Ottawa Police Services Board cancels Monday meeting following dramatic membership shakeup

The Ottawa Police station on Elgin Street is seen in Ottawa, on Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The Ottawa Police Services Board will not be meeting Monday as scheduled following a dramatic city council meeting last week that saw the removal or resignation of several members.

Last Wednesday, councillors voted to remove Coun. Diane Deans from the board, where she served as chair, and replace her with former OPSB chair Coun. Eli El-Chantiry. During the fiery, hours-long special meeting, couns. Carol Anne Meehan and Rawlson King resigned from the board. Council-appointed member Sandy Smallwood had also resigned shortly before the meeting began.

It stemmed from a move to bring in a new interim police chief without a competitive process one day after Peter Sloly resigned as chief of the Ottawa Police Service amid the ongoing "Freedom Convoy" occupation, which had yet to be cleared from city streets. Council heard that Deans intended to bring in additional help for Steve Bell, who had been named interim chief following Sloly's resignation.

Former Waterloo Police Chief Matthew Torigian was tapped for the role, but he later declined.

The board said in a media release Tuesday that new members—including Coun. Jeff Leiper who was voted as King's replacement, and Suzanne Valiquet, who became the new council appointee to replace Smallwood—would need to be briefed on their roles.

"As announced last week, there were a number of changes to the Board’s membership. A seventh member is expected to be appointed by City Council. Over the coming days and weeks, the new Board members will be receiving orientation and briefings on their new roles, in order to ensure they have the necessary information to fulfill their oversight and governance responsibilities," the release said.

"For nearly four weeks, the Ottawa Police Service has been focused on the planning, preparation, and execution of its response to end the illegal occupation of Ottawa. The cancellation of the regular meeting will allow the Service to continue to focus on the ongoing operations and resume its regular reporting to the Board in March."

However, a special meeting of the board is planned for this Thursday, to provide an update before the weekend on the ongoing police operation downtown, following the removal of the "Freedom Convoy" demonstration.

Protesters were pushed out of the city's downtown in a show of force last Friday and Saturday. Nearly 200 people were arrested and more than 100 vehicles were towed.

Community group Horizon Ottawa denounced the sudden cancellation of the Feb. 28 meeting, calling it "an insulting breach of democracy" and "an attempt to cover up any criticism of the Ottawa Police Services, the Mayor and Ottawa City Council after three weeks of intense condemnation as a result of their mishandling of the convoy occupation” since it would have allowed public delegations to speak.

The next regular meeting of the Ottawa Police Services Board will be held March 28.