It took just several hours on that cold Saturday in January for Peter Sloly to see his previous understanding of “Freedom Convoy” crumble.
The scramble by police over the next few days to come up with a plan to get the crowds, and heavy trucks, that gridlocked downtown Ottawa to leave at one point prompted a senior officer to suggest they might want to call in the military, the inquiry also learned.Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Ottawa SUN, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Those reports showed officers flagging that those headed to Ottawa did not have a date in mind for leaving and pointed to how their plans to bring heavy equipment suggested they intended to dig-in and had the financial means to do so. A couple of hours later, Sloly testified, he realized he was dealing with something completely different. He said police were overwhelmed as thousands of trucks, other vehicles and protesters poured into the city and converged near Parliament Hill.Article contentTears welled up in the former chief’s eyes and he paused when the commission lawyer asked him how his officers managed that first weekend.“It was too cold and it was too much.
Minutes taken during a Feb. 1 meeting between Sloly and other senior officers show that while they discussed different enforcement options, deputy chief Patricia Ferguson asked about “the possibility of military being called in or a state of emergency being declared.”On Friday, Sloly was also asked a public comment he made the day after the meeting, when he shared that he was “increasingly concerned there is no policing solution to this.” The remark caused much confusion at the time.