Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly resigned late on Tuesday citing Ottawa Police’s inability to contain the Freedom Convoy protests. Slowly said that he and the Ottawa Police board reached a mutual agreed upon separation. Ottawa Police Services Board, Diane Deans while announcing Sloly’s departure highlighted that the residents felt that police action was inadequate and failed to deter the protesters.
“I am confident the Ottawa Police Service is now better positioned to end this occupation,” Sloly said in his resignation letter shared on social media. “Since the onset of this demonstration, I have done everything possible to keep this city safe and put an end to this unprecedented and unforseeable crisis,” he further added.
Steve Bell, who was the deputy chief, has been named interim chief as Ottawa Police Service looks for a new head.
Sloly’s resignation will again put Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau in a tough spot as his resignation comes after Trudeau rejected his request to send additional 1,800 forces Sloly believed would be required to end the blockade. Trudeau’s cabinet minister Bill Blair who was Sloly’s former boss when he served as the deputy chief of the Toronto Police Service (TPS) was shocked at his exit.
“I’ve known Chief Sloly for 25 years … He’s a fundamentally decent man faced with a very difficult job, and frankly I’m very saddened by this turn of events,” Blair was quoted as saying by CTV News. Matt Skof, the president of the Ottawa Police Association, however, said that this incident was expected as Sloly was not given enough resources to end the protests. Skof lashed out at the police services board and said that they knew it could come to this.
“They placed the chief of police in this position since the onset. They knew that he did not have enough staffing, that he did not have an appropriate budget and he was left in an impossible position to plan this event appropriately,” Skof was quoted as saying by news agency the Ottawa Sun.
The protests led by the Freedom Convoy reached Day 20 on Wednesday and the protesters have no intentions of leaving.
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