Alberta city councillors shouldn’t be on police commissions: report

A new report recommends Alberta ban city councillors and mayors from sitting on local police commissions, following months of tension between Edmonton city council and the Edmonton Police Commission.

The province quietly released the results of its inquiry Friday, an investigation Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis launched earlier this year into what he called the “increasingly dysfunctional relationship” between the three bodies.

The review, conducted by an Ontario Justice, includes 51 recommendations aimed at improving how police are governed in Alberta. Among them: amending the Police Act to prohibit municipal politicians from serving on police commissions.

Councillor-elect Anne Stevenson, who served on the Edmonton Police Commission last term, said she isn’t entirely opposed to the idea.

“I’ve really enjoyed being on, I think the work we do on council can strengthen the perspectives we bring to the commission and vice versa,” Stevenson said. “That said, I do appreciate that there are some inherent tensions that the judge points to in his report.”

The report also recommends police work more closely with municipalities when setting budgets, a frequent source of friction in Edmonton.

“There is only one Edmonton city taxpayer,” Stevenson said. “If councillors are removed, and at the same time there is greater transparency and a more integrated budgetary process, I think that gets the best of both worlds in many ways.”

The inquiry followed an unprecedented request in January from then–police chief Dale McFee, who urged the province to investigate Edmonton city council’s appointments to the police commission. McFee argued some commissioners, including former Edmonton police officer turned criminologist Dan Jones and community advocate Renée Vaugeois, were too biased to serve.

University of Alberta criminologist Temitope Oriola said the inquiry has value, though he disagrees with some of its conclusions, including the recommendation to remove elected officials.

“I’m a little torn on that,” Oriola said. “Elected officials have a right to be involved because the police are funded by the city. It’s important that we do not normalize that frosty relationship. The City of Edmonton has the right to have representation on the Edmonton Police Commission, given that a chunk of its annual funding comes from the city.”

Other recommendations in the report include appointing more commissioners with backgrounds in finance, labour and governance; strengthening conflict-of-interest reporting; making the commission chair a full-time paid position; and banning current or former judges, defence lawyers and police officers from serving on police watchdogs within the same jurisdiction.

– With files from Lauren Boothby