Police board refers member clash to independent review

Facing a contentious clash between two of its seven members and a controversial letter released to city councillors, Hamilton's police services board is calling on the Ontario Civilian Police Commission to investigate.

The release of the letter, written by a board member alleging mishandling of sensitive information and a culture of secrecy, prompted a closed-door discussion by board members Thursday. The board ultimately voted behind closed doors to refer two matters to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission for a review. 

The board is requesting an "independent look at it from an agency that's set up to adjudicate these sort of things," Coun. Lloyd Ferguson, chair of the board, said.

One element is an exchange between Madeleine Levy, the vice-chair of the board, and Walt Juchniewicz, a fellow member, that Juchniewicz complained about in a December email to Lloyd Ferguson.

And two, Ferguson said, the OCPC will be asked to look into the act of Juchniewicz revealing that information in his letter to Hamilton's city manager about his concerns about the board, and including councillors in the email, thus making the correspondence public. 

"We're referring this to the OCPC, I want to step back. Whenever there's an outside agency investigating, we have to step back," Ferguson said. He believes sending that letter out violates the Police Services Act.

Juchniewicz, who attended Thursday's meeting, declined to comment.

Ferguson said now he is grappling with how, as chair, to ensure there's good morale among board members.

"It's tough. I've tried so hard," he said. "There's nothing wrong with disagreeing. That's what democracy's all about. Just don't make it personal. We're going to work at that. We had a good conversation about that very issue."

An exchange about Auschwitz that escalated

​It all started on Dec. 15, when Juchniewicz told other board members about his family's Polish Christmas traditions. A Jewish member, Madeleine Levy, apparently told Juchniewicz that Poles killed Jewish people at Auschwitz.

(Polish people, the Canadian Polish Congress says, were victims of Hitler's brutal regime.)

An upset Juchniewicz wrote to chair Lloyd Ferguson, also an Ancaster city councillor. He asked to read that letter into the public record. Ferguson said other members wouldn't agree to that. And according to the Police Services Act, "personal matters" are discussed in camera.

Levy emailed a brief apology to Juchniewicz. But Juchniewicz's frustration with Ferguson's response grew.

He outlined all this in the letter to Murray. But there are broader concerns too, he said. There are "hidden agendas" on the board, and important issues being "hidden from the public."

'I'm not aware of any lack of transparency'

Juchniewicz's correspondence includes broader allegations about secrecy at the board, and his entire correspondence will be forwarded to the OCPC. 

After Thursday's meeting, Ferguson said he didn't think Juchniewicz's concerns about transparency are valid.

"I'm not aware of any lack of transparency. I don't agree with that," he said.

The outside third-party agency is not being asked to investigate those broader allegations, Ferguson said. He said the OCPC will be asked to investigate just the exchange about Polish and Jewish people, and also "the issue that he disclosed confidential information and some of the other stuff in [the letter] that wasn't factually correct".

​City councillor Doug Conley had asked his colleagues Wednesday to vote to request an OCPC investigation, but his motion was tabled.

kelly.bennett@cbc.ca