Convoy Report Proves Me 'Almost Completely' Right Says Peter Sloly | Commission of Inquiry into the State of Emergency

Former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly (File Photo)

Former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly believes that the final report of the Public Inquiry into the State of Emergency has “almost entirely” vindicated him.

The review carried out by the Judge [Paul] Rouleau agrees with me almost entirely, Sloly said Tuesday in Toronto. This clears up a lot of the very nasty criticism and attacks that have been aimed at me that wanted to scapegoat me.

Sloly's comments were made during a panel discussion titled Leadership in Critical Times, hosted at Massey College in Toronto, where the former Ottawa police chief is currently serving. guest researcher.

Mr. Sloly served as Chief of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) from October 2019 until his resignation in February 2022. His handling of the truckers' protest, which had turned into occupation of downtown Ottawa, had earned him much criticism.

Although the Emergency Commission's final report acknowledges the significant pressures under which Mr. Sloly faced during this time, the document criticizes many of his decisions throughout the January and February 2022 protest.

Former Ottawa Police Service Chief Peter Sloly during his appearance before the State of Emergency Commission (File photo)

Mr. Rouleau, a judge of the Ontario Court of Appeal and Commissioner of the Emergency Commission, has mentioned Mr. Sloly's name more than 100 times, just in the outline of his report, which concluded that the federal government had met the threshold required to use the Emergencies Act.

In his report , Mr. Rouleau writes that in the days leading up to the protest, Ottawa politicians found that Mr. Sloly's briefing meetings left them in the dark about key details of the protests, including what happened. relates to the number of vehicles involved.

Mr. Rouleau indicated that he believed the information available to Mr. Sloly and the Ottawa police at the time should have raised more concerns than they did. x27;did.

When it became apparent that the protesters would not leave downtown Ottawa as quickly as the police had originally planned, OPS Chief Sloly attempted to respond to the confusion within the OPS command and control structure by becoming more involved in decision-making and planning, the report reads. .

Many witnesses said this was counterproductive, eroding the authority of the event commander and creating further confusion about who was responsible.

In his report, Judge Rouleau writes that an unhealthy dynamic between Chief Sloly and his team has compounded the problem of its involvement in operational matters. (File photo)

Further, Mr. Rouleau wrote that an unhealthy dynamic between Chief Sloly and his team compounded the problem of his involvement in operational matters.

Despite these criticisms, the report believes that it would be unfair to attribute all of the deficiencies in the police response to this movement to Mr. Sloly.

Mr. Rouleau wrote that any errors in leadership must be viewed in the context of an unprecedented event and that some errors on Chief Sloly's part were unduly amplified by others to a degree that suggests the designation of a scapegoat.

Speaking to around 15 participants on Tuesday, some of them in virtual mode, Mr. Sloly felt that if he had to change something in his way of acting during this period, it would have been to get more sleep.

He said he worked for 24 consecutive days and slept about three hours a night. He has since explained that he learned about the body's physiological reaction to lack of sleep.

Less than five hours of sleep for an adult means you're functioning “at a 6th grade level,” he said. Do you want Chief of Police, Anywhere, Any Day, working at a "6th grade level"?

Former Ottawa Police Services Board Chair Diane Deans (pictured left, with Peter Sloly) said she called him regularly during the truckers' protest to check on his health. (File Photo)

During the State of Emergency Commission hearings, the former Ottawa City Councilor and Chair of the Commission of Ottawa Police Service, Diane Deans, had testified that as the protest and occupation progressed, she grew concerned for Mr. Sloly's well-being.

She said she called him almost daily for what she called wellness checks.

She recounted that during one of these conversations, prior to his February 15 resignation, Mr. Sloly told her, Write me a check and I'll be gone.

With information from Ben Andrews from CBC< /em> News