Police board 'no longer a productive use' of time, says councillor who resigned from oversight body

The city councillor who resigned from the Winnipeg Police Board on Monday says it was "no longer a productive use" of his time.

"I don't know if it's a productive use of anyone's time to stay on that board," Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) said in an interview with CBC News on Tuesday.

He said he believes infightingbetween councillorsis preventingthe board from doing its job.

The board is meant to provide civilian guidance and oversight of the Winnipeg Police Service, and to ensure its strategic plan "reflects the needs and values of citizens," according to the city.

The board "should be doing important work" and "asking questions to the police," said Mayes.

"Instead, we're squabbling with city hall over which committees have jurisdiction, where the budget should be reported to, who should appear at what committee, does the secretary of the board have to appear at the finance committee," he said.

"It's just gotten to be completely dysfunctional."

A spokesperson for Mayor Brian Bowman said the board "has always been an important and challenging board to serve on, the structure having been established many years ago."

"The mayor agrees that the [board] would be well-served with long-needed improvements by the province of Manitoba."

The spokesperson added the board made several recommendations to the province in June 2020 as part of its review ofthe Police Services Act.

Mayes said the city should either go back to the way police oversight was handled before the board was established which was through city council's protection committeeor have the provinceimplementa non-political civilian body.

"Otherwise it's going to be another four years of squabbling over who should show up at what committee. That's just not a good use of anybody's time," he said.

Back-and-forth between councillors 'juvenile'

At a police board meeting last week, Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) called on board members to resign if they weren't willing to ask critical questions aboutthe police service's handling of last month'santi-COVID-mandate protests in downtown Winnipeg.

A report on that was presented at the meeting, butRollins said it was lacking in details.

"I am absolutely saying that if they do not scrutinize a report that is too thinthat is deeply dissatisfying and enough of a signal to Winnipeg that they are not serious about the oversight responsibilities that they have, they should resign," Rollins told reporters last Friday.

On Monday, she told CBCshe didn't ask for a resignation "carte blanche."

"I asked them to do their job in terms of police oversight and accountability. And if they weren't prepared to do that, to step aside for people that were."

Mayes said Rollins's comments last Fridayand after his resignation only prove his claim that the entire structure is "dysfunctional."

"It's gotten pretty juvenile," he said.

"This is what we're talking about. 'You resigned, but not for the reasons I told you to resign.' It's just ridiculous."

Mayes said he plans to reach out to Manitoba's justice minister to give his point of view on the police board.

The province is expected to release updates to the Police Services Act, following a 2020 review that made70 recommendations on overhaulingthe act, including suggestions for reforming police oversight.

"It really is unfortunate that city hall has forfeited the ability to determine its own future in its dealings with the police board, butI think it's come to that," said Mayes.