Two of five Greater Sudbury Police Board members are provincially appointed, but the province refuses to clarify how they were selected.
The board is mandated with providing civilian oversight to Greater Sudbury Police Service, and is thrust into the public spotlight each year when deciding on the annual police budget.
Last year, they unanimously greenlit a 2024 budget of $78.59 million and a 2025 budget of $83.5 million, which includes the hiring of 26 more staff members and increases of a respective 8.09 per cent 6.2 per cent.
Although city council retains the final yea or nay vote, city council members have limited power in altering the police budget. In the event both sides disagree and stick to their guns, the budget is sent to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission for a final decision out of the community’s hands.
Locally, the police board holds the cards when it comes to how much funding the police receive, and where the funding goes. This is why it’s important to know how they were selected.
With two of five Greater Sudbury Police Board members selected by the province, there’s also the question of whether the criteria used to select them is politically motivated at a provincial level.
In recent months, Premier Doug Ford has worked toward hiring more police officers across the province and appointing “tough” judges. In last year’s City of Toronto byelection, he urged voters not to support mayoral candidates who want to cut police budgets.
Sudbury.com attempted to answer these questions, but the province set up roadblocks.
It has been a long road to get non-answers from the province.
Sudbury.com began looking into police board appointments earlier this year while working on a story about police service transparency, which was published in March.
In January, we asked the Office of the Solicitor General for the application forms sent in for the police board’s provincially appointed positions, and requested a phone interview regarding how members are selected.
“Those forms are HR confidential and cannot be shared,” press secretary Hunter Kell told Sudbury.com in an emailed response which failed to address our interview request.
This practice of ignoring interview requests is common among provincial spokespeople, whose only means of correspondence has been written statements which frequently do not answer the questions posed. Follow-up questions are often ignored, as was the case in putting together this story.
Two follow-up emails requesting a phone interview and the reiteration of unanswered questions were not responded to by Kell. Unanswered questions include:
- What are the names of the applicants?
- How are provincially appointed police board positions filled?
- How are police board members selected?
- Who makes this decision (names)?
A freedom of information request for application forms was submitted in January, but the province filed a 60-day extension as soon as they hit the 30-day time limit to respond.
“The time extension is required because the request is for a large number of records or necessitates a search through a large number of records and meeting the time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution,” according to a letter by Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Services senior manager Noel Kent.
On April 26 (a day after the 60-day time extension deadline), we received confirmation the freedom of information request had been denied.
“Disclosure of the personal information would constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy,” according to their response, which also noted the personal information is “highly sensitive,” and that disclosing it would “constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy where the personal information relates to employment or educational history.”
Sudbury.com sent a follow-up email to ministry spokespeople in which we reiterated unanswered questions and requested a phone interview.
Ministry spokesperson Greg Flood neglected to address the phone interview request, and responded to the questions in broad language bereft of details.
A follow-up email to Flood reiterating our questions and interview request was not returned.
“Provincial appointees to police services boards are selected through a standardized process and are screened based on their suitability for the position,” Flood said in his written statement. “The ministry seeks to place the best candidate in each open position.”
He added, “As with any professional position, the details of who applied are confidential.”
Despite this assertion, Sudbury.com has a full accounting of who applied for the balance of police board positions, including two city council positions and one citizen appointee, which are all selected by city council during public meetings.
The mayor automatically fills one position in the event they choose to do so, which Mayor Paul Lefebvre opted to do in November 2022.
There were three nominees for the other city council position, including Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer, Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent and Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini. City council elected Sizer.
As for the lone member of the public selected by city council, the city made public the full list of 24 applicants vying for the position, which Sudbury.com published.
On Jan. 30, 2023, city council elected Gerry Lougheed to this position.
The two provincially appointed positions were filled by lawyer Krista Fortia in May 2023, and Cambrian College vice-president Shawn Poland in June 2023.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
