City’s police board disbanded

The police services board in Thunder Bay was disbanded and an administrator appointed in its place on Friday after a report found relations between the force and the city’s Indigenous community were in a crisis that constitute an “emergency.”

In the report commissioned by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission — the second such review to be released this week — Sen. Murray Sinclair said the board had failed to deal with the “clear and indisputable pattern” of violence and systemic racism against First Nations people in the city.

“The board’s failure to act on these issues in the face of overwhelming documentary and media exposure is indicative of wilful blindness,” Sinclair states. “The board has perpetuated systemic discrimination that has directly impacted First Nation peoples in Thunder Bay.”

Sinclair recommended putting in place an administrator while a new board would be put together and properly trained. Simple replacement of the current board members would not solve the problem, he said.

In response to Sinclair’s findings and 45 recommendations, the commission appointed lawyer Thomas Lockwood as administrator for at least one year, effective immediately.

“The board’s repeated failures to address the concerns of the Indigenous community constitute an emergency,” Linda Lamoureux, executive chair of the commission, said in her order.

The decision comes after the board named lawyer Celina Reitberger as chair — the first Indigenous person to lead the organization.