Ottawa’s top municipal law-enforcement officer stepped down amid a trucker-led protest against vaccine mandates in Canada’s capital that is now in its third week.

Police Chief Peter Sloly, whose largely hands-off approach to the crisis has drawn criticism, resigned Tuesday, according to reports by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and Postmedia News, citing unnamed sources. A meeting of Ottawa’s police services board is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. local time. One city councilor has confirmed the news on Twitter. 

Sloly’s decision comes a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers to the quell protests and choke off the flow of money to demonstrators. They began in Ottawa on Jan. 28, with offshoot demonstrations spreading to key U.S. border crossings.

The Ottawa chief, on the job since 2019, emphasized negotiations with protesters and avoiding confrontations between the demonstrators and his officers. Sloly said in the early days of the crisis that there may not be a policing solution to the problem.

Officials at all levels of government in Canada have struggled with how to get the blockades under control, particularly in the capital city. The province of Ontario announced a state of emergency last week, giving authorities the ability to levy fines of up to $100,000 (US$78,395) and a year of jail for blocking infrastructure. But Ottawa police have remained reluctant to use the new powers.

Trudeau’s move Monday goes further, giving the state the right to ban public assembly in certain locations while ordering financial institutions to freeze the accounts of demonstrators and those supporting them. 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday morning he supports the prime minister’s move, so long as it’s limited to the current crisis. 

“It’s critical that all levels of government work together. It’s critical that our police forces have every single tool needed to resolve the situation and restore order,” Ford told reporters. “I don’t care about the politics.”

Ford also expressed sympathy for the people of Ottawa. “It’s easy for us to sit here in Toronto, and Hamilton and around the GTA. Imagine being held hostage. A million people, they can’t go downtown. They can’t even go to the mall downtown to go shopping. It’s crazy.”

Police have had success with at least one border blockade. The Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor, Ontario with Detroit, was reopened to traffic late Sunday and has so far remained clear of demonstrators.