Durham board keeps mum on pot business
Civilian oversight panel goes behind closed doors to discuss how cop was allowed to own pot shop
Durham police’s civilian oversight board discussed how an active officer was allowed to co-own an unlicensed medical marijuana shop that offers customers drug products that are illegal to sell.
What did the board decide? The public is not allowed to know.
At the end of Monday’s Durham Regional Police Board meeting, member Bill McLean said he was going to raise his questions about the controversy in camera — legalese for in private.
McLean, a Pickering councillor and former Toronto police sergeant, had previously said he wanted answers following a Star investigation into the marijuana company, Living On Inc., which was coowned by veteran Const. Phil Edgar.
“I think it’s our job as a board to ask those questions and get those answers,” McLean previously told the Star.
After briefly consulting with Roger Anderson, the head of the police board, McLean opted to ask his questions behind closed doors.
“I think it’s our job as a board to ask those questions and get those answers.” BILL MCLEAN DURHAM POLICE BOARD MEMBER
In a text after the meeting, McLean said, “I asked the questions that I had in camera and I am satisfied with the answers I received.”
The board made no statement regarding its private discussions. Durham police have refused to comment on Const. Edgar’s case, calling it a personnel issue.
“I cannot speak about any specific case. That is not appropriate. I cannot speak about that in public because it is an employee-employer matter,” Durham police Chief Paul Martin said after Monday’s meeting. The chief emphasized that the force would never approve a side job that it knew was illegal.
Arecent Star investigation found Living On Inc., located on First Nations land in Port Perry, Ont., was not licensed by Health Canada.
Its website also advertises various kinds of edible marijuana products that are illegal to sell in Canada because the government says they pose a risk of overdose or unintentional ingestion by children.
Const. Edgar joined the company in December 2015. He said he received permission from the force to do so at about the same time.
Police have not revoked that permission, Edgar said, though he has since “stepped back” from the marijuana company.
The officer, who attended the public portion of Monday’s meeting, said he is weighing whether he wants to continue a career in policing or branch into the budding medical weed business.
Kash Heed, a former police chief for West Vancouver who now consults to licensed medical marijuana companies, said this is a matter the police service can and should address publicly.
“Here is an example of having a police agency and a board not being as transparent as they ought to be and not being accountable to the public,” Heed said.
“The only way police organizations are going to get public support and maintain their integrity with the public is by being transparent and accountable.”