THUNDER BAY - Georjann Morriseau, the newest member of the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, said the public acknowledgement and apology for systemic racism in the police service and board was a significant step toward reconciliation, but it is only the beginning.
“I don’t necessarily need somebody to apologize to me,” she said. “What I want to see is: yes, we acknowledge systemic racism is there and is a huge issue, but what are you going to do about it?”
“Those are the kinds of conversations that I like to have. Those are the kinds of things that I think the community as well and a lot of our groups want to talk about it. Yes it is there, but what do we do on a go forward basis.”
Morriseau was appointed to the Thunder Bay Police Services Board by city council on Monday. She will be filling the vacancy left by Don Smith, who resigned from his seat following a report by Senator Murray Sinclair issued by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission that found the board failed to address concerns of the Indigenous community.
As a result of the report, the board was stripped of its voting rights, which is now the responsibility of Thomas Lockwood, who was appointed as an administrator.
The board will be required to undergo cultural competency training in February and governance training in March before being granted voting rights back.
“I think we all need training regardless of our experience, regardless of other boards we have or still sit on,” Morriseau said. “Training is necessary. I think we can all do with a little training. I think both are critically important and will only do us more justice and provide us an opportunity to broaden our expertise but also our world view in approaching some of the challenges and opportunities moving forward.”
Morriseau brings a lot of experience in the community to the Police Services Board, having served as chief of Fort William First Nation from 2013 to 2015, as well as working with various boards and organizations in the city.
But she recognizes joining the Police Services Board will require a steep learning curve and she is looking forward to getting up to speed on the policies and procedures.
“I hope my objectivity and my broad understanding of the issues that face our city, our Indigenous people, but also just in general looking at the institution itself and finding ways how we can support each other through it,” she said.
One of the major issues facing the Police Service and Board will be securing funding for the implementation of recommendations from Independent Police Review Director Gerry McNeilly's report.
Thunder Bay Police Service Chief, Sylvie Hauth, added more than $1 million to the $41.8 million police operating budget for 2019 to cover the cost of implementing several recommendations. City council deferred the decision on the police services budget until Jan. 30.
Thunder Bay Mayor, Bill Mauro, put forward a motion during an earlier Police Services Board meeting to lobby the federal and provincial government for additional funding and Morriseau is confident that the city of Thunder Bay will not be left to cover the costs on its own.
“There are a lot of ways to recruit funding,” Morriseau said. “There are a lot of services, programs, be it federal, provincial, that we can definitely be tapping into to offset whatever costs are necessary.”
The Thunder Bay Police Services Board will be meeting on Feb. 19 in Fort William First Nation. The cultural competency training is expected to start following the meeting.
One vacancy remains on the Police Services Board that is to be filled by the province.
