Edmonton Police Commission moves meetings online, removes public speakers for rest of 2026
Posted September 2, 2026 4:11 pm.
The public will not be allowed to voice their opinions to Edmonton’s police oversight body in person – at least for the rest of the year.
The Edmonton Police Commission is moving all public meetings online for 2026. It’s also removing the public-speaking potion of the meetings.
EPC Chair Ben Henderson. pointed to the most recent meeting — on July 16 — where security had to be called after public outbursts. A group questioned Edmonton police Chief Warren Driechel’s trip to Israel in February.
Members of the public were reminded of commission rules for speaking only on issues the oversight body can control.
“It has not been discussions of the chief’s trip to Israel,” said Henderson. “We had public meetings about that and we discussed that. The discussion has moved on to what is happening in Israel. It’s not something we have jurisdiction over; it is not something we or the chief have any power over.
“It’s personal, it’s defamatory, it’s attacking individual commissioners. It wasn’t about criticism of the commission.”
Henderson says there were safety concerns for staff, but he was unable to elaborate. He adds the public can still share written submissions.
The policy will be revisited in 2027.
