Here's what you need to know about Ottawa's new police chief

Meet Ottawa’s new Police Chief Eric Stubbs CTV’s Jeremie Charron reports on the challenges ahead for the incoming Police Chief

Eric Stubbs has been appointed as the new chief of the Ottawa Police Service.

He is currently an assistant commissioner with the RCMP in British Columbia, and will begin his new role on November 17.

Stubbs first joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1993, and was posted to E Division in British Columbia.

He worked in six B.C. communities over the next 20 plus years. According to the bio released by the Ottawa Police Service, Stubbs served as the Chief of Police in the communities of Daajing Giids, Terrace, and Prince George.

From 2014 to 2017, Stubbs worked as Director General, National Criminal Operations, at the RCMP headquarters in Ottawa.

"My family and I have lived in Ottawa. We moved to B.C. about five years ago and really enjoyed the community and that’s why we’re very pleased to come back to Ottawa, just a great community to live in," Stubbs said during his introductory media conference.

Stubbs portfolio in Ottawa included the National Use of Force, Operational Policy, Traffic Services and the Operational Research Unit.

In 2017, Stubbs returned to B.C. in the position of Core Criminal Operations for the B.C. RCMP, responsible for the overall strategic direction, leadership, and operations of Core Policing functions in the province.

According to his bio, Stubbs oversaw the province's 125 RCMP detachments.

"Specialized units such as the Emergency Response Teams, Indigenous Policing, Crime Prevention, Highway Patrol, Police Dog Services, Explosive Disposal Unit, Underwater Recovery Team, Dispatchers and Marine Services are also part of his team," the bio said.

Last November, the Mounties in B.C. enforced an injunction barring protesters from blocking an access road in the Wet'suwet'en territory used by Coastal GasLink pipeline workers. Two journalists were arrested covering the ongoing B.C. pipeline dispute. At the time, Stubbs said they did not identify themselves as journalists until after they were arrested.

"All the protests that have occurred in the last five years, COVID, but there's been a lot of resource base ones, the Coastal GasLink with the Wet'suwet'en, Old Growth Forest, the Trans Mountain pipeline, it's been very challenging,” Stubbs said on Friday. “There's a team here that's done it a lot and have really dedicated to trying to resolve these things through talking and negotiating and we've been successful in a lot of those cases. But often we do end up having to arrest people and some people are upset."

" I've worked extensively with First Nations/Indigenous populations. I worked in 11 separate First Nations communities when I was younger, and as I got into the more senior ranks I continued to work on a number of committees and a number of initiatives with First Nations people,” he added. “I enjoy working with the Indigenous communities, I've done it a lot and I'll continue to do so in Ottawa."