District announces police board members

At their July 15 meeting, District of Muskoka councillors were presented with a report from District Clerk Amy Back regarding the OPP detachment boards—one for Bracebridge and one for Huntsville.

The following will be appointed to the Bracebridge policing board, subject to the completion of legislated criminal record checks and training:

District Chair Jeff Lehman
Councillor Heidi Lorenz
Councillor Peter Kelley
Councillor Peter Koetsier
Councillor Rick Maloney
Michael Brady (representing Bracebridge)
Myra Levy (representing Gravenhurst); and
Kara Wanoth (representing Muskoka Lakes)
Chief Rhonda Williams-Lovett (Moose Deer Point First Nation)

“When we move to schedule these meetings, we will be able to have a quorum for the Bracebridge board, so that’s great,” said Back, referring to Chief Williams-Lovett’s recent confirmation. She said staff would continue to work with both Moose Deer Point First Nation and Wahta First Nation on finding a community representative and elected officials.

“In total, we had 32 applications from members of the public (13 for the Bracebridge Board and 19 for the Huntsville Board). So, for those who submitted an application, thank you for your interest. While it feels like we’ve been working on this for a long time, a lot of years, we’re getting very close and we’re not as far behind as maybe we once thought we were due to the insurance matter and we are expecting a response from the board on that very soon,” said Back.

The Boards cannot meet until insurance has been procured. The Ontario Association of Police Service Boards has been working with insurance providers
to develop the insurance requirements, and it is anticipated that a group policy for all applicable municipalities will be made available in the near future, stated Back in her report.

She said the selection panel met on June 17 to review all applications and agreed on the community representatives listed.

“No applications were received to represent the northern portion of the Township of Georgian Bay. Following a decision by Council, efforts will be reinitiated for the
recruitment for this community member position,” noted Back.

In Huntsville, the following individuals be appointed to the Huntsville OPP Detachment Board, also subject to the completion of legislated criminal record checks and training:

District Chair Jeff Lehman
Councillor Nancy Alcock
Councillor Terry Glover
Fred Landry (representing Lake of Bays)
Pauline Meunier (representing Huntsville)

The Community Safety and Policing Act came into effect on April 1, 2024, requiring all OPP detachments in Ontario to have a board. The District of Muskoka is responsible for policing in Muskoka and uses the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to deliver this service.

OPP detachment boards will be responsible for determining objectives and priorities for police services in consultation with their detachment commander, advising the detachment commander on the detachment’s policing, consulting on the selection of the detachment commander, receiving regular reports from the detachment commander, and monitoring the detachment commander’s performance.

Recruitment underway for local OPP boards

District moves forward with the creation of policing detachment boards

OPP detachment boards to provide community voice in policing: Stevens

Discussions around the possibility of creating a police services board continue: Mayor