Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly takes off hat as he arrives to speak at a news conference on updated enforcement measures as a protest against COVID-19 restrictions continues into its second week, in Ottawa, on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly has resigned from his post while a “freedom convoy” led by anti-vaxxers continues to lay siege on Canada’s capital city. Sloly, 55, has faced mounting criticism for the force’s handling of the convoy, which has clogged Ottawa’s downtown core for 19 days. Onlookers have pointed out that police has treated the mostly white protesters more gently than people who marched during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in the city in 2020. Sloly has repeatedly said he has been trying to avoid inciting violence on site. The chief has been in his role since 2019 and was supposed to keep the position until 2024.The “freedom convoy,” about to mark its third week in Ottawa, started out as a protest against vaccine mandates for truckers travelling across the U.S.-Canada border. It has since devolved into protests against all COVID-related restrictions, most of which are set by the provinces, not the federal government. Many convoy members have also called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign because they don’t like him. Racism, homophobia, and harassment have been rampant throughout the protest, leading to dozens of hate crime investigations by Ottawa police. Confederate flags and flags with swastikas have been spotted on the site. Convoyers have shut down several chunks of the U.S.-Canada border, and continue to disrupt residents in Ottawa. On Monday, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, which gives federal and provincial governments more tools to force the freedom convoy to disband. It’s the first time the act’s been used since it was enacted in 1988.
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