Thunder Bay police oversight board to bring community perspectives into expanded governance committee

The Thunder Bay Police Services Board is expanding its governance committee to include members of the public as it contends with calls for change and braces for more recommendations to come.

The board passed a resolution on Tuesday that will expand its governance committee membership from two people — who were both board members — to six. Under the new model, the board's three current members will sit alongside three members of the community.

The committee will be tasked with developing by-laws and meeting processes for the embattled board, which has seen the province supplant its authority with an administrator twice in less than four years. The committee will also carry a heavy recruitment portfolio, including finding a new police chief and deputy chief, future board members, and administrative officers.

Police board secretary John Hannam, who designed the new committee structure, said the board is looking for people with policy and governance experience who also have a diversity of views and life experiences. He hopes to have those three members chosen by September.

"We're doing some word of mouth, gathering of suggestions which led to speaking to key leaders in the community to get some ideas for potential candidates," Hannam said . "And if we need to, we'll go to a broader call for applications but we're hoping to recruit folks in a fairly short time frame so we can get them up and running."  

Mayor and board member Bill Mauro offered a muted objection to striking that expanded committee before the municipal election in October.

"My suggestion at this point is that these are decisions that should be left to the next board," Mauro said. "I think it speaks to a lack of progress on this particular file and I understand perhaps what's underpinning the reasoning here but I think we're at a point where this term of council is just about concluded and you'll have a number of appointments in the near future."

Administrator Malcolm Mercer, who holds the sole vote, adopted the plan.

"As the new board gets on its feet, my view is that it's more important to get some help and get some added perspective because we have matters in front of us that ought to have focus," Mercer said.

That committee will be working to catch up on past reports while it expects more governance recommendations soon. The board is still working toward implementing recommendations from the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) report Murray Sinclair issued in 2018. Sinclair found the board was reinforcing the systemic racism a parallel report from the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) found in the Thunder Bay Police Service.

In March, the board appointed an expert panel mostly made up of retired police officers board members from outside of northwestern Ontario. That panel has been conducting consultations on restoring the community's trust in the Thunder Bay police and its board through the summer. It expects to deliver preliminary recommendations in the fall and will issue a final report for the board after the new police chief and council is in place.