Ex-Ottawa police chief cites 'declining level of trust' for resignation during convoy

Peter Sloly says he resigned as chief of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) in the middle of the Freedom Convoy crisis partly because he feared eroded trust in his leadership was delaying extra officers from other jurisdictions.

"When trust starts to leave policing, that increases public safety risk," Sloly told a parliamentary committee on Thursday, marking only his second public in-person remarks since his departure.

Sloly resigned 19 days into the lengthy occupation of parts of downtown Ottawa last winter amid public outrage over his force's failure to turf protesters.

People rallied against pandemic restrictions and government and blocked local and main roads around Parliament Hill by clogging the streets with vehicles from Jan. 28 to Feb. 19.

"I had accountability for the organization and I ultimately made a decision for public safety to remove myself from the equation," Sloly said.

Sloly's resignation came the day after the federal government invoked temporary but sweeping emergency powers to end the protests.

He told committee members that before the Emergencies Act was invoked Feb. 14, an OPS-led plan requiring nearly 2,000 extra police officers from other communities was in motion. But he said the full contingent of officers did not arrive as quickly as he would have liked.

"The vast majority of them arrived after I left office," he said, building on comments he made to a different parliamentary committee back in June.

The surge of officers was one reason the occupation essentially ended over the Family Day long weekend.

'Others will have their own opinions'

MPs and senators on the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency peppered Sloly with questions for over two hours on Thursday.

Sloly said there were many reasons for him stepping aside, including some personal to his family.

"The singular one that I was focused on was public safety," he said.

"My interpretation — others will have their own opinions — was that declining level of trust in my officers and in my office was potentially slowing down resources and supports necessary for our officers to be able to safely, successfully end this."

However, Sloly was "not at all" concerned that members of his own force would not follow his plan, he said.

"Did we have challenges within the organization, as every other organization did, around co-ordination, communication, morale? Yes we did," Sloly replied to a question from Sen. Peter Harder.

Questioned about political pressure

Committee members asked Sloly if he felt political pressure to step down during the crisis.

Sloly said he did receive pressure from the Ottawa Police Services Board and that there was "a highly politicized element" to his exit. He otherwise declined to be more specific about what pressure he said he faced.

"Are you asking whether or not there were expressions of lack of confidence from my board, from city councillors, from MPPs and MPs? I think the record is quite clear," he said.

He said the Ottawa Police Association had pressured him to step down in the past, but not over the convoy response.

After Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency in the province on Feb. 11, federal public safety minister Bill Blair called on OPS "to do their jobs and enforce and uphold the law and to restore public safety in Ottawa."

"Looking at the timelines in terms of how long [Sloly] stayed in control as the chief versus when he stepped down shortly after the Emergencies Act was invoked, it became clear, at least to me, that he was under immense pressure internally," said committee member and NDP MP Matthew Green.

CBC reached out to the Ottawa Police Services Board for comment. Chair Eli El-Chantiry declined to comment in an email, citing ongoing federal and city reviews.

Sloly's exit also came amid allegations of bullying and volatile behaviour that sources told CBC damaged relations with Sloly's own senior leadership and that externally compromised the force's ability to cope with the protest.

Did not ask for Emergencies Act

Sloly was also asked on Thursday if he thought the Emergencies Act was necessary

He said he did not ask for the act, but doing so was "very, very helpful" in unlocking other tools to end the protest — in particular the ability for police to clear out people on foot before moving protest trucks out of the core.

"The primary request that I made on a regular basis was resources, particularly more police officers and police-trained personnel. Secondarily, access to tow trucks," Sloly said.

WATCH | Peter Sloly resigns as chief:

While OPS did have three to five heavy tow trucks at its disposal in the first weekend, "the issue was public safety risks associated with trying to remove large trucks in large numbers with large numbers of demonstrators and residents, business owners and other people in the downtown core," Sloly said.

Negotiations with some protest organizers to keep emergency lanes clear were not successful, he added.

Later, Mayor Jim Watson's office said it had reached a deal with protesters to move trucks out of residential areas and limit trucks to Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill, where trucks were already dug in.

Sloly said OPS had no part in those negotiations.

"I would not have supported any additional vehicles going into the red zone areas," Sloly said.