure. Thank you, sir.

    19-182-10

  7. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    I think we -- sir. I think we can all speculate as to what people were thinking here, but if we could stick to the strict dialogue that’s within my witness’s knowledge, please.

    19-199-25

  8. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Thank you, sir.

    19-203-11

  9. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Mr. Leschied, it’s my understanding that you began attending protests when some of these mandates were laid down by the government. Do you know approximately when that was?

    19-203-13

  10. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    When you started attending protests.

    19-203-19

  11. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. And how many, approximately? Can you tell me some details about the protests that you went to in the Windsor area?

    19-203-23

  12. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    And would you say that the theme of these protests was usually the same?

    19-204-04

  13. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    And can you just expand on that? What are some of the things that people were protesting about or gathering about?

    19-204-13

  14. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    So almost similar to trade stopping on the bridge, then, some people were claiming that their economic well-being had been cut off because the mandates?

    19-204-23

  15. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    So there was a financial element to it as well for some of these people.

    19-205-01

  16. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Now, I noticed that Windsor hosted some protests, if you want to call them that, gatherings and they had some high media profiles there. I understand that Chris Sky was there on August 28th, 2021. Approximately how many people attended that, do you think? Just your approximate.

    19-205-06

  17. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Was it well publicized?

    19-205-14

  18. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Just social media because it wouldn’t be on the mainstream; correct?

    19-205-17

  19. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. And is that the same way that the protest on, I believe it was, September 18th, 2021, there were about 1,000 silent first responders? Was that the same type of deal? Was it promoted the same way?

    19-205-22

  20. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    So if I was not from Windsor and I was just taking a walk that day touring the town, if I went by, say, the Chris Sky protest or I went past the 1,000 protestors for the first responders, would I pick up what it was about?

    19-206-03

  21. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. So do you believe that the Mayor was aware that these speeches were going on when Chris Sky was in town or when the 1,000 protestors came out to support the first responders?

    19-206-11

  22. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Yeah, I’m looking -- sorry.

    19-206-17

  23. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    I’m trying to establish the level of communication between the Mayor and these protests over time such to the point that it culminated in the bridge being blocked.

    19-206-20

  24. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. So let me go with a more direct line here. Did the Mayor come out to any of the protests that you were present at to try to understand why people were gathering?

    19-206-26

  25. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. And did the protestors ever each out, to your knowledge, to the Mayor to communicate and say this is why we’re unhappy?

    19-207-04

  26. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. And that would be in line, then, with the municipal policy on complaints. So then the protestors did bring the complaint to the Mayor. Is that correct?

    19-207-11

  27. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    No.

    19-207-17

  28. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    No, I’m trying to understand, yeah, if the protestors had reached out to the Mayor to clearly communicate what their ambition was through the protest, if he was aware of that.

    19-207-20

  29. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay.

    19-207-26

  30. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    No, just to make sure the protestors acted fairly in trying to resolve the complaint first with the Mayor, with the town before they set up their protests.

    19-208-02

  31. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    So the group that was participating in these protests, the three that we had discussed, there was Chris Sky, the silent responders, and then by the flag, were those all the same group? Were they just kind of growing? Was it the community of Windsor?

    19-208-08

  32. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. So I’m going to take you forward now to the night of February 7th, which is, I believe, the first night of the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge; correct?

    19-208-17

  33. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. So when you say that this was a group that was, you know, growing through time and there were familiar faces there, did you recognize any of the people that initially blocked the road where you were ---

    19-208-22

  34. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    --- to the Ambassador Bridge?

    19-208-27

  35. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. And what would you say -- like were there emergency lanes that were left open?

    19-209-03

  36. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Just on this one night. Were there emergency lanes when the blockade was originally put down?

    19-209-07

  37. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. During the first night of the protest, did you see the police put down any jersey barriers, like the concrete barriers, or obstruct any lanes?

    19-209-19

  38. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. And did you see police -- and was there any footage, that you’re aware of, that showed violence outside where the police were tackling people outside the exclusion zone?

    19-216-21

  39. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    M’hm. Okay.

    19-216-28

  40. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. And to your knowledge then, the southeast corner where the gas station is, I believe it’s a Shell, that is not included in the area they said was under control?

    19-217-04

  41. Lani Rouillard, Counsel (Paul Leschied)

    Okay. Those are my questions, sir.

    19-217-11