Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly, who is facing heavy criticism from downtown residents over his handling of the continuing protests that are now entering a second work week, said next steps could include impounding the remaining large trucks that are parked on the streets near Parliament Hill.
Protesters remain dug in on Ottawa city streets, even though similar protests over the weekend in Toronto and Quebec City have been fully cleared.
Ottawa police took a more interventionist approach Sunday that included dismantling a protester camp in Confederation Park near the Rideau Canal. Then late Sunday evening, police entered a baseball stadium parking lot on Coventry Road, east of downtown, that is being used a logistics support base for the main protest near Parliament Hill.
“We’ve removed encampments in and around the red zone and the core of the area,” Mr. Sloly said Monday morning in an interview with local radio station CFRA. “We are targeting the highest-risk areas with the resources we have available and dismantling them. We’ve been doing that since Friday and we’ve had two major successes. Confederation Park is gone. That entire encampment, [including] the wood structure, all of the fuel... that is entirely gone through negotiation and hardcore planning. We’ve dismantled the fuel operation of Coventry. Gone. Seven arrests, people going to jail. We will continue to do that on a daily basis.”
Mr. Sloly agreed when asked if one of the challenges police face is obtaining tow trucks capable of removing the remaining large trucks, as well as finding tow truck operators who are willing to do the job.
“We saw in, and still see, in places like Alberta, in Coutts, where they tried to attempt heavy enforcement. It was tow trucks that became one of the major logistical barriers to that. But we’re still looking at other options in order to either impound the trucks in place, or to take them lawfully into custody and remove them from the area. Everything is on the table.”
At a news conference later in the day, Mr. Sloly said he will be sending a letter to Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson to underscore the need for more support from the provincial and federal governments.
“We’re asking for a major push of resources to come in in the next 72 hours,” he said.
Even as he spoke of shutting down fuel supplies, journalists on the scene Monday reported images of protesters walking cans of fuel unimpeded to the idling trucks on Parliament Hill.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, federal ministers proposed a “trilateral table” for the federal, provincial and municipal governments to address the trucker protest. “It is well past the time to bring this protest to an end,” Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said. The federal ministers said Ottawa is willing to provide all appropriate assistance that is required.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
OTTAWA RESIDENTS, PROTESTERS SCHEDULED TO CLASH IN COURT: An Ontario court is scheduled to hear arguments Monday in a proposed multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit by Ottawa residents who want protesters encamped in their downtown to stop honking their horns. Story here.
POILIEVRE RUNNING - Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, the official opposition finance critic, has launched his bid for the party’s leadership by declaring he’s running to be the next prime minister. Story here. Meanwhile Quebec Conservative Alain Rayes has quit his post as the party’s deputy leader because he says he wants to play a role in shaping who will next lead the party. Story here.
BC LIBERALS ELECT NEW LEADER - B.C. Premier John Horgan is going to be facing a new political foil. Former provincial finance minister Kevin Falcon has won the leadership of the B.C. Liberal party, the official opposition in the legislature. Mr. Falcon, who finished second in the 2011 leadership contest, losing to Christy Clark, who served as premier until the party lost power in 2017, left politics a decade ago to spend more time with his young family and work in the private sector. Story here.
NEW NAME FOR B.C. LIBERALS? - Speaking of the B.C. Liberals, the party’s new leader says he’d like to see the party change its name. Mr. Falcon said he’d like to find a name that people like and can live with, while also preventing a new group from taking the B.C. Liberal brand. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
The projected order of business at the House of Commons, Feb.7 is here.
THE DECIBEL – The Globe and Mail’s Science reporter Ivan Semeniuk explains how the new James Webb Space Telescope is able to see way beyond its predecessor’s range and further back in time. Mr. Semeniuk explains how this new telescope works, what scientists hope to learn from it and why Canada’s contributions are critical to the mission’s success. A link to the podcast can be found here. The Decibel is also available on all major podcast platforms.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in “private meetings” and has no public events scheduled Monday, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh held a news conference Monday, during which he called for an emergency debate on the occupation in Ottawa. He also accused the Prime Minister of a failure of leadership and the Conservatives of emboldening the protesters.
Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen released a statement Monday on Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70th year as Queen. Ms. Bergen has not held a news conference since she was elected interim leader by members of the Conservative caucus last Wednesday. Earlier that day, the caucus voted 73 to 45 in favour of replacing Erin O’Toole as party leader.
OPINION
Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, who is considered a potential Liberal leadership candidate should the job become available, is weighing in on the Ottawa protest in an opinion piece for The Globe and Mail: “By now anyone sending money to the convoy should be in no doubt: You are funding sedition. Foreign funders of an insurrection interfered in our domestic affairs from the start. Canadian authorities should take every step within the law to identify and thoroughly punish them. The involvement of foreign governments and any officials connected to them should be identified, exposed, and addressed.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on the trucker protest and Pierre Poilievre’s weekend announcement that he is entering the Conservative Leadership: “A new force has arrived in Canadian politics, the culmination of growing populist resentments over the inequality of globalization, the presidency of Donald Trump that reflected those resentments, and new resentments over pandemic restrictions.
This populist conservative force is powerful and militant. And it has found a political voice in Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre, who on Saturday announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
Yaroslav Baran and Geoff Norquay (Canadian Politics and Public Policy) on why the Tories need a united and not a headwaiter: “The future success of the party will largely hinge on how capable it will be of finally transcending its traditional factionalism. Under Erin O’Toole’s watch, the residual tribes remained, and continued to yank and pull the leader this way and that, impeding compromise to the detriment of unity and national interest. A successful future leader – whoever she or he may be – will be one who serves not as headwaiter to the factions, but rather as co-ordinator and steward, channelling all their energies forward
Shachi Kurl (The Ottawa Citizen) on why Conservatives’ embrace of the truck protest in Ottawa isn’t helping them: “The CPC must decide if it wants to be a party that meets only the needs of a stringent base, or whether it wants to be the party in power. The Liberals figured it out after another humiliating smack in 2011. The party cast off its senators, and took a tough stance on abortion, leaving some loyal Catholic Liberals on the outs. It shed some supporters to pick up others. Like it or not, these were bold moves, motivated not by staying true to past elements the party base, but by a desire to govern. For the Conservatives, it is once again a time for hard choices. But not hard-line ones.”
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Ian Bailey