Ottawa's police chief resigned on Tuesday after failing to restore order in the Canadian capital during 19 days of unrest - a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked a sweeping act which critics said was tantamount to martial law.
Peter Sloly, who had led Ottawa's police since 2019, was known for his progressive reform agenda but this week admitted defeat, as residents of the city complained about his handling of the 'Freedom Convoy' anti-vaccine mandate protests.
Truck drivers have been parked in the city center since January 27, demanding an end to Trudeau's vaccine mandates. They have said they will remain until the mandates are lifted - despite over 90 percent of Canadians already being fully vaccinated. Others within their movement blocked bridges into the U.S. last week for five days, causing millions of dollars of losses in international trade.
In a statement on Twitter, Sloly, 55, defended his policing record and said that he was stepping down 'with a heavy heart.'
'Since the onset of this demonstration, I have done everything possible to keep this city safe and put an end to this unprecedented and unforeseeable crisis,' he said.
His contract was not due to expire until 2024.
Peter Sloly, 55, resigned on Tuesday after failing to get the Ottawa protests under control
Trucks block downtown streets near the Parliament Buildings as a demonstration led by truck drivers protesting vaccine mandates continues on Tuesday night
Truckers in Canada are seen on Tuesday night in Ottawa, continuing the protest that began on January 27
The protesters - pictured in Ottawa on Tuesday night - have vowed to stay until the vaccine mandates are lifted
Ottawa residents have said they are fed up with the disruption and the noise from the demonstrations
Mayor Jim Watson said in a statement that he supported the police board's decision to accept Sloly's resignation.
'It had become clear that many members of the police board, city council and the general public were not satisfied with the response of the police in bringing the occupation to an end,' he said.
Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair, who worked with Sloly when Blair was chief of the Toronto Police Service, said on Tuesday that Sloly was 'a fundamentally decent man faced with a very difficult job.'
'Frankly, I'm very saddened by this turn of events,' Blair told The Ottawa Citizen.
'At the same time, I think there is an important job yet to be done to restore order and provide effective policing services to the people of Ottawa'
Blair called the lack of police enforcement toward the protesters 'inexplicable' in an interview with CBC News on Sunday.
Trudeau on Monday invoked a rarely-used statute, the Emergency Act, in an effort to bring the protests to an end.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister - seen on Tuesday in the House of Commons - invoked the Emergency Act on Monday to end the protests
Under the draconian temporary powers, mass gatherings can be banned and freedom of movement limited. Critics have likened the act to martial law.
Trudeau on Tuesday defended the act, tweeting: 'We'll always defend the rights of Canadians to peaceful assembly and to freedom of expression.
'We'll also do whatever is necessary to reinforce the principles, values, and institutions that keep all Canadians free – and that's what we're doing with the Emergencies Act.'
The bridges into the United States, which had been blocked for five days, were open on Tuesday after protesters were dispersed.
Trudeau has blamed the protest on foreign agitators, and on Tuesday it emerged that 42 percent of donations to a crowdfunding site came from the U.S.
Canadians donated $4.31 million to the anti-vaccine mandate protest while making up less than a third of all donors, compared with the $3.62 million given by Americans, according to the data.
The rest of the $8.7 million came from the UK and several other countries.
The most U.S. donations, according to an analysis of zip codes by The Washington Post, were made from Leander, Texas - a suburb north of Austin.
Leander had the highest number of overall donations with 38 individual contributors, with many of the donors referencing the Bible in their pledges, the paper said.
The largest single contributor to the convoy from the United States appears to have been Thomas Siebel, who made a fortune in software development in Silicon Valley in the 1990s.
A donation of $90,000 was made in Siebel's name and using an email address associated with his past business, Siebel Systems.
Nancy Vasa, 62, of eastern Oregon, sent $2,000 on February 5, she confirmed to the paper.
'I believe that we are falling off the cliff to communism and the people rising up could be our last chance to get Americans to fight for our freedoms, she said, adding that she believes 'the vaccine mandates are part of a mass murder by Big Pharma.'
Data from the breach revealed the Canadians only made up for 29 percent of the donor base. American's made up 56 percent of the donor base, while UK donors made up 2 percent.
Elena Danielson, 57, a Beverly Hills real estate agent, told the paper she grew up in the Soviet Union, emigrated to Canada in the 1990s and then moved to the United States, where she is married and has grandchildren.
'I support the vaccine. I am glad that everyone who needed or wanted it is vaccinated,' she said.
'But now we all know that the vaccination status does not prevent from getting it again or spreading COVID.
'My husband just had it for the second time after getting a booster.
'If Justin Trudeau was a true leader, he would admit to being wrong and lift the useless mandates.'
Plans were continuing on Tuesday for a convoy of 1,000 trucks to set off within the United States, from California, bound for DC.
The protesters plan to set out at the end of this month.
Dr. Ryan Cole, pilot Josh Yoder, and organizers of the convoy Brian Brase and Maureen Steele told Newsmax's Eric Bolling that they were optimistic about their planned protest.
'I think you're going to see it grow as we move across the country,' Brase said.
'Initially, we've projected potentially a little over a thousand trucks right out the gate to start.'
Steele added: 'We have been able to really garner some of the best and brightest on our team to make sure that this convoy goes off without a hitch.
'We have a logistics specialist, tacticians, we're ensuring we have fuel. We've brought on Exemplar Financial, which has seven offices throughout the country with lawyers and accountants that are overseeing our fundraising to make sure that's buttoned up.'
Steele concluded, 'Our funds are not going to be able to be frozen or hijacked.'
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