THUNDER BAY – Members of Thunder Bay’s city council have been pressed on their response to a leadership crisis in the city’s police force, but a resident hoping to see the city consider disbanding the Thunder Bay Police Service in favour of the OPP didn’t get the answer they were hoping for.
The city’s five at-large councillors were asked at a town hall last week if any would support formally examining the option, with TBPS leadership under a cloud of controversy and multiple external investigations.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum has called for the TBPS to be “disbanded,” saying recent events, including new reports of flawed investigations into the deaths of Indigenous people, show it still hasn’t tackled findings of structural racism after years of reviews, reports, and pledges to do better.
Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa, NDP critic for Indigenous and treaty relations, has called for OPP oversight of the TBPS until an inquiry into the force is complete.
In a town hall question relayed by city clerk Krista Power, an unnamed resident said in that context, city council is “defending the indefensible” by continuing to support the force.
“They’re concerned no one on council will take up the challenge to investigate if there’s another alternative,” Power read. “Council will be spending more tax money deciding the location of portable toilets at the waterfront than reviewing a potential change to one of the most important and expensive organizations in the community.”
Coun. Aldo Ruberto rejected the idea the TBPS has lost the community’s trust, adding it would be unheard-of for the OPP to police a city the size of Thunder Bay.
“If this was such a good idea, every city in Ontario would be doing it – it’s not happening,” he said. “There’s one person that I know of that’s asking for this. I don’t see thousands of people calling me, I don’t see thousands of emails [or] petitions saying get rid of the police. As a matter of fact, I see a tremendous amount of support for the police.”
Coun. Rebecca Johnson said the resident raised a “valid question,” but agreed she’d seen little public appetite for disbanding the TBPS.
“If there was a huge outcry from the community saying we want to have it, maybe we’d look at it in a different way, but I’m not in favour of moving forward at this point,” she said.
Couns. Mark Bentz and Peng You said they were open to exploring the idea.
“While it might not be a very hot request by the citizens, some may not know the OPP could provide policing service, if that decision was made,” said Bentz, pointing out Dryden recently made the switch.
“I’m not saying I support it or don’t support it. I think what the citizen is saying is, have we looked into this? The [answer] is no, I don’t believe we have.”
City manager Norm Gale confirmed there “has been no substantive investigation” into the possibility of contracting for policing services with the OPP.
However, Bentz said with the TBPS facing external investigations, now isn’t the time.
“The police services board is in a lot of… there’s a lot of issues going on,” he said. “We have to think about the officers and the wellbeing of the officers. We don’t want to heap on more uncertainty.”
You agreed “it’s not the right timing,” but said “the option could definitely be considered.”
The crisis in the city’s police force has been acknowledged in passing but never discussed in earnest at council in recent months, with councillors indicating they have faith concerns will be addressed by the Thunder Bay Police Services Board and investigations into police leadership by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) and OPP.
The city appoints three of five members on the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, which governs the force, and holds the purse strings for police spending. The city’s spending on policing has increased by over 20 per cent in four years under the current council, about double the rate of growth for other city departments.
