THUNDER BAY – Within her first week working as a front desk cadet in 1993, Sylvie Hauth vowed she would one day be the city’s police chief.
Twenty-five years later, she has achieved that goal.
The Thunder Bay Police Services Board on Thursday announced Hauth has been hired as the city's next police chief, officially succeeding former chief J.P. Levesque after his retirement earlier this year.
Hauth, who will officially be sworn in on Nov. 20, has served as acting chief in two stints and will now take the reins of a force that is the subject of a systemic review by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director while the board faces an ongoing investigation by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission.
“You can probably see that I’ve started to lay the foundation,” Hauth said, pointing specifically to the service’s organizational change project.
“It’s not like in the last year and a half, two years, even in an acting capacity that we’ve sat and waited to see what the recommendations will be or what we should be doing. We’ve really started as an organization within the last two years to really look at making an impact and making changes.”
Board chair Jackie Dojack said the board was aware of criticism it could face for promoting from within, rather than bringing in an outside perspective.
“If there had been an external candidate who had been the best person for the job, that person would have been hired,” Dojack said. “We felt that it was our duty to do the national search and to hire the best person and that’s what we’ve done.”
Hauth has been a member of the Thunder Bay Police Service since 1993 and was promoted to deputy chief in January 2017 after ascending to the rank of inspector.
She became the first female deputy chief in the police service's history and is now the first woman to lead the force.
Hauth had served as acting police chief during Levesque's administrative suspension while he faced criminal charges from last July until his reinstatement after the case was dismissed in January.
She returned to the position in April after Levesque announced his retirement from the force. At the time of Levesque's retirement, a statement from the police services board said that a national search would be conducted.
Dojack said there was a long list of people that applied for the job.
“The challenges were challenges people wanted to take on,” Dojack said. “They saw that the challenges presented an opportunity for a dedicated professional.”
The board's five-member composition could be dramatically altered in the coming months. The term of Don Smith, one of two provincial appointees, expired in September and his position is currently vacant. Dojack, along with Coun. Joe Virdiramo and Coun. Brian McKinnon, were appointed by Thunder Bay city council. After his defeat in Westfort, Virdiramo will not return as a member of council and neither McKinnon or Dojack are guaranteed to return when the new council begins the process of deciding board appointments.
Mayor-elect Bill Mauro, who during the campaign had urged the board to push pause on the hiring process until the investigations were completed, has indicated he intends to sit on the board in the seat designated for the mayor. After the announcement, Mauro congratulated Hauth and said he looked forward to working with her but questioned why the decision was made to hire now.
"I think they owe it to the community to explain whey they did what they have done, even though they're within their authority," Mauro said, adding his opposition was never about who may or may not have been hired. "To me, it's not the way I would have proceeded if I had been a member of that police services board."
When asked about Mauro's previously voiced opposition, Dojack said the investigation by the civilian police commission did not relieve the board of its duties and responsibilities, adding that the board does not know when its report will be released.
“I don’t think (Mauro) was opposed to the person we’ve chosen. I’m assuming that he’s not,” Dojack said prior to Mauro's comments. “He was opposed to the process and one of the huge advantages of living in a democratic society is that people can have differing views and they’re free to express differing views.”
Insp. Don Lewis will continue to serve as deputy police chief in an interim capacity, as he had when Hauth filled in as acting chief. Dojack said the new board will need to conduct a search to hire for that position.
