Ex-ottawa police chief says he didn't ask for Emergencies Act
House panel considers wider Hill district
OTTAWA • Former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly told MPS the Freedom Convoy was an unprecedented challenge, but he said he didn't ask the Liberal government to invoke the Emergencies Act to clear the city's streets.
“I did not make that request; I'm not aware of anybody else in the Ottawa Police Service who did.”
Sloly is the third police official to say they did not ask directly for the invocation of the act, which gives police extraordinary powers. Ottawa's current chief Steve Bell and RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki have said they did not request it.
Sloly led the Ottawa Police during most of the convoy protest, but resigned shortly after the Emergencies Act was called into force.
When they invoked the act last winter, Liberal cabinet ministers said they had consulted with police who told them they needed the unprecedented authority to bring an end to occupations in Ottawa, as well as at several border crossings.
Sloly testified in front of a House of Commons committee that is studying the potential of expanding the parliamentary precinct to include some of the streets south of Parliament Hill after the Freedom Convoy protesters took over some of those same streets.
Sloly said the protests had no precedent and would have been difficult for anyone to manage.
“I had never experienced that and I have been involved in major planned and unplanned incidents in this country, across this country and internationally,” he said.
At the time, Sloly asked for extra resources from the federal and provincial governments, mostly police officers, but he said he also needed tow trucks and other help.
He testified that had he received the 1,800 officers he requested during the crisis, he is confident the protests could have been brought to an end. He said getting all those officers was a challenge, but the federal and provincial governments were helping.
“The plan that was in place required at least 1,800 police officers. When those officers arrived I had every confidence in the commanders and the tactical officers to put that plan into effect for a safe and effective resolution.”
Ultimately, after the invocation of the Emergencies Act, which froze bank accounts of convoy leaders and allowed the government to close access to the area and force tow trucks into service, nearly 2,000 police moved in and cleared the area.
Sloly said there was simply no road map to follow for such a large protest, with heavy trucks blocking the route.
“This was an unprecedented national security crisis, for which our institutions were not fully prepared.”
Prior to becoming Ottawa's chief, Sloly worked with Toronto police. Conservative MP Brad Vis asked if additional officers could be brought in for events like the G20 in Toronto, why could they not be brought in for this event, rather than invoke the act.
Sloly rejected the comparison and said the insurrection on Capitol Hill after Donald Trump lost the election was a more apt one.
“I do not think it is a comparison worthy of the discussions we need to really prepare for these types of events going forward. I would suggest Jan. 6 in the United States, Washington, D.C., would be better.”
Sen. Vernon White, a former Ottawa Police chief, said he has long viewed Wellington Street as a major liability for security on Parliament Hill.
The street runs directly in front of Parliament, between the House of Commons and the Prime Minister's Office. During the convoy, it was jammed with large trucks and a large crane was set up just metres from the PMO.
“As long as vehicles have direct access to this location, we are at risk of large vehicles being used to deliver explosives and as a result we are at high risk for a catastrophic event occurring on Wellington Street,” said White.
White said he expects there will be other large protests around Parliament Hill and the government should be hardening security in the precinct.
“This is the beginning, not the end. I think we' ll have future events that were unprepared for, and I think we better try to improve on that.”
White agreed with Sloly on the unprecedented nature of the protests and said it was hard to understand the scale of the protests until they arrived in Ottawa.
Sloly said he believes there should be design changes to the precinct, including bollards, possibly creating a pedestrian mall and creating other barriers, but he said handing over jurisdiction isn't going to be simple.
“Changing the jurisdiction is the problematic piece, not impossible, but it's the challenging piece of what you're trying to tackle.”
He said it will require a lot of co-operation between governments and clear lines of authority. He said even if the jurisdiction for Wellington and Sparks streets was changed, it would still require constant co-ordination between the multiple police agencies that patrol Ottawa.
“You could redraw that boundary up to (Highway) 417, you're still going to have on the day challenges with communication, co-ordination, collaboration, levels of preparedness intelligence gathering, none of those issues go away.”