By Staff
March 3rd, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police Services Board announced that Ms. Jane McKenna has been appointed as a Provincial representative to the Halton Police Board.
Ms. McKenna is a lifetime resident of Burlington with a strong background in Ontario politics. She was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2011 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022, representing the riding of Burlington. In 2018, she was appointed by the Premier as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour and served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development and as Minister of Children and Women’s Issues. Before entering politics, she worked in advertising and ran her own successful small business, Rainmaker Consulting.
“I am honoured to join the Halton Police Board,” said Ms. McKenna. “Together with my fellow board members, I am committed to keeping Halton residents safe by providing strategic governance to police services, and proactively responding to safety issues that matter most in our region.”
“We are pleased to welcome Jane McKenna to our Board. With Ms. McKenna’s vast community knowledge and experience she will be an invaluable member of our team and will bring meaningful insight to our deliberations,” said Halton Police Board Chair Councillor Jeff Knoll.
Ms. McKenna was sworn in on Friday, March 3, 2023, and will join her first Board meeting on Thursday, March 30, 2023.
About the Halton Police Board
The Halton Police Board is a seven-member board that provides strategic governance to the Halton Regional Police Service. It is a provincially mandated legal entity that operates independently from the Regional or Municipal Council – four members of the Board are appointed by the Halton Region Council and three are appointed by the Province of Ontario. It is the Board’s responsibility to ensure the residents of Halton Region receive adequate and effective police services following policing standards issued by the Province.
In essence, the Board is the trustee of public interest regarding the provision of all police services in the community.
I assume this is a paid position; if so it’s repayment for years of reliable service to the PC party
Not sure what you mean.I can tell you first hand that I have requested such data from the HRPS through FOI and their response is they don’t collect such data. Give you an example…let’s say I wanted data on such things like new recruits – percentage breakdown on visible minorities, gender and age…unless I go to the information and privacy commissioner of ontario, I’m not going to get such data. Because we have an FOI Act, doesn’t mean it’s adhered to. Now there is data reported on different crimes and such based on yearly figures…even have monthly incidents…I think that is maybe what you are referencing.
The positions need to be filled by people that will actually do something. Typically, these posiions will go to ‘yes’ people and not question anything the police service is doing. And I have heard the speeches…it’s the usual stuff (paraphrased), they are doing such a great job and our community indebted to them…then they all agree on moving forward with budget increase provded by police chief without question. This really happens. I would rather see a board that questions the integrity of the police and provide the data to the public. Meaning number of lawsuits in works, number of nda’s that were signed off on, number of charges laid against officers and the outcomes, their recruitment policies, contract governance etc. …I believe in being an open book to public. This is not me being critical of police services…it’s me being critical of these board members actually doing something that really benefits the community. The police service may be good for most part, but then show the public why that is and how they are dealing with internal challenges. But you’re not going to get that from this board member…McKenna just wants to say she is part of police services board.
Editor’s note: If the writer would take the time to read the reports he might have a different view.