THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay’s city council has appointed its citizen representative to the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, tapping Denise Baxter for the role.
Baxter is the vice-provost of Indigenous initiatives at Lakehead University, where she's also a senior lecturer with the faculties of education and social sciences and humanities.
City council voted unanimously to appoint Baxter on Monday, after appointing Mayor Ken Boshcoff and Coun. Shelby Ch’ng as its two councillor representatives on the board last year.
The five-member board is rounded out by two provincially-appointed seats, one of which was recently filled by Karen Machado. The other remains vacant.
None of the board members currently hold any decision-making power, after the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) appointed administrator Malcolm Mercer to oversee the board, finding its level of internal dysfunction constituted an “emergency.”
Mercer's term is tentatively set to expire on March 30, when the board could re-assume authority, though the OCPC has extended his term once before and could do so again.
A member of Marten Falls First Nation and an educator in Northwestern Ontario for over 30 years, Baxter has served as co-chair of the Ministry of Education Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat's First Nations, Metis and Inuit Provincial Committee.
She holds multiple undergraduate degrees, a master’s degree in education, and is in the process of obtaining a PhD in education focused on language, culture, and teaching, according to a profile posted by Lakehead University.
She was previously the principal of adult and continuing education with the Lakehead District School Board.
