Browne: Ottawa police board must loosen limits on public delegations

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Dear Dr. Gail Beck,

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Congratulations on being appointed to the important role of Ottawa Police Services Board chair. We are hopeful that you will help lead the board in a direction that builds community trust in the board, rather than further eroding it. To that end, the groups named below want to raise concerns about how the board responds to criticisms of its restrictions on public participation by imposing even more restrictions.

In theory, the police services board exists to provide public oversight over the Ottawa police. In practice, its members seem determined to shut out some critical public voices that are crucial to providing that oversight.

At the November 2020 board meeting, nearly 100 public delegates spoke — with several raising concerns about the board policy of not allowing them to ask questions of board members. In June 2021, the board hired two consulting firms — Public Affairs and Community Engagement (PACE) and Middle Ground Policy Research — to write a report, delivered in October 2021, that recommended a separate space for the board to deliberate with residents, away from its main meetings. We joined others in saying the separate roundtables would become just another committee that could be ignored at the whim of the board. The report was apparently shelved following the board restructuring in February 2022 in the wake of the trucker occupation.

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Then, at the board’s April 25, 2022 meeting, as part of his instructions to public delegates, board chair Eli El-Chantiry said delegates “must refrain from making allegations” against the board or Ottawa Police Service members. He didn’t say “unfounded” allegations; he just said “allegations.” Other actions by him and the board — his successor, chair Suzanne Valiquet repeated this warning — indicate that what they really meant is that public delegates should not critique board or member or police, and  the board would do almost anything to limit such critiques.

On Feb. 27, 2023, the board approved the following public delegation restrictions:

• limiting delegations to one hour of presentation time for all delegations combined (there was no limit before);

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• cutting delegations to three minutes if more than 12 people register to speak during the hour;

• prioritizing delegates who haven’t spoken in the last three months (which disproportionately affects activists who speak regularly);

• requiring delegates to submit their comments in writing beforehand (previously, delegates only had to provide the topic they would speak on).

The Board is also requiring delegates to provide those written remarks word-for-word  — even though the motion it passed doesn’t say that.

During the discussion of the motion on restricting public delegation, Coun. Marty Carr, a board member, cited how the Peel Police Services Board limits delegations on the same matter to once a year. Coun. Cathy Curry, another board member, responded that it would be great to limit delegates to speaking once a year, saying “those who come here every month and say the same thing, that’s not helpful.”

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The impact of these restrictions has been a sharp drop in public delegations at the March and April 2023 meetings.

The board should be implementing policies that encourage more public delegations, not less, as without such input, the board can’t fulfil its mandate to ensure Ottawa has adequate and effective policing.

We therefore ask that you work to convince your board colleagues to reverse these limits on public delegations. The board’s legitimacy depends on it.

Robin Browne is co-lead and founder of 613-819 Black Hub. This article was also written on behalf of Horizon Ottawa and the Coalition Against More Surveillance.