Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly has addressed a public appeal to all levels of government for more officers and jurisdictional powers to end the sprawling trucker demonstration that has occupied the capital for more than a week. Sloly, a former deputy chief of the Toronto Police, said many additional police have been placed under his authority from the OPP and RCMP but it is not enough. He said that most of his men have been at work for days without going home.
Sloly says he needs 1,800 more cops and civilians to handle the ongoing convoy protests, representing a massive increase in his police workforce. Sloly said his force can’t handle the demonstrators alone. “They need more help and they need it now,” Sloly told city council during a special meeting Monday. The entire Ottawa Police Service is about 2,100 staff, of which 1,200 are officers. In letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Doug Ford and their ministers, Mayor Jim Watson and Coun. Diane Deans, the chair of the police services board, say Ottawa police need 1,000 regular officers, 600 public order officers, 100 investigators and 100 civilian staff to “quell the insurrection that the Ottawa Police Service is not able to contain.” Ottawa Citizen
Judge grants injunction to stop honking horns
An Ottawa judge has granted an interim injunction seeking to silence the honking horns that have plagued residents of downtown Ottawa for the past 11 days. The request for an injunction came out of a proposed class-action lawsuit filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Friday by lawyer Paul Champ on behalf of his client, Zexi Li.
