THUNDER BAY — The Office of the Independent Police Review Director is now expected to release the results of its investigation into Thunder Bay Police at a news conference this fall.
This will be about two years since the systemic review of the police service's practices for policing Indigenous people was announced on November 3, 2016.
The OIPRD has changed the projected dates for completion of its work, as reported in the media, several times: from March 2018 to June, then to August.
A spokesperson says the latest date is the end of September, with the public release of the findings likely to occur in October.
Rosemary Parker, OIPRD's manager of strategic initiatives and systemic reviews, said the organization's "very small staff," the scope of the review and its other ongoing provincial priorities have combined to extend the timeline.
A systemic investigation, she told Tbnewswatch in an interview Tuesday, involves "a lot of research, analysis, writing, editing, projection, all of that."
Aside from its massive 2012 report on shortcomings in policing at the G20 Summit in Toronto two years earlier, Parker said, the Thunder Bay investigation is among the most extensive probes the OIPRD has undertaken.
"We need to take the time to ensure it's done right...The director (Gerry McNeilly) is placing a lot of importance on the Thunder Bay systemic review," she said.
According to Parker, the final steps in producing the Thunder Bay report include the mandated requirement to translate it into French.
The OIPRD, she said, is also "hopeful" that it has the budget to provide an executive summary translated into one or all of the Ojibwe, Oji-Cree and Cree languages.
Investigation of Thunder Bay Police Board wrapping up
Meantime, a separate but parallel investigation into the Thunder Bay Police Services Board is set to conclude next week.
Senator Murray Sinclair was appointed by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission after Indigenous leaders questioned the board's ability to oversee effective policing.
Sinclair—the former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission—issued an interim report in November 2017.
His final report was scheduled for delivery by March 31, 2018, but he received an extension to Aug.31.
At the time, the OCPC said the extension would allow Sinclair to consider the findings of the OIPRD investigation, and take into account legislation and/or regulatory changes around police oversight resulting from the introduction of the Safer Ontario Act.
The legislation includes provisions for stronger civilian oversight of police, and a new office of Inspector General to oversee police services and receive and review complaints about chiefs of police and police boards.
Spokesperson Silvia Cheng says the OCPC expects to release Sinclair's report to the public "in the fall."
