Former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly continues testimony at Emergencies Act inquiry
OTTAWA - Former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly will continue to defend his and his force's actions during the so-called Freedom Convoy" as he is cross-examined on Day 13 - Halloween- of the federal Emergencies Act inquiry.
Justice Paul Rouleau is probing what led to the federal government invoking the unprecedented public order emergency 18 days into the blockade that jammed downtown Ottawa and spread across the country at border points.
Sloly on Friday presented his version of what happened.
Sloly's testimony focused on what he said was a lack of clear advance warnings that the convoy trucks were coming to stay for a long time, and the lack of immediate response by other partner agencies to his requests for outside help.
Sloly has been a constant focus of the public inquiry thus far with conflicting pictures of the former chief emerging.
One - based on evidence of his subordinates and policing partners to date - holds that he struggled under stress, insisted early on that a tougher enforcement approach was needed at the expense of efforts by police negotiators to reduce the protest, micromanaged lower levels of operational commanders, was suspicious of other police agencies' efforts to help, and cynical about the political motives of Ontario's solicitor-general's office in response to his pleas for help. The other - based mainly on Sloly's testimony - is that he was a progressive, caring and compassionate police leader, recruited to manage change" in an Ottawa force that lacked diversity and faced cultural and morale issues."
Sloly said he is a champion of community engagement and although he had a background in public order enforcement, he understood the importance of police mediation and negotiations in such operations.
This is a developing story.
Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc
Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @aballinga