ONE DOWN: Ottawa police chief resigns amid ongoing freedom protests

Ottawa Chief of Police Peter Sloly will be announcing his resignation later today at the Ottawa Police Services Board meeting, according to CBC News. 

In its report, CBC News cites Sloly’s mishandling of the protests against COVID-19 mandates, which are entering their third straight week. The state-sponsored media outlet went on to detail internal allegations regarding Sloly’s behavior. 

“Sloly's resignation comes as sources tell CBC News he's been accused of bullying and volatile behaviour that has damaged relations with senior leadership and compromised the force's ability to cope with the truck protest,” reads the report. 

However, reports by protestors and journalists on the ground suggest that Sloly’s handling of the protests shoots far beyond internal affairs, creating foul optics for the police force. 

As reported by AFLDS Frontline News, Sloly recently boasted about shutting down the trucker convoy’s GoFundMe campaign and revealed plans to block the convoy from obtaining more fuel.  

Both of those strategies went viral and only spiraled into victories for the protestors.  

Sloly’s strategy to shut down the Freedom Convoy’s GoFundMe campaign suffered an immense backlash. At least four attorneys general vowed to investigate the crowdfunding giant, global figures like Elon Musk accused them of thievery, and GoFundMe’s ratings plummeted so rapidly that their profile on TrustPilot was paused.  

The Freedom Convoy immediately recouped their losses by moving to another crowdfunding platform, GiveSendGo, and raised over $9 million in one week. 

Sloly’s strategy to seize fuel from the truckers also backfired when photos and videos of police officers illegally seizing fuel circulated, which raised serious legal concerns and drew international outrage. 

More recently, a video went viral showing Ottawa police using excessive force against a 4’10”, 78-year-old man who had honked his horn in support of the protestors and then “failed to ID”. 

Then last week, Sloly ordered the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) to also seize firewood from protestors, which they use to keep themselves warm – and alive – in the 10-20-degree Canadian winter. 

While the allegations reported by the CBC may or may not be true, the failing optics for the Ottawa Police Service under Sloly’s auspices cannot be denied.