Susan Toth resigns from police services board with calls for her replacement to be racialized
The human rights and labour lawyer has served on the board for six years
Susan Toth, the human rights and labour lawyer who was recently re-appointed to head the London Police Services board, has resigned and is calling for city council to make sure her replacement is a member of the Black or Indigenous community.
"There is an onus on city council to say, 'What can we do to attract people to that position? How can we actively seek those voices rather than take the passive back seat and go, well, you know, whoever applies applies and we'll choose from those people,'" Toth told CBC News. "I'm really hopeful that city council sees that difference between passive and active action."
Toth has sat on the police services board, which provides general management, sets policies and oversees the organization, for six years. She said she is no longer able to give what it takes to do the job well.
"It was not an easy decision, but I think it's what any member of an organization should do — regularly assess whether or not they feel they're an effective voice, and I just came to the realization that I was no longer feeling like I was able to contribute and be that effective voice and give my 100 per cent."
Ali Chahbar was elected the new chair of the board and Megan Walker is the vice chair.
Toth told CBC News she's proud of the work she's done since being appointed to the board in 2017.
"Putting together our anti-racism and mental health panels was a really major step in connecting the community with policing," she said. "Hiring a full-time psychologist for the London police was also really critical. But I'm just one person on the board, so I don't want to take all the credit, but I do feel a sense of accomplishment when I think of those things that we did."
Negotiations with the police union, budget constraints, and hiring a new police chief will be important tasks that the police services board has to oversee in the coming months.
Toth says the board needs more members that represent a wider array of Londoners.
"Even though I'm a person of colour, I don't speak with the voice of somebody who has the lived experience of being a Black woman, for example, or an Indigenous person. It's really critical to have that."