Ottawa mayor made a ‘backchannel’ deal to remove convoy from ‘residential’ areas

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly has asked for 1,800 more officers – more than double his entire force – to lift what he calls an “occupation” of the national capital.

Ottawa’s mayor says he’s reached a “backchannel” deal with convoy organizers to limit the three-week occupation’s to the area immediately surrounding Parliament Hill.

But Ottawa police’s plans to bring an ultimate end to the demonstrations – which showed few signs of slowing Sunday – have once again been called into question, after reports they’ve provided no detailed plan to federal law enforcement partners.

In a stunning Sunday statement, Mayor Jim Watson’s office says he successfully negotiated with convoy organizers to leave all “residential” areas in the city by Monday.

The deal between Watson and the convoy means the city will allow more trucks to position themselves in what police have referred to as an “occupation” and “siege” outside Canada’s parliament buildings.

“Our residents are exhausted and on edge, and our small businesses impacted by your blockades are teetering on the brink of permanent closure. I don’t believe these harmful effects on our community and its residents were the intended consequences of your protest,” the letter, sent to members of the media Sunday, read.

Watson asked Tamara Lich, one of the convoy protest’s main organizers, to remove “your convoy and its trucks” from several satellite camps around the city and limit their demonstration to the immediate vicinity of Parliament Hill.

The Ottawa mayor – who is not seeking re-election after more than a decade of municipal power – has pledged to meet with the organizers should his conditions be agreed to.

In a letter from Lich – also provided by the mayor’s office – the convoy organizer said they have made plans to “consolidate our protest efforts around Parliament Hill.”