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Ottawa’s police chief resigned Tuesday amid criticism of his inaction against the trucker protests that have paralyzed Canada's capital for over two weeks, while demonstrators elsewhere across the country abandoned another one of their blockades at the U.S. border.

The two developments came a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked extraordinary emergency powers to try to end the occupation in Ottawa and elsewhere around the country. Across Canada and beyond, the question in the coming days will be whether it works.

In Ottawa, the bumper-to-bumper demonstration by hundreds of truck drivers against the country’s COVID-19 restrictions — and the failure of Police Chief Peter Sloly to break the siege early on — have infuriated many residents. They have complained of being harassed and intimidated by protesters, ABC News reports.

Sloly’s resignation was confirmed by a government official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A message seeking comment from Sloly through the Ottawa police force was not immediately returned.