Thunder Bay police board panel calls for expanded board, with guaranteed seats for Indigenous people

The expert panel recruited to restore faith in the Thunder Bay Police Service in northwestern Ontario is proposing to have assured positions for Indigenous people, while suggesting the next police chief be either Indigenous or come from a racialized group.

The nine-memberpanel was formed in March by the Thunder Bay Police Services Board when there was a growing number of human rights complaints being filed by current and former officers, and a sitting board member of the police oversight board.

Since then, the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) appointed an administrator to take over control of the board for the second time in four years. That prompted three of the five board members at the time to resign.

The OCPC has initiated disciplinary proceedings against Chief Sylvie Hauth thatprompted her suspension by the board due to what it called the "serious allegations"she faces.

The interim report, released Tuesday, addresses immediate priorities for policing in the city, including recruiting a new board and police chief, while deep political divisions and mental health issues confront front-line officers.

"The current state of affairs demands decisive leadership and action for immediate, far-reaching changes," the report states. "Temporary fixes will not serve as an acceptable path forward."

Expanded board, more Indigenous representation

Alok Mukherjee, the board's chair, said thatif implemented, the changes the panel iscalling for would make Thunder Bay's police board the first in Canada to constitutionally mandate Indigenous representation.

He advises expanding the board to seven, up from five. One of thosepositions would be for a member of the adjacent Fort William First Nation and the otherfor a representative of a First Nation elsewhere in northwestern Ontario. In an expanded board, three Indigenous members could be guaranteed positions.

Mukherjeealso envisages a full-time,paid chairand five-year mandates for thoseoccupying the chair and vice-chair positions.

A number of strategies to fix the board's structure appear in the report, underlined with how the City of Thunder Bay should take the lead in communicating with the province and regional First Nations to recruit the best candidates "delicately," rather than ad hoc.

"We have heard from communities; they are frustrated, they have lost faith, and they look in vain for the implementation of the hundreds of recommendations that lie entombed in past reports," he writes.

"Change will not happen until and unless the Province and the City act wisely and with deliberation to constitute a police services board that the City of Thunder Bay, the region of Northwestern Ontario and, no less important, the members of the Thunder Bay Police Service need and deserve."

Mukherjee also recommendsan Indigenous or racialized person be named Thunder Bay's next police chief. He saidhe's receptive to an internal candidate but that his consultations with over 70 individuals and organizations have concluded that the next chief should come from elsewhere.

The challenge would be in balancing a dozen critical leadership qualifications with someone who is willing to learn about the unique political climate of Thunder Bay and northwestern Ontario. But above all, Mukherjee is recommending a champion for a cultural shift in local policing both internally and externally.

"The chief has to be someone who has an absolute commitment to restorative justice, anti-racism, equityand diversity, and as importantly, trauma-informed practice," Mukherjee said.

"So many people who come into contact with the police are people who are carrying a lot of trauma: historical, collective, personal trauma. They cannot be simply seen as targets of policing," he said. "They have to be understood and dealt with, with empathy and compassion, using a trauma-informed approach. The same thing applies to the members of the police service as well."

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The report also takes note of what it calls "startling responses" to the employee survey, unveiling what officers and civilian staff say is a "toxic" workplace culture. Two-thirds of officers and civilian staff felt there were "sometimes," "seldom or never" adequate measures to promote employee health, wellness and safety, according to the report.

Mukherjee is calling on the board to immediately hire a consultant to design a trauma-informed approach to labour relations and navigate a climate where significant staff resources are being lost to claims of post-traumatic stress. Training could begin as early as mid-2023.

To complement that training, he envisages a newHuman Rights/Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Unit that would answer to the chief, where officers could bring their concerns about workplace culture and resolve conflict through restorative justice.

That office, he said, should be in a building other than the police station to protect employee confidentiality. It would also deliver training on mental health, anti-racism, unconscious bias, micro- and macro-aggressions, and First Nations cultural competence.

"This needs to happen now," he said. "The organization needs to move away from an adversarial approach to dealing with disagreements and conflicts in an informal way using restorative justice principles."

Mukherjee will issue his final report in January. He foresees it being a road map to rebuilding trust between the board, the police service, and the public.