OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly has reportedly resigned amid public uproar over his handling of the Freedom Convoy protests against Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
The Freedom Convoy consists of thousands of truckers who have rallied to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates that impede their ability to cross the Canadian border into the United States, perpetuating ongoing supply-chain struggles.
The Ottawa Citizen reports that multiple sources have confirmed Sloly’s pending resignation, which is slated to be announced after the Ottawa Police Services Board meeting.
The Citizen presents the backlash as Sloly having been “too lenient towards the protesters” for critics’ taste, which Sloly “had blamed [on] a lack of resources,” but LifeSiteNews has covered examples of the opposite, such as Ottawa police illegally seizing fuel that supporters have donated to the truckers, despite Sloly admitting the truckers have been peaceful.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has attempted to frame COVID vaccine mandates as an alternative to COVID restrictions rather than a continuation of them, despite the fact that those vaccinated for COVID-19 still contract and spread the virus, as illustrated by high-profile cases such as Trudeau himself. In Ontario, the fully-vaccinated make up the majority of COVID-associated hospitalizations in Ontario.
Nevertheless, Trudeau has sharply condemned the Freedom Convoy. On Monday, the prime minister invoked the Emergencies Act, giving Canadian banks unprecedented power to freeze anyone’s accounts without a court order and broadening the scope of anti-money laundering and terror financing rules to cover crowdfunding platforms and their payment service providers.