'Difficult times' for Thunder Bay, Ont., police service, board, says chair

The police services board in Thunder Bay, Ont., held its first public meeting Tuesday since it was announced that its actions are being examined by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission.

"We're in difficult times, for sure," said Jackie Dojack, the chair of the Thunder Bay Police Services Board.

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Dojack said she is "curious to see how it will proceed, what they'll exactly be looking at, because that's not clear yet to us, and then what their findings will be."

She said the board will act on any recommendations the commission makes.

"If they find something that we're lacking in, we will welcome that and use that to improve the way in which we serve the people in Thunder Bay," she said, adding that board members are dedicated to making Thunder Bay a safer, more inclusive city "for all the residents, and all the people who come to study here and visit here."

Both 17-year-old Tammy Keeash and 14-year-old Josiah Begg were visiting Thunder Bay from remote First Nations communities in northern Ontario, when they were reported missing on the same weekend in May.

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Keeash's body was found the next day in the Neebing-McIntyre floodway, while Begg's body was recovered from the McIntyre River two weeks later.

Ontario's Independent Police Review Director, Gerry McNeilly, who is already conducting a systemic examination of the interactions between Thunder Bay police and Indigenous people, said he will include the teens' deaths in his review.

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As well, in late May, the news broke that the Ontario Provincial Police were charging J. P. Levesque, the Thunder Bay police chief, with breach of trust and obstruction of justice. He is now on administrative suspension.

Dojack, herself, was under a code of conduct investigation by the civilian police commission in May,but was cleared and reinstatedby the end of the month.

The cascade of events is proving challenging to front line officers' morale, and their dealings with the community, said Sylvie Hauth, the acting police chief, who also spoke at Tuesday's board meeting.

"We're members of this community, we're moms and dads, we have children here and we have a vested interested in our community," she said. "We want to be successful and we want to be at the table and we want to make meaningful changes moving forward."

It's not known when either the Ontario Independent Police Review Director or the Ontario Civilian Police Commission, will release their final reports and recommendations from their separate investigations of the Thunder Bay police, and the services board, respectively.