Fred Bennink forced to leave Hamilton police board due to new policing act

Hamilton Police Services Board will have a new acting chair — its second acting in as many months.

Acting chair Fred Bennink, who has been on the board for five years, announced Thursday would be his final meeting due to the new Community Safety and Policing Act.

"The new act, with its regulations, prohibits a former auxiliary officer from serving on a police board if it is the same jurisdiction," he said.

Bennink is a former auxiliary member of the Hamilton Police Service. He is also a former Ontario Progressive Conservative candidate for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas and retired president of Zip Signs, a Burlington-based company that makes indoor and outdoor signs.

He served on the board for five years, four as vice chair. He was also chair of the budget subcommittee and became acting chair of the board last meeting after former chair Pat Mandy's term ended.

"It's been an honour," Bennink said, before wishing police staff all the best and saying his term would end on May 2.

Chief Frank Bergen and board members commended Bennink for his work, with administrative director Kirsten Stevenson calling Bennink "the most engaged board member I've known."

The board currently has no chair or vice chair and those roles need to be elected by the board.

Mayor Andrea Horwath, who is already on the board, was given the authority to sign documents on behalf of the board.

Bennink served 5 years on the board

Bennink was initially appointed by city council in 2019.

At the time, diversity advocates criticized council's decision and said it was a missed opportunity to add a member from an equity-seeking community to the mostly white, mostly male board.

By 2023 — after a request from the city's committee against racism and the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC) — a new selection committee with six city councillors and six community representatives was formed.

Bennink re-applied to the police board position, but then resigned from the board.

Soon after, he was appointed by the province and re-joined the board.

Bennink's move to leave the board and apply for the provincial position raised many questions and led city council to ask the integrity commissioner to investigate if there was a potential breach of confidential information from the new selection committee.

The integrity commissioner's report states Coun. Nrinder Nann, chair of the committee, suspected Coun. Esther Pauls may have told Bennink he wouldn't be considered for the role.

Nann noted Pauls — a selection committee member, current police board member and mother of a Hamilton police officer — was "against the inclusiveness process" and wanted Bennink to stay on the board, according to the commissioner's report.

The city's integrity commissioner concluded he couldn't confirm there was a breach of confidential information.

Bennink previously told CBC Hamilton he "was not notified, but realized" he wouldn't be selected "or even considered" for the position, pointing to how there was a second call for applications for the position in the summer, despite the fact he applied in March.

Bennink stayed on the board as vice chair and then acting chair for the one meeting on Thursday.