Tag: Ottawa Police Service

Ontario Man Charged for Allegedly Intimidating Health-Care Worker

An Ontario man who allegedly made intimidating phone calls to a health-care worker has been charged under a federal law created last year amid protests against the government’s COVID-19 measures. Louis Mertzelos, a 58-year-old resident of Windsor, allegedly made several phone calls to the office of Ottawa family physician Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, according to an Oct….


Ottawa Officer Suspended for Probing Link Between Children’s Death and COVID-19 Vaccines Ordered to Return to Work

An Ottawa police officer who faced internal discreditable conduct charges has been ordered to return to work after she was suspended for undertaking unauthorized investigations to look into the possible connections between the deaths of nine children and their parents’ COVID-19 vaccination statuses. In an Oct. 11 internal hearing of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS),…


Ottawa Police Document Detailing Freedom Convoy Parking Plan Not Shared With Parliament: MP

Conservative MP Larry Brock says a document specifying the routes and parking plans of the Freedom Convoy protest was authorized by the Ottawa police but was not shared with the public or Parliament, resulting in a misrepresentation of the demonstration earlier this year. Speaking at the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency on…


Ottawa Police Officer Who Donated $55 to Freedom Convoy Pleads Guilty to ‘Discreditable Conduct’ Charge

An Ottawa police officer has pleaded guilty to a charge of discreditable conduct for donating $55 to the Freedom Convoy in February. Const. Kristina Neilson donated to the Ottawa convoy through the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe on Jan. 23. The money was automatically refunded to her on Feb. 5 after GoFundMe stopped accepting donations for the…


Ottawa Police Officer Accused of Donating to Freedom Convoy Facing ‘Discreditable Conduct’ Charge

An Ottawa police officer is facing a charge of discreditable conduct for allegedly donating money to the Freedom Convoy. In February, truckers and demonstrators from across Canada descended on Ottawa to demand an end to federal vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions. The group used crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe and GiveSendGo to collect donations for gas,…


Ottawa Police Officer Faces Misconduct Charge for Probing Potential Link Between Childrens’ Death and Parents’ Vaccination Status

An Ottawa police officer is facing charges of discreditable conduct for undertaking unauthorized investigations into the possible connections between the deaths of nine children or infants and their parents’ COVID-19 vaccination statuses. Between June 2020 and January 2022, Constable Helen Grus allegedly “self-initiated an unauthorized project” to probe those death cases, according to a notice…


One Person in Custody After Vehicle Rams Front Gates of Parliament Hill

An individual was arrested after a vehicle rammed into the front gates of the Parliament Hill in the early hours of Aug. 3, police said. The incident occurred at roughly 3:30 a.m., when an unauthorized vehicle drove into the front gates on Wellington Street. The vehicle was stopped by security infrastructure and did not manage to…


Ottawa Police Issued 103 Tickets, Towed 12 Vehicles Amid Convoy Protests Over the Weekend

Ottawa police issued 103 tickets and towed 12 vehicles amid convoy protests held at the city’s downtown area over the weekend. In a statement released July 23, the Ottawa Police Service said law enforcement was deployed to the city’s downtown core and surrounding area that day in response to the protests, and that measures were…


Heavy Police Presence in Ottawa on Canada Day Hindered Freedom of Expression, Say Lawyers

The large number of police deployed in Ottawa during the Canada Day celebrations impeded Canadians’ freedom of speech and expression, said two lawyers who came close to being fined for displaying a banner on the sidewalk near Parliament Hill. Adam Blake-Gallipeau, a lawyer from the legal charity The Democracy Fund, said he found an unusual…


Feds to Cover $35M Policing Costs Incurred During Freedom Convoy Protests

The federal government will cover policing costs incurred during the Freedom Convoy protest earlier this year, the Ottawa Police Service says. The cost of the police response to the three-week-long protests in downtown Ottawa is estimated at $35 million, with additional costs still being realized, according to a financial status report for the Ottawa Police Service…