THUNDER BAY — A new regional police service board serving rural communities near Thunder Bay is functioning, but still has some seats that have yet to be filled.
The "new board is in operation, we're just not yet fully appointed (with a full complement of members)," Neebing clerk-treasurer Erika Kromm, who is overseeing the board's start, said earlier this week.
"Once the board is fully appointed, it will be easier to have quorum and move the business of the board forward," Kromm said.
Of the board's 13 available seats, "seven have been filled so far, and we're in the process of appointing two more," Kromm added.
The new Lakehead OPP Detachment Board came into effect this spring under the province's Community Safety and Policing Act.
For rural Thunder Bay communities, the legislation resulted in Shuniah's police service board being merged with members of the outgoing Lakehead Police Service board.
The impacted communities wanted to stick with having two police service boards "but the province decided that there would only be one board," a source told The Chronicle-Journal.
Police service boards advise police forces like the OPP on what they want to see officers focus on when working in their communities.
The Lakehead OPP Detachment Board represents the following communities: Conmee, Gillies, Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek First Nation (Gull Bay), Lac Des Mille Lacs First Nation, Neebing, O'Connor and Shuniah.
"We'll have to wait and see how it goes," Shuniah Mayor Wendy Landry said earlier this year of the new arrangement.
"It's a big group that we're with now."
Of the board's 13 seats, three are appointed by the province.
"We won't know until we see an appointment from the province whether anyone has applied for those seats," Kromm said.
Those interested in applying for a seat on the board can find more information on Neebing's website.
Local Journalism Initiative / The Chronicle Journal
