The Police Service Act and Civilian Oversight is highly dysfunctional in Ontario. Here, Vice Chair of the Toronto Police Service Board Michael Thompson has had to hire a lawyer to get the board to simply follow the law. The politics and the game playing is way over the top. Thompson has been virtually the only board member I have seen in years who attempts to hold the police force accountable. Here other members of the board (provincial appointees from Wynne) make a half assed complaint - it is never in writing or following protocol or the law against the councilor.... they dont give him any notice of the complaint, they bar him from a meeting for them to discuss, then the board members who complained, vote on their own complaint.... all in conflict of interest. Time to disband this board. Here is the press release from Thompsons lawyer, as they seek to shut the councilor up, and stop him from doing his job.... which is oversight. Councillor Michael Thompson Resists Attempts to Silence his Criticism of the Police Chief TORONTO, March 11, 2014 /CNW/ - On February 12, 2014, two members of the Toronto Police Services Board complained about Councillor Michael Thompsons comments to the Toronto Star. Councillor Thompson, who is also Vice-Chair of the Board, had criticized the Toronto Police for its strip search practices and over-spending, and said that he would not support a renewal of Chief Blairs contract. The Board held a meeting the next day to discuss the complaint. Councillor Thompson was not given a copy of the complaint; in fact, the complaint was never put in writing as required by the Boards own policy. Councillor Thompson was not given an opportunity to respond to the complaint. Nor was Councillor Thompson even allowed to attend the meeting. Even more Kafkaesque, the two complainants were allowed to attend the meeting and vote on their own complaint. With a quorum of four (two of whom were the complainants), the Board decided that Councillor Thompson appears to have potentially breached the Code of Conduct. The Board requested that the Ministry of the Solicitor General conduct an investigation, despite having no power to do so unless it actually determines that there has been a breach. The Board made no such determination. If there was any doubt about the Boards intention, it was made clear in the last sentence of the letter that Councillor Thompson received later that day: The Board urges you to not participate in any matters which may pertain to personnel [personal], legal or contractual issues involving the personal interest of Chief Blair, as opposed to the organizational interests of the Toronto Police Service. The Board is trying to silence criticism of Chief Blair and protect his contract renewal. Councillor Thompson has retained Clayton Ruby and Gerald Chan to bring an application for judicial review, which seeks to quash the Boards decision and prohibit the Ministry from conducting an investigation. Simply put, it cannot be a violation of the Code of Conduct to criticize the Chief of Police. To say that this is potentially a breach, as the Board has done, is to stifle public debate, violate free expression, and undermine the Boards own mandate of exercising vigorous civilian oversight of the Toronto Police. The Board also violated the most basic rules of procedural fairness by allowing the complainants to vote on their own complaints, which creates an actual conflict of interest and apprehended bias, and by refusing to give Councillor Thompson a chance to respond.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 01:22:38 +0000
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