Province appoints Ontario Shipyards CEO Shaun Padulo to Hamilton police board

Ontario Shipyards president and CEO Shaun Padulo, the Hamilton Police Service Board's newest member, joins at a time when city council is set to approve the police-presented budget in the coming weeks. The budget, which is set to increase 5.8 per cent, was presented to council on Jan. 28.

Padulo told CBC Hamilton he "will certainly be critical" of things that come across his desk relating to the budget. He said his experience as CEO will be beneficial.

"When you're dealing with budgets and resources, it's a zero-sum game. And so you have to make difficult decisions... to allocate funds," he said.

During the presentation, Duncan Robertson, Hamilton police's acting director of finance, said it would delay its intimate partner violence unit, which would have cost $3.6 million, to 2026 to find savings. The total net police budget will be $227 million if passed.

Padulo is beginning his two-year term as provincial appointee. He's set to attend his first board meeting on Feb. 20, according to a press release from late January.

"I look forward to having the first board meeting," he said. "So, I really have an understanding of the lay of the land."

New board chair and vice chair also appointed

Padulo said the "driving force" behind his joining the board was a need to "give back to the community."

"I just have a tremendous amount of respect for all the men and women that serve. It's a tough job," he said.

He has been working at Ontario Shipyards since 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile. He became president in 2018 and CEO in 2022.

Padulo has "lots of roots in Hamilton," he said. He was born in Toronto but spent some of his youth in Grimsby, Ont. His first job included working on tugboats at the Hamilton waterfront, he said, and Shipyards Ontario headquarters in Hamilton.

"I'm very hopeful that I can do something, even in a small way to help the community," he said.

Padulo is a former student at the University of British Columbia, McMaster University and Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. He also has sat on Mohawk College's board of governors since 2022.

In late January, it was also announced via news release that Don Robertson would be the new chair of the board.

Robertson, a realtor and former vice president of the Ontario Liberal Party, joined the board in April of 2024. He said then he's about "common sense."

Ward 7 councillor Esther Pauls is the new vice-chair of the board, according to the news release.

Pauls, whose son is a senior police officer, was reprimanded in 2023 by the city's former integrity commissioner. He determined that Pauls had a conflict of interest after "vociferously" endorsing and voting on the 2023 police budget. 

But Hamilton's new integrity commissioner, David Boghosian, reviewed the decision last year and decided Pauls, who joined the board in November 2022, could vote again.

Bringing police and the community together

Padulo said he's not "fully up to speed" on some issues the police are facing and will use his first few weeks as a board member to listen and learn about various issues, including the service's relationship with marginalized communities and its role in schools.

About issues with marginalized communities he said "communication is key with everything."

"Understanding what the specific issues are with the communities, and trying to develop a communication plan that would help with engagement, and perhaps, if there are issues with the relationship, improving the relationship, I think will be something that I can certainly provide some insights on," said Padulo.

He also said it's part of the job to understand issues, including trust in police, "and see if there's anything that we can do to help."

Padulo is part of ProAction Cops and Kids, a Toronto-based charity that "brings cops and kids together" through mentorships and skill-building, according to its website. The charity operates in Hamilton and Halton as well as Peel, London and Durham.

"That's one of the initiatives I'm seeing is being a tremendously positive force in terms of the perception of the police," he said.

"I really want to understand what some of the challenges are, what some of the negative perceptions may be."