Solicitor General ‘must come clean’ about OPP numbers at Ottawa protests: Del Duca

Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca called on Solicitor General Sylvia Jones to explain a massive discrepancy in the number of OPP officers deployed to Ottawa or “resign immediately.”

In a statement Sunday, Jones said: “From the very beginning of this protest, more than 1,500 officers from the Ontario Provincial Police, as well as officers from other municipal services throughout the province and Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been on the ground.”

Later Sunday, however, Ottawa police said: “To date, the Ottawa Police Service has received 100 Ontario Provincial Police officers to assist with Ottawa demonstrations.”

Asked for an explanation, the Solicitor General’s office said Monday that the 1,500 number represents the total, not daily number, of officers on the ground.

“To be clear, since the beginning of the protest, more than 1,500 Ontario Provincial Police personnel have been deployed to the City of Ottawa, providing a range of support to the Ottawa Police Service,” Jones’ office said in a statement.

“This works out to between approximately 135-200 officers per day.”

Ontario’s Solicitor General @SylviaJonesMPP releases statement on the convoy protest in Ottawa.
Stresses politicians don’t direct police and notes the province has reiterated to the city it will help with any additional operational resources the city needs #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/XlBxcMcItB

— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) February 6, 2022

Del Duca insinuated that Jones mispresented the number and called for a full explanation.

“If the province has only provided 100 OPP officers to assist, Sylvia Jones must come clean and explain why she deceived the people of Ottawa and pretended to have their backs,” he said Monday. “Without an explanation, the only answer is that she must resign immediately.”

A source tells CityNews the province of Ontario will try and seek compensation from the federal government for sending OPP officers to the Ottawa protests — a process that could be muddled by the disconnect.

Del Duca also argued Monday that the costs of policing the protests should fall on the shoulders of the protest organizers.

“The protest organizers should be on the hook for paying the policing costs that are mounting each and every single day,” he said.

VIDEO – Del Duca says the protest organizers should be on the hook for the policing costs. @QPCamera pic.twitter.com/ITfkioJvh7

— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) February 7, 2022

Ottawa Police had previously said it costs around $800,000 in policing costs for every day the protests linger on.

Del Duca went further, urging Premier Doug Ford to “declare a provincial state of emergency” and to direct prosecutors to seize property, including trucks, of protesters who refuse to leave.

On Sunday, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency and Ottawa police said that anyone bringing fuel to the trucks could be subject to arrest.