Hersh: Since the convoy, the veneer of police accountability has shattered

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It has been close to a year since our city was overtaken by the convoy protesters. During that period, residents were left to fend for themselves and keep each other safe, while police either did nothing or, at times, were complicit in allowing far-right organizers to occupy the downtown.

Many across our city were understandably shaken at photos of some Ottawa police officers fist-bumping protesters. They also heard news reports of some officers donating to the convoy.

Many also saw the clear double standard that was put on display in terms of how police forces deal with racialized and Indigenous protesters, versus how they dealt with those involved in organizing last year’s convoy.

And who could forget that shameful city council meeting, watched in disbelief across the entire country, when Ottawa Police Services Board chair Diane Deans was forced to resign and other members of the board quit in protest.

After the occupiers eventually left our city (though not for good) in mid-February, residents demanded that police and public officials be held accountable for their actions. Through powerful initiatives such as the Ottawa People’s Commission, we heard testimony after testimony about how residents felt the police had abandoned them. Similarly, the Public Order Emergency Commission, which was set up to investigate whether or not the use of federal emergency powers was justified, also heard endless accounts of the Ottawa Police’s deeply dysfunctional inner workings.

You might think that after such loud and powerful complaints from residents, the city would take action to assure members of the public that their concerns are being taken seriously. However, exactly the opposite has occurred in recent months.

Immediately following the convoy, the then-chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board, Eli El-Chantiry, moved quickly to pass a bylaw that would force residents to attend board meetings in-person if they wished to speak, despite other local municipal boards and committees allowing hybrid participation. This was seen by many as an attempt to clamp down on public engagement and dissent, since fewer people would be likely to attend in-person.

There was also heavy criticism of the move by the board to appoint a new police chief only days before a municipal election, with a short and flawed consultation process run by a firm that already had ties to the Ottawa Police.

The newly appointed chief, Eric Stubbs, has not shown much promise in the realm of accountability, recently quoted as saying that the Ottawa Police is “not a broken service.” In his previous role as assistant commissioner with the British Columbia RCMP, he was heavily involved in the police raids on Wet’suwet’en territory. These raids saw armed violence brought upon the Indigenous community, along with the unwarranted arrests of journalists.

Just recently, a move by interim Ottawa police board chair Suzanne Valiquet further limited public participation by allowing only one hour in total for residents to speak at meetings. This means that only 12 delegates are allowed to speak at any given police services board meeting.

For context, at the 2020 meeting on the police budget, more than 100 people signed up to speak, and delegations took two days. Under the new rule, most of these people would have lost their right to speak.

The police services board is one of the only venues residents have in which to publicly critique or ask questions of the Ottawa Police. It is one of the only institutions we have to hold the police accountable to the public they are supposedly trying to serve. Meanwhile, despite the transgressions of the last year and zero evidence that things have improved, Ottawa Police are slated to get yet another multi-million-dollar budget increase.

However, given its actions, the police board probably would rather you didn’t say anything about it.

Sam Hersh is a community and political organizer in Ottawa. He is on the board of directors of Horizon Ottawa, a local grassroots organization that focuses on municipal issues.