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Province dismisses bigger police boards

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In Adjala-Tosorontio
May 17th, 2012
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Won’t change Police Services Act to reflect balance on local board
By Brad Pritchard Simcoe.com May 16, 2012
ESSA/ADJALA-TOS/NEW TEC – The province says it’s unwilling to make change legislation allowing the three municipalities under contract to the Nottawasaga OPP to each have a permanent seat on the police services board.
In a letter sent to Adjala-Tosorontio, Essa and New Tecumseth, Madeleine Meilleur, Minister for Community Safety and Correctional Services said there are no plans to revise the Police Services Act (PSA) to change the rules that set the size of a police services board to the population serviced by a police force.
“At this time, the government is not contemplating reopening the PSA (The Police Services Act),” wrote Meilleur. “As each Police Services Board is different, any legislative amendments would require extensive consultation with our policing partners and affected community stakeholders. In some cases, up to eight municipalities are involved in contracts for policing services, and so any changes to the act would have to take into account a variety of needs.”
This minister’s comments were in response to a letter sent to the ministry by Adjala-Tosorontio earlier this year asking for equal representation on the five-member board. The letter was also endorsed by Essa and New Tecumseth.
Since the three municipalities entered a joint-contract with the Nottawasaga OPP in 1999, Adjala-Tosorontio and Essa have had to share a seat on the police board, switching every municipal election. New Tecumseth, the largest of the three partners, has always held a permanent seat.
For the five-member board, two of the seats are held by the mayors, two are provincially-appointed members, the other is a civilian selected by the municipalities. The board serves as an independent body to help set objectives and outline policing priorities in the community.
During the May 7 Adjala-Tosorontio council meeting, Mayor Tom Walsh and other members of council expressed their disappointment over the minister’s response.
“It doesn’t give us much hope for winning our battle,” Walsh said.
Coun. Doug Little said it’s unacceptable the municipality only gets partial representation when policing makes up for such a large portion of the township budget. For 2012, the township will spend $1.58 million for its share of the OPP contract.
“I really think this is important, especially when we are looking at all these dollars here and not having representation – it’s wrong,” Little said.
Limitations set out in the PSA prevent the police services board from expanding. In order to qualify for a seven-member board, the combined population for the OPP service area would have to exceed 300,000. Adjala-Tos, Essa and New Tec hovers way below that at around the 60,000 population mark.
New Tecumseth Mayor Mike MacEachern said the PSA is due for a revision because when it was originally written, it didn’t accommodate for multiple communities under one police contract.
He said the police services board has worked for several years on getting a third seat at the table. So far this year, he’s had three meetings with ministry officials to discuss the matter.
As to why the government is reluctant to make the changes, MacEachern said one of the issues might be keeping balanced representation on the board. However, he said that could be addressed by adding one or two more civilians.
Essa Mayor Terry Dowdall doesn’t understand the province’s position. He said having each municipality on the board would give everyone a “whole view” of the issues, and it would allow mayors to relay information better to their community.
“It’s unfortunate, it’s only fair each municipality has a voice at the table,” he said.

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