Hamilton·Recap

Does policing need to change? We ask Hamilton Police Services board's newest member

Join our Facebook Live interview Thursday at 12:30 p.m. with Mel Athulathmudali, a member of the LGBTQ+ community and the province's latest appointee to the Hamilton Police Services board

Join our live interview on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. on Facebook; send us your questions and comments

Click on this link to watch live at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The newest member of Hamilton's Police Services board is a Sri Lankan-born member of the LGBTQ community. 

Mel Athulathmudali, who grew up in Dundas, was appointed last week by the province to the seven-member board, which some have criticized for its lack of diversity.

Athulathmudali runs a catering company and spent 25 years as a flight director with Air Transat. He's also worked as an educator at Strata Montessori School, and lives in Hamilton "with his partner, Philip, and Stuart the Airedale," according to his bio on the Hamilton Police Service website.

He'll speak with the CBC's Conrad Collaco live at 12:30 p.m. You can be a part of the live interview by watching on this page or at CBC Hamilton's Facebook page. 

After the concerns raised over policing in Hamilton by members of the city's LGBTQ+ community, as well as by people of colour in the city, what do you want to know about the newest member of the city's police services board? Let us know in the comments section on this page, by email at Hamilton@cbc.ca, or on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.