Questions abound after Ontario appoints administrator to oversee Thunder Bay police board

This week's surprise announcement that an administrator has been appointed to oversee the Thunder Bay, Ont., police board has left First Nations leaders and community members wondering what will come next for the embattled police service.

The announcement by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC), a police watchdog agency, was also met with skepticism by two Indigenous leaders, who collectively represent and advocate on behalf of two-thirds of all First Nations in Ontario.

"The appointment of an administrator is progress, but [is] a Band-Aid solution to a much larger problem," said Melvin Hardy in an interview with CBC News. He's the Northern Superior Region deputy grand chief with the Anishinabek Nation, which represents 39 First Nations, and has previously called for the dismantling of the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS).

Mercer was appointed to the position in an order issued Tuesday by Tribunals Ontario executive chair Sean Weir, who said "an emergency exists" in the board's oversight of policing services in the community. That finding came more than two months after the OCPC began its investigation into TBPS leadership and administration, and its relationship with the oversight board.

Hardy said the interim, six-month appointment of Toronto-based lawyer Malcolm Mercer was done without consultation with First Nations, and called on Mercer to immediately engage with Indigenous communities and leaders in the region.

"For the longest time, First Nations had to sit at the kids' table and get thrown the crumbs or the paternalistic pat on the head," Hardy said, adding he doesn't think he will hear from Mercer anytime soon.

Recent attempts to meet with government leaders have been unsuccessful, Hardy said, as they've cited ongoing investigations into the police service and its leadership.

Anna Betty Achneepineskum, the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) deputy grand chief who has led calls for the TBPS to be dismantled, also expressed concern they were not consulted about the appointment of Mercer — having only been consulted a few hours prior to the public announcement, according to a written statement.

"As we do not have any knowledge of Mr. Mercer's experience with policing issues or his engagement with Indigenous community, we cannot comment on what he will be able to accomplish or how effective he will be," Achneepineskum said in the statement, adding NAN has been raising concerns with the actions of the TBPS and its board for years, but have not seen any improvements. 

The last OCPC-appointed administrator, a controversial one-year term for Toronto-based lawyer Thomas Lockwood in 2018, did not resolve the persistent issues of systemic discrimination and incomplete investigations of Indigenous sudden deaths, Achneepineskum said.

Mercer was selected to become the administrator based on his experience in the justice system and with public law and governance issues, according to the OCPC order. He is currently the full-time chair of the Law Society Tribunal and an adjunct professor of legal ethics at York University, and spent decades as a partner at the major Bay Street law firm McCarthy Tétrault LLP.

The OCPC order says it is expected Mercer will gain the respect of both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous community over the course of his work.

The announcement of Mercer's appointment came as a surprise to Thunder Bay-based lawyer Chantelle Bryson, who represents 12 former and current civilian and uniformed TBPS employees who have or will be filing human rights complaints against the service and its leadership.

"My clients welcome fresh oversight to the Thunder Bay Police Service, which we've been calling for since last fall," Bryson told CBC News.