Ottawa’s chief of police suggested Wednesday that the Canadian Armed Forces might have to be called in to handle the lingering protesters in the Canadian capital.
“This is a national issue, not an Ottawa issue,” Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly said in a briefing to city councilors. “I am increasingly concerned there is no policing solution to this,” Sloly said that clearing protesters out of the city also comes with risks, that police aren’t capable of blocking access to the capital, and that he would need a force of 50,000 officers to do so.
He said that military aid remains a possibility. “We’re looking at every single option, including military aid,” Ottawa’s police chief Peter Sloly said during a briefing. He underscored the fact that such a request for help would be rare and that he could only recall the military being called in to quell civil disobedience twice in the last century.
Though the number of trucks and protesters in the city has dwindled, Sloly warned residents he expects more will return to the capital by the weekend. The truckers oppose a recent mandate requiring drivers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements.
The group is also protesting against other health restrictions, like mask mandates and Covid-19 lockdowns. During an hour-long community briefing, Sloly said his police service could not realistically stop thousands of protestors or hundreds of trucks and cars from entering Ottawa.
“There is no lawful authority to seal a city, there’s no practical capability to seal a city of this size,” Sloly said, noting it would take a police force of 50,000 to even attempt it. Sloly also claimed that US money and organizers were involved in the so-called “Freedom Convoy” protest.
