Meet the new bosses, same as the old bosses.
During last week’s Greater Sudbury police board meeting, Al Sizer was re-elected as chair and Gerry Lougheed Jr. was re-elected as vice-chair.
Both elections were unanimously approved by the board, minus member Shawn Poland who was not present.
Sizer was appointed as a member of city council to replace outgoing member, Ward 6 Coun. René Lapierre, in 2020.
“I am very pleased to accept this nomination and continue serving as chair of the board,” Sizer said in a media release issued by the board.
“We have many important tasks ongoing, our transition to the Community Safety and Policing Act being top of mind. I thank the board for their hard work in 2023 and look forward to the work we will do in 2024.”
Sizer joined city council in 2014, when he was selected to fill the seat previously occupied by Fabio Belli, which was left open following Belli’s death.
Prior to that, Sizer served as a long-time employee of the City of Greater Sudbury, ending his career as manager of Cemetery Services.
City council elected Lougheed to the police board in January 2023, a position for which there were 24 applicants for the “citizen’s representative” position.
Prior to that, Lougheed served on the board from 2011 to 2015, when he resigned after being charged in an election bribery scandal following an investigation by the OPP’s Anti-Rackets Branch.
He was acquitted in 2017, and launched an unsuccessful bid against Frances Caldarelli to return to the board in 2019, in which he was narrowly defeated.
“It gives me great pleasure to serve as the Vice Chair of the Greater Sudbury Police
Services Board again for 2024,” Lougheed said in a media release. “Along with Chair Sizer, I am very grateful for the Board’s ongoing trust and support in this role. The Service continues to serve the community faithfully and diligently, and I know the Board joins me in acknowledging the hard work of all Service members.”
Lougheed is the longstanding president and managing director of Lougheed Funeral Homes.
The board also includes Mayor Paul Lefebvre, and provincial appointees Krista Fortier and Shawn Poland.
