Should Jim Watson take his seat on the police services board?

When Jim Watson was first elected mayor of amalgamated Ottawa in 2010, he sat on the police services board — as is his right under provincial legislation.

• Ottawa police stopping Middle Eastern, black drivers at 'disproportionate' rate: report

• 'Rebuild trust': Ottawa's Somali community speaks to police oversight review panel​

But when he was re-elected in 2014, Watson invoked his right, under that same law, to have another member of council sit on the board instead. 

Now, at the half-way mark of this term of council, Coun. Jan Harder is stepping down from the board due to her heavy workload as chair of the planning committee.

That opens up a space for the mayor on the board that oversees police during what have becoming tumultuous times for our folks in blue.

Consider that this year alone, we've experienced the highest levels of homicides and shootings in two decades, race-relations challenges (to put it mildly), an unusual public display of internal discontent within the force, and a number of councillors demanding increased police action in their communities.

Hubley set to take Harder's place on board

And yet, the mayor is choosing not to take his place on the board. Instead, he's sending in Coun. Allan Hubley.

• Ottawa police form new group to engage city's Somali community

• Community, city councillors urge Ottawa police to re-think patrol overhaul​

"It's a matter of time-management," Watson told reporters after Wednesday's council meeting.

He pointed out that he sat on all the boards he was able to last term — including police services — but found he "was not able to give it the kind of time that was required."

A straight-ahead answer.

But you know who does have time? John Tory, the mayor of Toronto.

After elected in 2014, Tory said he was "not at all satisfied with the overall state of the relationship between the police services board, the police service itself and the community."

Sound familiar? It should.

What would mayor being on board mean?

That doesn't mean that having the mayor sit on the board will magically smooth over the discord within the police service, or between the force and some communities.

And there's only so much a police services board can do. By law, it cannot interfere with "specific operational decisions or with respect to the day-to-day operation of the police force," for example.

But that same law says the board's role is to "generally determine … objectives and priorities" in policing, as well as "direct the chief and monitor his or her performance."

There's some disagreement about exactly how much a board can direct a police force. (In fact, the question of whether police must listen to the board is part of a current overhaul of the Police Services Act.)

In the recent past, for example, both Toronto and Peel police chiefs refused to implement changes on carding policies requested by the board. In the end, the province banned the practice throughout the province.

To some extent, we're seeing that same issue now with illegal marijuana dispensaries, where Ottawa police are taking a much more measured approach than their Toronto counterparts, who raided about 45 pot shops earlier this year.

Mild questioning of police on pot strategy

There was some mild questioning of Chief Charles Bordeleau on this issue at last Monday's board meeting. Police say they are investigating complaints, although some dispensaries have been operating for several months at the dismay of a number of councillors and their residents.

Not one board member came close to demanding that police make raiding these places a "priority."

If the mayor sat on the board, would he have leaned on police to charge the pot-shop operators and confiscate their illegal products?

The mayor tells reporters in scrums that he'd like to see police raiding those dispensaries. So why not sit on the board where he could use his already considerable influence to oversee police "objectives" in an open forum?

More accountability

And if the public doesn't believe the mayor's holding the police chief to account, then it would be easier for the public to hold the mayor — and hence, the board as a whole — to account.

• Mayor, police leaders vow to keep 'bickering' out of public eye

• Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson blasts police union over treatment of chief

Public opinion matters to politicians. It's doubtful whether anyone in Coun. Eli El-Chantiry's ward of West Carleton-March vote for the veteran politician based on his performance as the chair of the police services board.

But there may be people who cast a ballot for — or against — the mayor depending on what he does or says on the police services board.

We keep hearing that Ottawa is still a safe city. And statistically, that's true. But it's just as true that Ottawa is witnessing an increasing number of concerning incidents and trends, from a proliferation of gun play to strained race relations. 

The Ottawa Police Services Board is the city's only public manifestation where these issues can be heard, officially noted, and debated. Or, at least, it should be. But that won't happen until both the police and city leadership come to the table.