President’s Annual Report 2018-19 Chief Kimberley Greenwood

June 2019

A Year of Opportunities and Challenges

A year ago, Ontarians asserted their democratic right to elect those whom they entrust with the important task of governing. A total of 124 MPPs were elected last June and a new government sworn in. A new government represents an opportunity for ’s police leaders to address important public safety issues. We pride ourselves as being Ontario’s police leaders. We are public servants who must work above politics. That is something all of us – Chiefs and Commissioner, Deputy Chiefs, Deputy Commissioners, senior officers, civilian managers – take seriously. Our role is to provide expert advice that safeguards communities and promotes the well-being of the people we serve. We are also advocates for our organizations and our members.

I am proud that the OACP Board and Executive, staff, committee leaders, and subject matter experts who have spoken and worked on our collective behalf have done so with professionalism, honesty, and commitment that is a credit to them as police professionals and leaders.

This past year, we have worked closely with two Solicitor Generals, and , on many issues, some of which I will speak to briefly. We have also worked with during her time as Attorney General and look forward to working with the recently appointed AG, . Additionally, we have worked with Labour Minister Laurie Scott and two Transportation Ministers, John Yakubuski and and their staff on many issues. We welcome the opportunity to continue working with Minister Mulroney in her new role as Minister of Transportation.

Developing relationships with members of government, as well as with all elected members of the Ontario legislature, is an incredibly important task we entrust to our Executive Director Jeff McGuire and especially to Director of Government Relations and Communications Joe Couto. I want to acknowledge that this year Joe is completing his 15th year of service with the OACP.

I also want to specifically thank Deputy Solicitor General Mario Di Tomasso for his service this year. Mario’s policing career may have concluded but his decision to continue to serve with the Province in the role he now occupies has helped us and all police stakeholders on a number of fronts.

I also thank Charles Payette, whom many of you got to know when he served both Minister Tibollo and Minister Jones before departing for a position in the private sector. Charles was a steady hand in the early days of the new government at our Ministry and

1 helped us address important issues. We are grateful to him and the many dedicated people in government and the private sector who take an active interest in the safety and well-being of all of our communities.

Mental Health and the Opioid Crisis

I want to start off a review of just some of the highlights of this past year with mental health issues. In what might be termed “normal times”, it would be tempting to focus on operational issues that are impacting our police services in Ontario, but I think these are not normal times. Our officers are now on the front-line of a health crisis involving mental health and opioid overdoses.

Some might say that dealing with health issues is not the job of police officers. Unfortunately, we do not have a choice. We continue to see far too many people interacting with police due to mental health issues. That is why we continue to advocate for provincial investments in mental health services and programs so that people in need of medical services and support get the help they need.

We also know that addressing the well-being of our own members is critical. That’s why we are actively engaging with Dr. Dirk Huyer in his review of officer suicides. These are tragic deaths and I know all of us in this room are committed to providing support for all our police service members. Our incoming President, Chief Pedersen, is a well-known champion for officer well-being and mental health, so I know it will continue to be a priority for the OACP.

We also expect that opioid deaths will continue to challenge our police services in the foreseeable future. More than 10,300 people lost their lives in Canada between January 2016 and September 2018 that were related to opioids. In our Province, 388 people died from opioid-related causes from July to September 2018. Often, it’s our front- line officers who are first on scene dealing with those overdoses.

The Board also took steps to update our association’s position on Supervised Injection Sites or SISs. While as police professionals, we may still have concerns about SISs, we know that harm reduction initiatives are part of the fight against overdose deaths. We must remain part of the conversation and the solution in preventing overdose deaths. I want to thank Chief Bryan Larkin and Deputy Chief Tim Farquharson in particular for their leadership on this issue.

I am proud that the OACP led the fight to stop the Special Investigations Unit from automatically triggering an investigation into our officers’ interaction with these deaths. Our efforts to make Provincial support available to police services who wished to equip

2 their front-line officers with Naloxone not only to protect themselves, but possibly save lives is an accomplishment we can take great pride in.

Cannabis

At last year’s AGM, much concern was expressed about how police would be able to handle the legalization of cannabis in October 2018. Significant training and other challenges were expressed. Our police services worked hard to address those challenges for their organizations and the OACP Substance Advisory Committee, the OACP Alcohol and Gaming Committee, and the Board engaged in consultations with the Province to address issues related to the Cannabis Act.

Part of our education efforts included a very-well attended meeting for police organizations on issues around the legalization of cannabis in June 2019. This one-day meeting was an opportunity for police services to share best practices, innovative approaches, lessons learned, and map out the way forward in relation to enforcing the new federal and provincial cannabis laws.

I am proud of our work on this important issue. I want to especially thank Superintendent Dominic Sinopoli of Toronto Police Service and Deputy Chief Tim Farquharson of the Peterborough Police Service for the incredible time they both spent on this topic on our behalf.

I anticipate that further changes related to illegal substances are on the horizon, including moves at the federal level to decriminalize all illegal substances. We will need to collaborate with and support the strong advocacy efforts of the CACP on this matter.

COPS legislation

As members know, prior to the 2018 Provincial Election, the OACP Board and our Police Legal Advisors Committee put in a great amount of time in engaging with the Provincial Government and stakeholders on the modernization of the Police Services Act (PSA). We supported Bill 175, the Safer Ontario Act, as a step forward in bringing the PSA up-to-date. We were clear about where the legislation fell short in addressing what we had advocated for in areas such as accommodation issues and others.

The election of a new government meant that Bill 175 would be reviewed and new legislation introduced. We again relied on our PLA committee to produce recommendations on the new legislation that could improve Bill 175. Our Board was again very active in meetings with government officials. The Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act made significant changes to Bill 175, many of them positive. While we did not achieve some important changes in the area of suspension without pay and accommodation issues, we remain committed to advocating for changes that will support the modern needs of policing in the 21st century.

3 Grants Review

One of the most significant challenges facing our organizations has been the new Community Safety and Policing (CSP) funding process. Our Board Executive met with senior officials from the Ministry of the Solicitor General as well as the Premier’s Office shortly after the Provincial Budget in April and were briefed on the direction the government would take on this issue. The bottom-line is that we will see a reduction in grant funding available to police services and an emphasis on “evidence-based” applications and measurements for funds.

The OACP Budget, Finance, and Asset Management Committee has taken a leading role in analyzing the “re-purposing” of existing grants into the new Community Safety and Policing (CSP). It is obvious that the CSP introduces short-term uncertainties, including potential reductions to existing grant allocations, concerns with the completion of spending in the initial year 2019-2020, as well as potential legal and administrative grant requirements. We will continue to look to the Committee’s leadership as we move forward.

Funding of Police Services

The OACP Budget, Finance, and Asset Management Committee has produced a position paper that addresses the current funding regime in Ontario. The fact is that more than 90% of municipal police services expenditures are paid by local taxpayers. In contrast, policing in the United Kingdom is funded 76% by the federal government.

It’s time to have honest conversations with government and key stakeholders, such as municipal government stakeholders, about a new, sustainable funding model for policing. I anticipate that as the results of provincial cuts in many areas of government services start to become a reality, this will become a major project for our association. Thank you to Jeff Channell and the committee for their continued leadership on this important issue.

Constable Selection System

The OACP Board has heard from its members about issues with the Constable Selection System (CSS). Changes made by some services in relation to CSS requirements have fueled the Province to take a hard look at the CSS. Major changes are coming. In the OACP’s view, the CSS continues to ensure the integrity of the recruiting process in the Province.

4 We are committed to working with the Province and with individual police services to make the system work for everyone. This is an issue that our Executive Director, Jeff McGuire, will be making a top priority for our association in the year ahead.

Street Checks Recommendations

At our last AGM, we noted that Justice Michael Tulloch’s review of the street checks requirements in Ontario would be important for police leaders. Justice Tulloch reached out individually to Chiefs of Police as well as the OACP for input on the Street Checks Regulations. We appreciated the Justice’s efforts to listen to all voices during the process.

We believe the conversation around street checks will need to continue and we are well positioned through our legal advisors, our human resources professionals, and our equity, diversity, and inclusion subject matter experts to speak to the issues related to street checks.

Framework Memorandum of Understanding – Disclosure

The Ministry of the Attorney General and the OACP have been engaged in the development of the Framework Memorandum of Understanding (FMOU) on the matter of timely disclosure to all accused persons in both regulatory and criminal prosecutions. Having delivered a Phase 1 document to police services for their consideration in 2017, Chief Charles Bordeleau undertook to lead an OACP partnership with MAG on a Phase 2 project to address some of the issues identified by police services and Crowns which should be considered.

While the FMOU is not binding on police agencies, we trust that the FMOU will be used as a standard by police services and Crown Attorney’s offices across Ontario to bring consistency to the disclosure process.

Traffic Safety

This past year has been a busy one for our Traffic Committee. The committee and its various sub-committees continue to be the go-to experts for government on traffic safety. We appreciate the hard work of OPP Chief Superintendent Chuck Cox and Toronto Police Superintendent Scott Baptist for their leadership as road safety advocates, including our Drive Safe Campaign launch in May.

The committee works well with the Ministry of Transportation on a variety of issues, but this year, they also showed that they will stand up for road safety, especially on

5 contentious government proposals around the elimination of validation tags and front plates on vehicles. The committee has also not shied away from questioning the proposal to raise speed limits on 400-series highway. This is an issue that I expect will be one our association will need to keep close tabs on given the two pilot projects currently underway.

Sexual Violence Framework

In February, 2017, the Globe and Mail published its Unfounded report related to how police investigated allegations of sexual assault. That report did not present a positive picture of policing. Many police services responded by conducting retroactive reviews of their cases and many Police Chiefs faced pressure to implement something similar to the Philadelphia Model.

In October of 2017, a Provincial Working Group was established to develop a collaborative approach to sexual assault violence. The result of the hard work of the committee was a framework document that included:

• Sexual Assault Investigation Guidelines; • Methodology and Training for Sexual Violence Review Model; and • Confidentiality and Privacy Commissioners Guidelines.

This is a project that I have taken a special interest in. After sharing the document with all Ontario police services, we intend on following up with the Ministry of the Solicitor General to ask government to adopt a unique reference on intimate partner and sexual violence into the adequacy standards and regulations of the Police Services Act.

Some Other Areas of Work

Police-Hospital Transitions

• Thank you to Chief John Pare (Ret.) and Superintendent Bill Chantler of London Police Service for their dogged determination and hard work in getting Provincial approval for the Improving Police-Hospital Transitions: A Framework for Ontario and supporting toolkit and making it available for police services in our Province. I believe this framework will cut down on officers having to spend time in hospitals, an issue that has been consistently raised by our police members over the years.

Justice Modernization

• Executive Director Jeff McGuire continues to be at the table for the Province’s on- going efforts to introduce changes that will lead to the modernization of our criminal justice system. This is part of the work of our Justice Committee, to bring

6 real changes to the justice system. This work has already resulted in positive developments in the areas of e-warrants and court security.

Out of the Shadows Organized Crime Resource

• A big thank you to our Intelligence and Organized Crime Committee for releasing a new resource document to raise awareness about the true nature of organized crime in Ontario. Bringing Organized Crime Out of the Shadows is an easy-to-read document about the reality of organized criminal activity in our province. The document is an update to the highly popular document developed in 2010.

Continue to work on NG 911

• Deputy Chief Shawn Coxon of Toronto Police Service has taken the lead on advancing issues related to NG 9-1-1. This is an area of considerable urgency given the coming mandated changes in this area.

Gas-and-Dash Incidents

• The OACP is working with the Ontario Convenience Stores Association to advance making prepayments at gas pumps mandatory in Ontario. This would address public safety concerns around “Gas-and-Dash” incidents.

Animal Welfare

The OACP continues to be concerned with the ramifications of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ (OSPCA) decision earlier this year to stop enforcing animal welfare. We are monitoring discussions being held by the Province, particularly around training, resources, and the impact on police operations issues.

Police Leadership Program

• The OACP’s Police Leadership Program (PLP) had its biggest class ever in 2018. A total of 40 participants completed this leadership project, which is delivered in partnership with the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. This program is designed and delivered to strengthen and promote effective leadership practice for senior police officers. The 2019 offering will take place from September 16 to October 4, 2019.

7 Police CEOs Day and Trade Show

• Our 2018 Police CEOs Day was a tremendous success. This annual gathering of top police leaders is something that we all look forward too as it is an opportunity to learn about current issues impacting our police services. Our trade show was also well attended. The 2019 OACP Trade Show will take place on September 25 while the CEOs Day will kick off with a dinner that evening followed by a full day meeting on September 26.

Queen’s Park Day

• It has been a number of years since the OACP held an advocacy day at the legislature for our top police leaders. We are planning on have a Queen’s Park Day later this year, tentatively in November.

Let me conclude this Annual Report by thanking everyone who has made the past year a successful one:

• Members of our Board of Directors and Committee members who worked tirelessly on behalf of all members. • Jeff McGuire, our Executive Director, and the OACP staff – Joe Couto, Sharon Seepersad, Melissa Mascarin, and Darron Knebel, who do so much work, of which most of us see only a fraction of. • Janice Fendley and Kelly Burns, who help organize our Annual Conference and other OACP events. • Ann Waltos and Scott Chacko, who do our sponsorship work. • Deputy Chief Ken Weatherill, my Executive Officer Carl Moore, my Executive Assistant Sarah Young, and everyone at Police Service who helped us keep moving forward while I did OACP work throughout the year.

Being your President has been an amazing experience. We are in excellent hands with our incoming President, Chief Paul Pedersen. I hope you will all support him, our Board Executive, and staff as you have done throughout my year. Thank you.

Chief Kimberley Greenwood Barrie Police Service President, Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police

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