Thunder Bay police seek $3.5M to expand force while board looks to triple members' pay

As Thunder Bay city council strives to trim the tax levy in its proposed 2023 budget, the Thunder Bay Police Service and Thunder Bay Police Services Board made their cases Wednesday night for significant increases to their funding.

The Thunder Bay Police Service is asking for a 7.2 per cent increase – $3.5 million more than last year. As for the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, it's seeking a 68.2 per cent net increase in its budget, or an additional $763,200.

During Wednesday night's council meeting, acting chief Dan Taddeo broke down the highlights of the proposed net operating budget:

Taddeo presented statistics to help justify the request to city council: 3,343 domestic violence incidents investigated in 2021, and an overdose rate of 78.8 per 100,000, four times the provincial rate and the highest per capita in Ontario.

After seeing 15 homicides in 2022, "Thunder Bay will once again be known as the murder capital of Canada," he concluded.

The planned expansion of the force would include two major crime detective constables, a major crime digital evidence management detective constable, a community-oriented response constable, a community inclusion team constable, and a community-oriented response sergeant.

The budget ask comes amid ongoing challenges for the police service. Last year saw the suspension of deputy police Chief Ryan Hughes and police Chief Sylvie Hauth – who will have resigned as of Thursday – and calls by First Nations leaders to disband the police service entirely.

Indigenous leaders for years raised concerns about the force's response to the deaths of First Nations youth in Thunder Bay. In 2018, the Office of the Independent Police Review Director issued a report finding evidence of systemic racism within the police service.

Among other things, the report recommended ensuring that the force was sufficiently staffed to investigate major crimes.

As for the Thunder Bay Police Services Board itself, the 68.2 per cent net increase in its budget would pay for the following: 

The personnel increase includes a proposed increase to board members' honoraria, from $3,000 to $10,000.

When asked whether the increase is justified, considering the board's track record, its appointed administrator, Malcolm Mercer, said that was a fair question.

"The way I do look at it is if you don't pay people enough, they aren't able to pay the time and attention that's needed to do the job," he said.

Mercer is the second administrator to be appointed to the board in four years. He noted that administrators are only appointed when the Ontario Civilian Police Commission considers it to be an emergency, and he said he's thought "long and hard" about what it would take to not become the second of three administrators.