The Ontario government’s new Community Safety and Policing Act (CPSA) goes into effect on April 1.
While the Act is huge — 100 sections longer than the one it replaces — local municipalities are currently focused more on governance than law.
“The most substantial impact of the CSPA for the Township of Springwater is the requirement to establish a joint police detachment board with the Township of Clearview and Town of Wasaga Beach, forming the boundaries of the Huronia West OPP detachment,” Renée Ainsworth, Springwater's director of corporate services and clerk, wrote in a report for council that will be presented at the March 20 regular council meeting.
According to Ainsworth’s report, the CSPA requires, at minimum, one board for each detachment of the OPP that provides policing in a municipality.
Municipalities within the Huronia West OPP detachment, including Springwater, Clearview and Wasaga Beach, approved its police services board composition in 2021 to include 11 members — two council member representatives from each municipality, one community representative from each municipality and two provincial appointees.
Springwater council is being asked to select its council representatives and direct staff to commence joint recruitment for community representatives.
Meanwhile, Essa Township is currently working on the new requirements and should have more information within a couple of weeks, according to the township’s deputy clerk, Sarah Corbett. Essa, along with Adjala-Tosorontio Township and the Town of New Tecumseth, are currently served by Nottawasaga OPP.
Essa and Springwater are a bit behind their counterparts in Oro-Medonte.
Oro-Medonte, along with the City of Orillia and the townships of Ramara and Serven, will form the new Couchiching OPP Detachment Board, which replaces the Orillia Police Services Board. That board will include one elected official from each municipality, as well as four community members (one from each municipality) and two provincial appointees.
Jenny Legget, Oro-Medonte's communications and public relations officer, said the township has yet to select an elected official, but expects to do so at the same time as they appoint a community member.
She said the township is doing interviews for the community member in the coming days.
Back in Springwater, township officials say they are ready to engage once they’ve been given the green light by council.
“For the community appointments, all three municipalities will be providing a joint recruitment notice with one municipality compiling the applications for review by each respective Council,” Ainsworth wrote.
The recruitment notice will outline the background and mandate of the board, composition and available recruitment opportunities, eligibility to sit on the board, expectations and remuneration. Experience in local government and/or serving on agencies, boards and committees is considered an asset.
Once appointed, all members (council, community and provincial) are required to submit a police record check that has been completed in the last 12 months.
The new detachment boards will be responsible for:
- Participating in the selection of the detachment commander
- Determining objectives and priorities for police services after consultation with the detachment commander
- Advising the detachment commander with respect to policing provided by the detachment
- Monitoring the performance of the detachment commander
- Reviewing regular reports from the detachment commander regarding policing provided by the detachment
- Providing an annual report to the municipalities regarding the policing provided by the detachment in their municipalities.
According to the CSPA, there are some people who are not eligible to be a member of the boards. They include:
- A judge or justice of the peace
- A member of a police service, a special constable or a First Nation officer
- Any person who practises criminal law as a defence counsel or as a prosecutor
- A director, officer or employee of a prescribed policing provider.
A former member of a police service is also not eligible to be a member of a police service board unless:
- the police service board does not maintain a police service that the person was a member of
- at least one year has passed since the person ceased to be a member of any police service.
Ainsworth said in her report that training for the role will be provided.
"While the regulations remain vague to the extent, specifics, and costs of said training, the ministry has been clear since conception of the CSPA that training will be a pillar of the board structure," she wrote.
She said there has been no clear indication provided to date regarding training requirements or timelines for completion.
"The Act is clear that if training is not completed by a member, they shall not exercise the powers or perform the duties of a board member until successful completion," Ainsworth added.
Appointees will be advised of the training opportunities once the municipalities become aware of dates.
