Convoy Protest Audits Update
Ottawa – The Office of the Auditor General continues to work with City and Ottawa Police Service staff to gather information and conduct interviews regarding the convoy protest. We have, and continue to, onboard consultants with expertise in emergency management, policing, policing oversight, as well as municipal and provincial law to assist us throughout the course of our work. We have also gained significant insights through discussions with experts in these fields.
A public consultation process was held in June 2022 and July 2022 to gain a better understanding of how City of Ottawa residents may have been impacted during the demonstration. We held 2 virtual public consultations on July 12, 2022, and July 13, 2022. These sessions provided us with significant insights into how residents were impacted during the demonstration and how City services and programs could have been improved. In addition to the open sessions that were held, members of the public were invited to complete a survey or to write to us directly to share their experiences of how the demonstration impacted them personally. We received over 1,600 responses to our survey; among the highest response rates for a City of Ottawa survey.
The OAG continues to consult with other agencies performing a similar scope of work to better refine the focus of our work and how we can best add value to the residents of Ottawa.
The work we have conducted to date, including the compilation of results from our public consultation process, has enabled us to determine the scope of work for our audits. It is important to note that while the Ottawa Police Service is the municipal police force that serves the geographic area of Ottawa, it is a distinct organization that is separate from the City of Ottawa (the corporate entity of municipal government in Ottawa). As such we will be conducting 2 separate audits, while taking into consideration the collaboration required between City of Ottawa staff and Ottawa Police Services staff during the event.
Please visit the pages below for further details on the scope of our two audits:
- Audit of the City of Ottawa’s Response to the Convoy Protest; and
- Audit of the Ottawa Police Services’ and the Ottawa Police Services Board’s Response to the Convoy Protest.
More information about the audit and the virtual public consultations can be found on our website at www.oagottawa.ca.