Ottawa Police Services Board Approves 4.4 Percent Budget Increase

 The budgetary process of the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) is distinct from that of other municipal government departments such as Paramedics, Fire, and Bylaw, as it independently approves its draft budget, with minimal representation from elected officials in the budget discussions. Irrespective of the process, the budget for the

Ottawa Police’s CORE Strategy for ByWard-Rideau Area Receives Delegate Support

 The May 2024 meeting of the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) focused primarily on reviewing the progress of implementing the new Community Outreach Response and Engagement (CORE) policing strategy in the ByWard and Lowertown areas. Unlike last month’s meeting, which saw the participation of three delegates, this month’s session drew

The City of Ottawa to Increase Development Charges for New Homes

 Ottawa City Council began its monthly meeting with the adoption of committee reports, including the report that the Council approved the Irish Famine memorial in McDonald Gardens Park.  A substantial portion of the meeting was devoted to approving a new schedule of development charges and a new development charges by-law

The OPS presents the Ottawa Police Services Board with a plan to change policing and improve community safety

 Monday’s meeting of the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) began with delegate Liz Venczel, a criminology PhD student at the University of Ottawa, claiming that the proposed higher police presence in the ByWard Market and the new police operations centre that is due to open at the Rideau Centre would

Ottawa City Council Stuck in the Ditch

 Ottawa City Council met today for its second session of 2024. The meeting was short, with most of the debate centring around the ditch policy. In 2022, the then municipal administration updated its Ditch Alteration Policy, allowing citizens to alter drainage courses subject to city approval and enforcement by by-law

Councillor David Hill Wants Action on Vehicle Theft and Fakirani Voted Head of OPSB

 During a longer-than-usual Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) meeting yesterday, the board, once again, was tasked with selecting a new chair. Since 2022, the body that governs the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) has had no fewer than three appointed chairs, including former Councillor Diane Deans, former chair Councillor Eli El-Chantiry,

Chief Stubbs Pushes Change Despite Police Service Board Woes 

 As the calendar year comes to a close, the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) met for the final time in 2023. The acting chair, provincially appointed representative Salim Fakirani, led the meeting, stepping in for recently departed Dr. Gail Beck, a Royal Ottawa Mental Health physician who was part of

Past the expiry date—Renewal will be good for Ottawa City Council

 Nine councillors will not be returning to Ottawa City Council chambers in the fall. Eli El-Chantiry is the latest to announce that he will not run for re-election. This comes only a few days after Carol-Anne Meehan stated her decision to withdraw from the race. In all, nine councillors and

Former RCMP officer calls for detailed internal autopsy of OPS

 by Calvin Lawrence, Retired RCMP officer (Photo: Jean-Marc Carisse) Many Canadians believed the January 6, 2021, turmoil they saw in the U.S. could not happen here. But now, after the trucker's protest over vaccines and Covid restrictions, we know that it can. In democratic societies, including Canada, there is an orderly process in government. Imagine

To restore confidence Solicitor General must amend police services act

 ABOVE: Ontario Solicitor General Syliva Jones and Zoom image of February 2022 Ottawa Police Service Board meeting. Anyone who witnessed the February 2022 total collapse of the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) must have reached the ineluctable conclusion that the time has come to disband police services boards in the province of Ontario.

Solicitor General was warned but ignored police disfunction in Ottawa

 ABOVE: The Hon. Sylvia Jones (Dufferin—Caledon), Solicitor General of Ontario. (PHOTO: The Peterborough Examiner) Op-Ed: Like many Canadians, I was very shocked at how easy it was for the convoy of truckers to roll into the nation’s capital and occupy the core of the city. Whether one agrees or disagrees with what

NO Chief Sloly, you don’t control the media in Ottawa

 The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) currently has 18 officers who have been SUSPENDED with FULL PAY and BENEFITS despite facing allegations of serious misconduct and/or criminal charges. The charges relate to serious crimes including allegations of rape, sexual misconduct, fraud, theft, and drug charges. Many citizens in Ottawa are victims of

Fifteen ByWard Market businesses post letter comparing ByWard Market to Vancouver Downtown Eastside

 Ottawa Life Magazine has received a copy of the open letter by the Merchants of Murray Street that was sent to various city officials outlining their frustration with the city's response to illegal activities and vagrancy in the ByWard Market. Already suffering from the decline of tourism and in-store shopping due to

Who are the Ottawa Police serving and protecting?

 Last week, we heard that the Ottawa Police wouldn’t implement a vaccine policy for their officers. Their reason for this was due to a fear of losing frontline staff. Soon after the announcement, there was public outrage, including from the mayor. On Friday afternoon, Chief Peter Sloly announced a reversal

Is it time to reinvent policing? Edmonton Chief of Police Dale McFee thinks so.

 The numbers tell the story. A report published in August 2020 by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) found that while Black people comprise 8.8 per cent of Toronto’s overall population, they represent almost 32 per cent of people charged by Toronto police. The numbers are based on the Toronto

The rapists and their protectors in both the RCMP and Ottawa Police Service

 No one is charged weeks after Supreme Court justice tells MPs the RCMP raped 130 of their own Two weeks after a scathing report on sexual harassment in the RCMP by former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michel Bastarache was released which revealed that at least 130 women in the

‘Defund the Police’ is a call for REFORM

 Photo: Pedro Domingos Prior to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic Ottawa Police Services (OPS) Chief Peter Sloly announced plans to hire thirty-one new police officers. He received quick approval for the request from the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB), despite the OPS currently having over a dozen officers on fully paid

Excusing rape — OCPC must investigate competency of Ottawa Police Services Board

 The Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) has received multiple complaints about harassment and misogyny against female officers and employees on the force for over a decade. Last Friday, it was reported by Post Media that a female Ottawa Police constable was allegedly raped by a fellow officer eight years ago.

Ottawa Police Services Board: We’re Not Happy Until You’re Not Happy

 By Valerie Findlay Despite several complaints under the Police Services Act (PSA) lodged with the OCPC against the conduct of the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) Chair, Eli El-Chantiry and many more in the form of emails to the Attorney General and Minister Lalonde requesting investigation into the goings-on with

Cancer Among Us

 The Ottawa Police Service (OPS), Ottawa Police Association (OPA) and the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) are cancers that must be treated before the affliction causes irreparable and even terminal damage to the democratic principles and the quality of life in Ottawa. Make no mistake about it, this twisted trio

OPSB Chair Eli El-Chantiry Seeks “Correction” on Abdiraman Story – Ottawa Life Magazine Refuses

 The Chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board sent a formal request today to Ottawa Life Magazine Publisher and Managing Editor Dan Donovan and Carleton University Criminology Professor Darryl Davies seeking a correction a story yesterday related to the violent killing of Abdirahman Abdi by Constable Daniel Montsion:  Good afternoon

The Ottawa Police: A Police Service in Crisis

 The recent death of Abdirahman Abdi by two Ottawa Police officers is a huge stain on the City of Ottawa. Why is it that the Ottawa Police were not able to arrest an unarmed man without killing him?  There is no logical or rational explanation to account for this man’s

Opinion: Something is Rotten in the State of Ottawa

 It has been said that the reason nothing changes in the criminal justice system is due to the ‘four horsemen’ of political inaction: inertia, ignorance, apathy and cost. When it comes to the Ottawa Police Services Board and their lackadaisical attitude to the issue of carding, it appears all four