First Nations leaders, critics underwhelmed by independent panel report on Thunder Bay police

A first report from the independent panel aiming to provide recommendations to restore faith in the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) and its oversight board is underwhelming First Nations leaders and its board members as the service's critics say more radical changes are needed. 

The nine-member panel was formed in March by the Thunder Bay Police Services Board when there was a growing number of human rights complaints being filed against both bodies by current and former officers, as well as a sitting member of the police oversight board in the northwestern Ontario city. 

Panel Chair Alok Mukherjee presented his interim report to the board at its meeting Tuesday. The board says it is now reviewing the report in detail.

The report makes the following key calls going forward:

Thunder Bay city councillor Shelby Ch'ng, who was attending her second meeting as a board member, was the only member in attendance, besides Macolm Mercer, the provincially-appointed administrator who holds the only vote.

Ch'ng took issue with the panel's recommendation that there be a full time paid chair and paid civilian members, arguing she only agreed to sit on the police board because no other municipal official would do it. 

"Nobody from [city] council wants to be on this board. Maybe that's just speaking to this council but there's not a lineup," Ch'ng said during Tuesday's board meeting. 

"I also work full time. I have to take unpaid leave from my work to be at this table," she said. "I'm not saying I should be paid double the wage, but I think remuneration should be looked at for all members if I'm expected to be a contributing member, equal to everyone around the table."

Georjann Morriseau, the only other active member of the police services board, has filed four human rights complaints against the police service leadership and the board, alleging racism and harassment. 

None of the complaints, from Morriseau or others, have been tested or proven in court. 

Morriseau said while she appreciates the spirit of ensuring First Nations people are represented on the board there's a danger of having those members tokenized when their qualifications beyond race aren't considered valid.

"When looking for Indigenous candidates, it can't be solely mandated where [control is] put back in the hands of the very people who are the problem," she said in an interview with CBC News. 

"The moment we disagree with the norm and don't conform, they look at that as a threat, but the thing is, I'm trying to educate them on an approach we should consider and trying to explain why these things happen from an Indigenous perspective," she said. 

Morriseau, a former chief of the Ojibway Fort William First Nation, says her own situation aside, there's nothing more urgent than the mental health situation of front-line officers and only accountability at the leadership level will address it.