Ottawa's police chief has admitted that officers misused restricted law‑enforcement databases to identify and pursue women they encountered in public places, a revelation that has triggered a crisis of trust inside one of Canada's largest municipal police forces.
In a seven‑minute internal video message sent to all members of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) in May 2026, Chief Eric Stubbs described what he called a 'pattern of behaviour' within the force and issued a blunt ultimatum: 'Change your behaviour or quit.' The video, obtained and published by CTV News Ottawa, lays bare conduct Stubbs said he had seen repeated too many times.
