After allegedly making a donation to the Freedom Convoy protest that snarled downtown Ottawa for three weeks, an Ottawa police officer is facing a charge of discreditable conduct..The Ottawa Police Service Professional Standards investigators claim Const. Kristina Neilson donated money to the Freedom Convoy through the site GiveSendGo on February 5, just more than a week after the convoy arrived in Ottawa to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates..Neilson appeared for a disciplinary hearing on Thursday morning, where she faced a misconduct charge under the Police Services Act..The notice of disciplinary hearing alleges that Neilson acted in a "disorderly manner, or in a manner prejudicial to discipline or likely to bring discredit upon the reputation of the Ottawa Police Service by donating money to the 'Freedom Convoy Fund' on a website called 'GiveSendGo.'".The notice goes on to say Neilson "knew, or reasonably ought to have known, that the money was being raised for the illegal occupation known as the 'Freedom Convoy.'".Back in early March, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said he was concerned over the idea of police members donating to the Freedom Convoy.."We expect our police to enforce the law, and not to support those who are breaking the law," Watson told reporters.."The chief of police obviously has the responsibility to look into that to determine what steps, if any, have to be taken against those officers.".CBC News subsequently matched two dozen current and former members of the Ottawa Police Service and Ontario Provincial Police with a leaked list of names identified as donors to GiveSendGo. Ontario police forces soon after said they would be conducting investigations into officers that donated..In June, interim Chief Steve Bell confirmed that police were investigating whether any member of the Ottawa Police Service donated to or supported the Freedom Convoy.."I was very clear at the time about the fact I had zero-tolerance for anyone internally who would support any sort of illegal activity," Bell said on June 27..In August, Ontario Provincial Police and the Ottawa Police Service said they were continuing to investigate members donating to the Freedom Convoy, six months after committing to do so. But they would not share how many members were involved, or commit to making the results of the review public.
