Wednesday, January 24, 2018

SCRUTINY OF LOCAL POLICE SERVICES BOARD LONG OVERDUE



Well I find myself choking each time I now hear Waterloo Regional Police Services Board Chair Tom Galloway talk about wanting more women and more diversity on that old boys club. Jim Wideman who resigned opening the door for Rosita Tse is an example of the old boys club. Far too many long time regional councillors, past or present, have taken up space and not much else on that Board. Mr. Galloway is just the opening shot of those who should be either resigning or given the boot. As Chairman he's been in the driver's seat and that Board hasn't been doing a good job. What it has accomplished is an entrenchment and continuance of the status quo and that is exactly what the regional police hierarchy and politicians have wanted including the regional chairman who also is a member of that Board.

Yesterday's Waterloo Region Record carried the following story titled "Regional Councillor calls for more women on police board". I agree with just about everything she (Jane Mitchell) says in that article but I've long had a problem with giving her any credibility. Is she just another Tom Galloway jumping on the current "womens' rights" campaign or is she the real deal? She was formerly a school board trustee for ten years and that was at a time when I was paying close attention to the school board. She did not impress. Hence I'm taking her solid support for more women on the Police Services Board with a grain of salt. Could she be angling for that appointment herself? Regardless of whether she would make a good appointee or not the fact is that she is right in that "It's time for change". Our Police Services Board is a disgrace. How much of that can be attributed to recent appointees is debatable. What isn't debatable is that the membership over decades have not promoted transparency or accountability within the Waterloo Region Police Service on many issues including gender equity.

Then there are the very interesting comments by Karen Scian a former City of Waterloo councillor. She is making veiled references to the old guard of established public figures stepping from one appointment or leadership role to another. She compares them to a bag of milk past its' expiry date. For me it's more about their support of the status quo and avoiding change than it is about their age. It's their politician's desire to talk about issues rather than actually deal with them and possibly offend someone important.

The bottom line is that both the Police Services Board and the Regional Police Service are in desperate need of a house cleaning. Unfortunately any housecleaning is likely to be done by the very same people who put these ones in charge in the first place. That would be our regional politicians. An election is coming. Time for citizens to houseclean the pack of them.

1 comment:

  1. Well done. The final paragraph is the icing on the cake.

    ReplyDelete