Former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly last night said Freedom Convoy protestors were told by local law enforcement they were allowed to park outside Parliament. Testifying at committee, Sloly said it was only when truckers declined to leave after a few days that the protest became what he called a “national security crisis.”.“Efforts were made to hold negotiations that were in place to allow for emergency lanes of traffic and to provide for a period of demonstration that would then end,” Sloly told the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency. “It clearly did not transpire.”.Senator Gwen Boniface, former Ontario Provincial Police comissioner, asked Sloly at what point the protest went from a lawful demonstration to an illegal occupation. “The very second any law was broken,” replied Sloly..“But as you know, there are many unlawful demonstrations that the police will provide supports to in order to facilitate to the greatest degree the intent of what I believe is our Charter Of Rights and we’ll manage through those unlawful elements even when there are elements that are violent,” testified the former chief..According to Blacklock's Reporter, Sloly earlier testified at the House affairs committee he knew of plans for the Freedom Convoy protest as early as January 13. Truckers protesting vaccine mandates arrived on Wellington Street outside Parliament weeks later on January 28 and remained for nearly a month..“Your Police Service as well as the City of Ottawa had weeks to prepare and discuss a strategy with the organizers of the protest as to where the staging would take place,” said Conservative MP Larry Brock (Brantford-Brant, Ont.)..“In fact there was a very detailed description as to how many tractor-trailers could actually park on Wellington Street,” Brock told last night’s hearing. “There is a sense out there that this was something that was controlled by the organizers, that they took those steps without consultation with your Police Service and the City of Ottawa to park. That’s not true.”.Sloly said after authorizing demonstrators to park outside Parliament, he considered it unsafe to begin ticketing and towing trucks for illegal parking. “The issue was not whether there was a bylaw offence,” he said. “The issue was public safety risk associated with trying to remove large trucks in large numbers with large numbers of demonstrators and residents, business owners and other people in the downtown core.”.Sloly resigned as police chief February 15 one day after cabinet invoked the Emergencies Act to end the Parliament Hill protest. Emergency powers were lifted with the end of the protest on February 23.
