Ottawa Police Chief Resigns amid Truck Protest in Canada

By Staff, Agencies 

Ottawa’s police chief resigned Tuesday amid criticism of his inaction against the trucker protests that have paralyzed Canada’s capital for over two weeks, while demonstrators elsewhere across the country abandoned another one of their blockades at the US border.

Trucks with horns blaring rolled out of the southern Alberta town of Coutts, across from Montana, ending the siege that had disrupted trade for more than two weeks. Police earlier this week arrested 11 people at the obstructed crossing and seized guns and ammunition.

The two developments came a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked extraordinary emergency powers to try to end the occupation in Ottawa and elsewhere around the country. Across Canada and beyond, the question in the coming days will be whether it works.

Deputy Chief Steve Bell has been appointed the interim police chief and will work alongside the RCMP and the Ontario Provincial Police as part of the policing command center coordinating response. 

"An integrated command center has now been set up so that the RCMP and the OPP can share and assume command and control over the enforcement operations that will be necessary to bring about public safety on the streets of Ottawa again," Marco Mendicino, the federal minister of public safety said Tuesday.

This comes as protesters have occupied parts of downtown Ottawa for almost 20 days, and blocked US border crossings.

The "Freedom Convoy" protest, which began as a rally against vaccine requirements for truck drivers, has now grown into a widening movement as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refuses to engage with their demands.

Both Trudeau and the United States have called for an end to the protests, but hundreds of trucks are still blocking downtown areas and other cities across the country.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in trucks, tractors, cars, and on foot from the western province of Alberta, moving east to Quebec City, and in cities and towns in between, including Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, and Vancouver.