Regional Chair will attend the Police Services Board Closed session meeting on Thursday.

By Pepper Parr

January 20th, 2021

BURLINGTON, ON

Clarification:

Mayor Burton resigned from the Halton Police Services Board on January 11, 2021. The Police
Services Act,  provides that the Head of Council is to be one of the members of
the Board unless he chooses not to serve. Regional Chair, Gary Carr has decided to assume the
vacant position. This is effective immediately upon swearing- in and does not require confirmation
by Council. The term is for the remainder of this term of Council, to expire November 14, 2022 or
when a successor is appointed.

There is probably going to be a change in the way the police services for the Region are going to be managed and led.

The Police Services Board has held 15 hours of meetings so far to determine what, if anything, they want to do with the current police chief who was out the country with the permission of Oakville Mayor Rob Burton who was the Chair of the Police Services Board.

Oakville Mayor Rob Burton

Burton resigned as the Chair last week but is still a member of the Board.

There has been considerable public reaction to the decision the Chief made in asking for permission and then actually leaving the jurisdiction when the province was under a lock down.

Burton realized he was in a difficult position and had to resign as Chair.  His political future is something that we will look at later.

What to do with the Chief.  There are clearly some differences within the Board –  fire him? – how, when he had permission.

Halton Regional Police Chief Stephen Tanner talks with Sgt Davies, the man who heads up the accident reconstruction unit.

One of the options is to find a way to settle with the Chief – that will turn out to be an expensive option and one that will be hidden from the public.  There will be a statement about thanking the Chief for his service and wishing him well in the future.

If the Board decides to fire the Chief he will most certainly sue for wrongful dismissal.  That law suit will be public and that’s something the Region does not want.

The rank and file police are not happy people.  Their Chief was not there for them when they needed him.

Clayton Gillis, the president of the Halton Regional Police Association, said Saturday he has heard claims made by a whistle blower on Twitter. He said he doesn’t engage in the social media platform.

“From my conversation with the Chief and the statement he released yesterday, I know that he has described his travels as ‘personal business matters’ and a ‘property matter.’ I don’t know any other details or if the rumours … are accurate,” he said.

“We will be seeking a more transparent, fulsome answer to why he travelled beyond what’s been given as an answer thus far,” Gillis added.

The Police Services Board will be holding another meeting on Thursday (January 21st) that will like the previous two, in a CLOSED session.

What will be different is that Halton Region Chair Gary Carr will be attending.  His decision to become involved suggests that a decision will be made.

Don’t expect whatever decision is made to be made public on Thursday.

The decision made will be released to the public at a meeting that is open to the public on January 28th.  There will be a Special meeting on Thursday the 21st.  It will have one item on the agenda – electing a Chair and a Vice Chair for the 2101 term.  There may be other items discussed but they will be done in a Closed session.

There are two options before the Police Services Board.  Fire the chief or accept his resignation.  If the Board fires Tanner it will result in a legal claim for a lot of money.  Any claim would be made public and be messy  – the optics will not be good.

The best in the way of optics is to carve out a deal with Tanner to pay him to just go away.  The Board will not make whatever payment there might be public.  It will get buried somewhere in the Regional Budget.

Tanner was a good police Chief; he was one of the police officers who earned a degree in psychology at the University of Guelph.  He was a strong supporter of promoting women and putting them in positions where they could gain the experience to become leaders.

When he returned to Halton from Kingston where he was Chief it was a homecoming event.  He was given his old police badge, returning to a community that was both fond of and proud of the man,

He made the wrong decision and a series of circumstances may result in a career coming to an end.  This is the hard part of being transparent and accountable.

As for Burton – his future prospects are cloudy at best.  The result of the 2018 election for the office of Mayor are set out below.

The people who run election campaigns will tell you that Burton can be beaten.

The first column is the election day vote, the second is the advance vote, the third is the total and the fourth is the percentage

Rob Burton could be toast as Mayor of Oakville as well.

Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.