Community groups want review after student arrested at Ottawa dress code protest
The arrest of a student at last week’s dress code blitz protest outside an Orléans high school has five community groups demanding answers.
“What we’re calling for is an independent, human-rights based review of the Ottawa Police Service, the Ottawa Police Services Board, and Crime Prevention Ottawa, which works closely with them,” said Robin Browne, the co-lead of 613-819 Black Hub.
The groups include the 613-819 Black Hub, the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women, Asilu Collective, Ottawa Black Diaspora Coalition, and Horizon Ottawa. They say it would evaluate whether police actions caused harm.
“The city should be the one paying for it. We’re going to actually follow up with the city, make this a specific request to the city,” said Browne.
Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell wrote in a letter to the police services board that the service reviewed the call and found officers acted appropriately.
“The challenges the officers faced were from youths who did not attend the school and who were repeatedly crossing the roadway to the protest and agitating the crowd,” Bell wrote, adding they were asked not to do that due to safety concerns “at least five times.”
“Block off the street. If they really mean it when they say they’re going to protect the right to lawful protest, you block off the street you don’t rush in there and let the cars go on through and arrest the students,” said Browne.
Ottawa police say complaints can be filed with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.