Ottawa’s police chief was ousted on Tuesday amid criticism of his inaction against the trucker protests that have paralyzed Canada’s capital for more than two weeks, while the number of blockades maintained by demonstrators at the US border dropped to one.
The twin developments came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Canadian Emergencies Act, and threatened to take legal and financial measures to end the protests against COVID-19 restrictions in Ottawa and beyond.
Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly lost his job after failing to move decisively against the bumper-to-bumper demonstration by hundreds of truck drivers.
Photo: AFP
“Like other residents in Ottawa, I have watched in disbelief as this carnival chaos has been allowed to continue,” Diane Deans, chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board, said in announcing Sloly’s departure.
The protesters had turned downtown into a street party with big screens, hot tubs and an outdoor gym, Deans said.
Sloly said in a statement that he did everything possible to keep the city safe, calling it an “unprecedented and unforeseeable crisis.”
Photo: AFP
Ottawa’s police board said that 360 vehicles remained involved in the blockade in the city’s core, down from a high of about 4,000.
A command center was set up so that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police could assume command over the situation, apparently relegating Ottawa police to a secondary role.
Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell said he believes that authorities have reached a turning point.
“I believe we now have the resources and partners to put a safe end to this occupation,” Bell said.
Meanwhile, trucks with horns blaring rolled out of the Alberta border town of Coutts, across from Montana, ending the siege that had disrupted trade for more than two weeks.
Police earlier this week arrested 13 people at the site.
The end of the blockade there apparently left just one obstructed border crossing, at Emerson, Manitoba, opposite North Dakota, authorities said.
Mounties said that they were confident the protesters there would leave soon.
Erik Mueller, a truck driver who quit his job to join the blockade in Ottawa, called the emergency measures targeting the drivers “insane.”
“We are not backing off,” he said. “We have too much to lose.”
Wayne Narvey said he took a leap of faith a week ago and drove his 30-year-old motor home from New Brunswick through a snowstorm to get to the capital.
“They can take our bank accounts, they can freeze our assets, they can take the insurance off our vehicles,” Narvey said.
“They can play all the games they want. We’re not leaving,” he added.
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