Ottawa police reviewing MPP Randy Hillier’s social media posts

Ottawa police are looking into controversial Twitter activity from Independent MPP Randy Hillier, who urged supporters of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” to “keep calling” emergency phone lines in the nation’s capital as the protest was being dispersed.

The revelation follows a move by Ontario’s legislature to again censure the former Progressive Conservative for “conduct that is inappropriate and unbecoming of a member.”

“We are aware of the claims and Ottawa police is reviewing the social media posts,” Const. Paramjit Singh said Wednesday in a statement to the Star.

At Queen’s Park, Government House Leader Paul Calandra said the latest censorship of Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston) means he will not be allowed to rise and make remarks in the legislature unless he apologizes.

“In the very, very near future he’ll have the opportunity to have the attention of the legislature for a bill of his choosing and we want to make sure that he understands that the speaker has the authority to not recognize him,” Calandra said .

“We as a legislature unanimously condemn … what he has written. We condemn his behaviour, ”added Calandra. “We’re not going to give him a legislative platform to express opinions that are completely off-step.”

It was not immediately clear if Hillier intends to use his pending time slot to propose a private member’s bill, or what it might be. Hillier did not reply to a request for comment from the Star on Wednesday.

A Saturday evening Twitter post from the eastern Ontario MPP commented on an Ottawa police tweet asking people to “stop calling critical emergency and operational phone lines to express displeasure about the police action” as officers were clearing out trucks and protesters from the downtown area near Parliament Hill.

Hillier retweeted it, telling his 56,000 followers: “Keep calling in a democracy expressing yourself is a fundamental freedom #FreedomConvoy2022.”

It was the latest in a series of social media posts that have put Hillier — who Premier Doug Ford ejected from the PC caucus in 2019 — under close scrutiny. They include calling federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, who is Muslim, a “terrorist” in January and posting information about Ontarians whom he wrongly claimed had died from COVID-19 vaccinations. He was censored for that in October.

Hillier told the Star on Tuesday that “there was no mention of 911” in his weekend tweet, adding, “I don’t generally apologize for other people’s mistakes or wrongful attributions.”

But Solicitor General Sylvia Jones and New Democrat MPP Joel Harden (Ottawa Centre) took issue with Hillier’s assertion that he was not implying his supporters should call 911.

“I shudder to think about the impact of a first responder diverted from an actual emergency by a vexatious 911 call,” said Harden, who wrote to Ontario’s integrity commissioner asking him to examine Hillier’s conduct during the pandemic.

Jones said she regrets “a member of this parliamentary legislature was encouraging people to block 911 calls.”

Calandra said Hillier remains entitled to vote in the legislature and noted members can be expelled if they are charged and convicted with criminal offences.

“It hasn’t risen to the level where the house could consider an expulsion at this point,” he said.

Some convoy participants are facing mischief and other charges.