Three weeks into an illegal blockade of Ottawa’s downtown core, the city’s police chief has resigned.
Peter Sloly stepped down on Tuesday morning.
Throughout the blockade, he had been under heavy criticism for failing to do enough to move anti-vaccine mandate demonstrators and their trucks out of the city.
At a press conference, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said an integrated command centre has been set up so the RCMP and Ontario Provincial Police can share and assume command and control over enforcement related to the ongoing protests in Ottawa.
Mendicino said the federal government’s focus is ensuring the Ottawa police, as well as the RCMP and OPP, have all the tools necessary to restore public order in the city.
“What we have seen in Ottawa is an ongoing and sustained effort by a small organization, with a very extreme ideology, has intimidated, harassed and has broken the law in a way that is unacceptable,” he said.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was invoking the Emergencies Act.
