Skip to content

Court allows in-camera hearing related to DeBungee death investigation

Hearing will consider deadline extension for notice of a discipline hearing.
Courthouse
The Thunder Bay courthouse (Tbnewswatch file)

THUNDER BAY  — A court has denied an application for a judicial review of a decision to hold an in-camera hearing related to potential discipline for three Thunder Bay police officers.

The hearing by retired judge Lee Ferrier will determine whether a Police Services Act hearing will be held for the officers over their conduct in the 2015 Stacy DeBungee sudden death investigation.

Ontario's Independent Police Review Director, in a report issued last year, found that there was sufficient evidence to substantiate an allegation of neglect of duty on the part of one of the officers, and discreditable conduct on the part of two others.

However, the OIPRD investigation took almost two years, surpassing the normal six-month notice period for informing an officer that a disciplinary hearing will be held.

The Police Services Act does allow a Police Services Board to consider an extension of a notice period, but the Thunder Bay board determined that it could not decide the matter.

The board wanted to avoid perceptions of bias, given that the OIPRD was also investigating the TBPS’s interactions and investigations regarding First Nations people. At the time, the board’s own behaviour was under investigation as well, by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission.

As a result, at the board's request, a court approved the appointment of "a disinterested person"—Ferrier—to consider the extension of the notice period for a discipline hearing.

The general practice across Ontario is for extension applications to be considered in-camera, but the CBC and Rainy River First Nation—DeBungee's home community—asked for an open hearing.

A Divisional Court ruling by three judges, released last week, dismissed the CBC's application.

Their decision noted that Ferrier had provided several reasons why "the dangers inherent in making an extension application hearing open to the public overrode any benefit that would flow from doing so."

Ferrier had observed that an extension application hearing is an administrative function, not a judicial function.

The Divisional Court judges said they reject the argument that the level of public interest in the matter "changes the nature of the decision-making process or the nature of the role being undertaken by Ferrier."

No date for Ferrier's in-camera hearing has been announced.

Correction: An earlier version of the headline for this story referred to the Stacy DeBungee homicide investigation.

Mr. DeBungee’s death was classified by police as a sudden death investigation, not a homicide. We apologize for the error.



Gary Rinne

About the Author: Gary Rinne

Born and raised in Thunder Bay, Gary started part-time at Tbnewswatch in 2016 after retiring from the CBC
Read more


Comments

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks