THUNDER BAY -- A former Fort William First Nation chief has been added to the Thunder Bay Police Services Board.
Thunder Bay city council on Monday night approved the appointment of Georjann Morriseau to the beleaguered board, which has had its voting power temporarily stripped as an administrator has been put in place for oversight.
Morriseau takes the place of Don Smith, who resigned last month after the Ontario Civilian Police Commission recommended that no previous members of the board other than newly named chair Celina Reitberger continue to serve.
That report concluded that the board's repeated failures to address concerns from the Indigenous community constituted an emergency and it was incapable of carrying out its responsibilities. Authority of the board has been turned over to administrator Tom Lockwood, a Toronto lawyer, with voting rights for members expected to be restored in the coming months.
The other members of the board are Reitberger, Thunder Bay mayor Bill Mauro and Coun. Kristen Oliver. There is one vacant position, which is up to the province to fill.
Morriseau served as Fort William's chief from 2013 to 2015, being both preceded and succeeded by current chief Peter Collins.
She also explored an entry to federal politics in 2015, stepping forward in the Liberal nomination race in Thunder Bay-Atikokan before withdrawing.
