Diane Deans ousted from oversight board in overhaul of Ottawa's police leadership

One day after Ottawa's police chief resigned in the midst of historic civil unrest, city council voted to overhaul the police board and remove chair Diane Deans in a meeting full of high drama and vitriolic accusations. 

The surprise move was labelled as a way to "restore public trust" nearly three weeks into protests that have rocked the capital.

But in a council term that has seen years of divisiveness and petty moments, many councillors characterized this move as a "political stunt" and said they were "disgusted" by Mayor Jim Watson, with a few even calling for him to resign.

"You're destabilizing the oversight body for Ottawa Police in the middle of the biggest crisis in this city's history," charged Deans. "That is being ridiculously political."

Following a vote of 15 to nine, Deans will be replaced by one of council's longest serving members and close allies of the mayor, former police board chair Eli El-Chantiry. 

The police services board is set to meet Thursday to elect a new chair to replace Deans, a seven-term councillor who plans to run for mayor. 

The motion, put forward by councillors Scott Moffatt and Laura Dudas, suggested the board had "not been effective" in its oversight of the police.

An interim board "with more experience with emergency operations" would let Steve Bell, who has been serving as police chief for a day, end the on-going illegal protests.

At the heart of the dispute — one of the ugliest seen during this term of council — was the leaked news that the board had swiftly hired an interim police chief from outside the city without a competition, and without telling council.

"We have an individual, who was a former chief, who's going to come to Ottawa — who obviously doesn't know our city — in the midst of the biggest crisis in our city's history, and he's bringing a bunch of consultants with him," Watson told reporters after the seven-hour council meeting.

"How much is this costing? How did this individual get chosen? Who are these consultants they're bringing? There are a lot of questions. And I think a lot of people thought they had lost confidence in the police board."

But a number of council members charged that the move was not about a loss of confidence in the board. Deans and the mayor have sparred on many occasions. Recently, he criticized her for trying to trim the increase to the 2022 police budget.

"You know what makes me the saddest of all?" asked Deans as the vote approached. "You're unseating a progressive board that was bringing about important and progressive change in policing in Ottawa. And you're going back to the 1950s... and old-school law and order."

Coun. Rawlson King, council's first and only Black member and the police service's co-chair of the community equity council, made it clear he stood with Deans. He defended the police services board, saying it had asked the "toughest questions" during three weeks of disruptive protest.