Ottawa Police Services Board dynamic expected to stay pro-police: local advocate
Posted Mar 28, 2022 09:37:00 PM.
The Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) has a whole new look for their first in person meeting in 2022.
The board has a meeting scheduled on March 28 with three new provincial appointees – Peter Henschel, Michael Doucet, and Salim Fakirani.
Robin Browne, co-lead for the 613-819 Black Hub, an organization dedicated to addressing anti-Black racism through systemic change, told The Sam Laprade Show on Monday, March 28, that he believes two of the new appointees are “pro-police.”
Browne believes both Henschel and Doucet would vote in favour of something like increased funding, based on their experience and former jobs.
Henschel is a former deputy commissioner with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, while Doucet served as the executive director of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, now known as the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.
The third new member, Fakirani, is a senior counsel with the Federal Department of Justice where he participated in many initiatives across the justice sector. Browne believes Fakirani might vote against something like an increase in funding, but says it could still be a problem for the board as a whole.
“The problem with all of that is that the board has seven members,” said Browne. “Basically with these new appointees it's like four pro-police versus three who are not, so the pro-police votes will be able to out-vote them every time.”
Kanata North Coun. Cathy Curry and Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper have also taken on new roles on the board.
“Coun. Leiper has shown himself to be a strong voice in the community so we're certainly optimistic there,” said Browne. “Coun. Curry, I don't know a lot about, but from what I've seen so far, she seems pretty balanced so we're hoping that she'll be a strong voice there too.”
Listen to the full interview with Browne below:
