Halton police chief apologizes for Florida trip
Tanner says travel for ‘ property- related’ business was approved
Halton Regional Police Chief Stephen Tanner flew to Florida for personal real estate reasons — out- of- country travel one local mayor says has “eroded public trust” and that’s prompted “disgust” from officers risking daily exposure to COVID- 19 while on the job.
Halton’s longtime police chief confirmed to the Star on Friday that he is in Florida on “personal property- related business matters” — a trip he called “a poor decision” in a written statement issued by Halton police Friday afternoon.
“My decision to travel in light of the ongoing COVID- 19 situation was a poor decision, and one that I deeply regret,” Tanner’s statement said.
The trip was greenlit on Dec. 22 by Oakville Mayor and Halton police board chair Rob Burton — the same day Premier Doug Ford said Ontario was “at a tipping point” amid rising case counts, and urged Ontarians to stay home.
Tanner confirmed he flew on Dec. 26, the day Ontario’s provincewide lockdown came into effect.
In an interview on Friday, Burton said he stood by the decision to grant Tanner permission and still believes the travel to attend to a property was “essential.”
But the revelation Tanner has joined a growing list of public officials who’ve travelled abroad amid Ontario’s second wave has prompted strong rebukes from the union representing Halton’s police officers and the mayor of Burlington, who said trips by public officials have “eroded public trust at a time when we are at the worst of this crisis.”
Clay Gillis, president of the Halton Region Police Association, called the out- of- country travel “tone deaf,” telling the Star it’s “not in line with the ‘ We are all in this together’ kind of messages.”
“Several members have spoken to me personally and other members of our board to display their frustration and disgust for a decision to travel during a global pandemic and provincial lockdown,” Clay wrote to Halton police association members in a message sent to officers Friday and obtained by the Star.
The trip was only brought to the police association’s attention when Tanner was noticeably absent in the wake of the sudden on- duty death of Det.Const. Michael Tidball this week, Gillis said.
Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said Friday she was “flooded” with messages from constituents saying they, too, have properties in the United States, but they haven’t gone because were told to stay home.
“I can tell you I’m just as frustrated and upset as community members, by the continued — and seemingly endless and ongoing — revelations of elected officials, health officials and community leaders not taking the advice that we’re giving the public,” she said.
Saying he stands by his Dec. 22 decision to grant Tanner permission, Burton said there’s now a “calendar game” going on where decisions made weeks ago are being judged by current conditions.
“I knew of no law or regulation forbidding international travel, nothing like that,” said Burton, who noted he has stayed in his home throughout the pandemic because he is 74.
On Dec. 22, as case counts continued to rise, Ford urged Ontarians to stay home over the holidays and not gather with anyone outside of their immediate household. The federal government has for months asked Canadians to stay home and avoid non- essential travel abroad.
Burton asked the Star what international travel “has to do with the spread” of the virus, saying he believes COVID- 19 is being controlled by people keeping their distance, wearing masks and guarding “their sneezes and coughs.”
“There’s a set of public health guidelines that have been proven to work. And sometimes I worry that we’re losing track of those and chasing chimeras,” Burton said.
Tanner told the Star he understood the frustration felt by some of his officers and regrets being in Florida during the death of one of his officers. On Wednesday, Halton police announced the sudden death of Tidball as a result of “an acute medical episode” while conducting an investigation.
“I have extended my deepest apologies to every member of the Service. My absence is a distraction from their healing and has taken the focus away from what is most important at this time,” Tanner said in his statement.
Asked by the Star if he thought it was a mistake to go to Florida, Tanner at first noted he got permission for the trip.
“I would never have done it without permission. And I never would have sought that permission unless it was for business purposes — I’m not at a holiday resort on the Mayan Riviera somewhere,” he said.
Tanner noted that the service has never told members that they cannot travel, but instead has said that if they came back from a trip, they will have to quarantine for 14 days on their own time, something Tanner said he will be doing starting Monday.
Meed Ward said she will be voluntarily disclosing her location at the outset of every virtual public meeting going forward and has encouraged her council colleagues to do the same. She has not travelled outside the province since 2019.
Public officials have to “walk the talk and hold ourselves not only to the same standard we expect, but a higher standard,” she said.
Revelations of foreign, nonessential travel by politicians and others in positions of power in recent days have seen high- profile resignations, including by former Ontario finance minister Rod Phillips after taking a Caribbean vacation.
On Thursday, the St. Joseph’s Health System said it had “parted ways” with former CEO Dr. Tom Stewart after he travelled to the Dominican Republic over the holidays.