Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly says protesters are countering any police actions to bring an end to the “Freedom Convoy” that has occupied the downtown core for 11 days, with no signs of ending.
Speaking on CTV News at Six Monday evening, Sloly said demonstrators are adapting quickly to any enforcement efforts, such as disallowing fuel containers into the downtown core.
“What was happening during the course of the day is some of the protesters were deliberately filling jerry cans with water, literally drinking out of them to show the police that they weren’t gasoline,” Sloly said. “Meanwhile, they were carrying gasoline in other containers that would have been carrying water.”
Sloly said the countermeasures speak to the “sophistication and commitment” of the operation, as demonstrators appear able to pivot en masse in reaction to police efforts.
The police chief also said officers were swarmed at one point during an attempted arrest.
“Our officers were surrounded by over 100 demonstrators,” he said. “A near-riot broke out within minutes of being on the air here, to do what we’ve been saying we doing: enforcing and reducing the fuel supply, interdicting the gasoline going in there—at great risk in every single encounter.”
Speaking to reporters later in the evening, Deputy Police Chief Steve Bell said an investigation into the incident is underway, an arrest was made and charges are pending. Sloly pushed back against comparisons to other cities that have had similar protests, such as Toronto and Quebec City.
“Deputy minister Mario Di Tommaso, on a call today with the three levels of government said, ‘Hey, Peter, what do you think about using heavy tow trucks to remove the trucks that are in your town? Toronto did it. They did it on the weekend. They had one tow truck go out and confront six trucks and the six trucks left.’ I said, ‘Well, I have two heavy two trucks here from the city and I had a thousand trucks on Saturday and last Saturday, I had 3,000 trucks,'” Sloly said. “That’s like comparing Pluto the Sun, in terms of the scale and the complexity and the violence that this city has experienced, compared to other jurisdictions. This is a completely different beast that we’re dealing with here in Ottawa.”
Police estimate between 400 and 500 trucks remain in the downtown core.
In opening remarks to a special meeting of city council, Mayor Jim Watson said the penalties for some of the demonstration’s tactics would be increased. Watson said the fine for idling would increase to $1,000 from $100, the fine for violating the noise bylaw would increase to $1,000 from $490 and the fine for encumbering a roadway would be increased to $1,000 from $350.
“Chief bylaw officer Roger Chapman has confirmed that the Chief Justice of Ontario is supportive of our request and is committed to enacting these higher fines as soon as possible,” Watson said.
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