(Ottawa) “All options are on the table. This is the response given by former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly to the suggestion that the Canadian military be used to dislodge the protesters from the “freedom convoy”, four days after their arrival. . This information comes from one of several documents filed with the State of Emergency Commission on Friday.
Updated yesterday at 8:30 p.m.
This is an account of a planning meeting with the then head of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS). Deputy Chief Patricia Ferguson is written to ask if it would be “possible to call in the military or declare a state of emergency”. Chef Sloly replies that “all options are on the table”. The police are then completely overwhelmed by the events.
Peter Sloly’s testimony to the State of Emergency Commission on Friday was expected. He was in charge when thousands of trucks arrived in the federal capital. He resigned on February 15, the day after the federal government declared a state of emergency.
In a text exchange between Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Brenda Lucki and Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Commissioner Thomas Carrique, it is stated that the Ottawa Police Chief had already lost the confidence of the federal government on February 5.
“Between you and me, only, GduC [le gouvernement du Canada] is losing/has already lost faith in the OPS, she writes. We have to find a safe way to enforce the law. She adds that if the federal government invokes the Emergency Measures Act, Commissioner Carrique or she may have to deal with the situation. “Not something I want,” she emphasizes.
The public inquiry led by Judge Paul Rouleau must determine whether the federal declaration of emergency was justified to dismantle the convoy of trucks in the federal capital and put an end to the blockades of border crossings elsewhere in the country.
“My challenge until my last day in office had nothing to do with legislation or injunctions,” said Mr. Sloly. It was the resources. »
He defended the work of the OPS, wiping away a tear when Frank Au, commission prosecutor, asked him how his teams held up during the first weekend of the “freedom convoy” in the federal capital.
PHOTO BY BLAIR GABLE, REUTERS
Peter Sloly, ex-chief of police of Ottawa, during his testimony on Friday
They did their best under inhumane circumstances. It was too cold and it was too much, but they did their best…and I’m grateful to them.
Peter Sloly, ex-chief of the Ottawa police, tears in his eyes
He recounted how things changed quickly on January 29, the first Saturday of the protest.
Under estimation ?
A first briefing between Chief Sloly and his commanding officers at 9:00 a.m. reported an event that was only going to last a weekend and it was estimated that some people might decide to stay a little longer in tents, nothing more. Two hours later, the chief of police realized that the participants of the “freedom convoy” intended to occupy the city.
“The circumstances at that time were clearly unprecedented,” he said.
Mr. Sloly said that 5,000 vehicles, mostly trucks, had arrived in the city and were not complying with police requests. The idea was to allow a number of protesters to park in designated spots and then take public transit or carpool to downtown.
“Assuming that even on the 28th [janvier] we would have decided to lock down the city, close all interprovincial bridges and exit ramps from highways 416 and 417, we would have needed, according to the estimate of the deputy chief [Steve] Bell, of 2000 agents,” he said.
He thus defended his decision to leave the vehicles in the city under the right to demonstrate protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The police could not, he said, stop them from entering the city unless they posed a threat to public safety.
However, a legal opinion prepared on January 27 by lawyers for the Ottawa police indicated that the right to demonstrate was not without limits. It was the day before the arrival of the first trucks. Five limits were mentioned: threats of violence, acts of violence, illegal acts, impeding movement and blocking roads.
Despite information from the OPP to the contrary, Ottawa police expected the protest against health measures and mandatory vaccinations for truckers to last only one weekend.
Mr. Sloly faulted the RCMP for not providing information earlier on the nature of the convoy, since the trucks were arriving from all over the country, from British Columbia, the Atlantic provinces, from Ontario and Quebec. “Why didn’t I get a risk assessment from the Federal Police? he asked.
The RCMP informed the OPP, which produced numerous reports in mid-January on the truck convoy that was getting organized to go to Ottawa. The former Ottawa police chief said he read the first report quickly and trusted his team to assess it.
When asked by prosecutor Natalia Rodriguez what he would have done differently, Mr. Sloly initially struggled to answer. He then indicated that he would have put more emphasis on sleep and well-being “to be more resilient”. “We are only human beings,” he said.