The newly formed South Bruce OPP Detachment Board has been unable to hold a meeting, due to unintended consequences from the provincial legislation that led to its creation.
The Community Safety and Policing Act, which was enacted on April 1, meant that municipalities policed by the OPP no longer had police services boards, instead each OPP detachment would have one.
The South Bruce OPP Detachment board is made up five members from its member municipalities, two community representatives, and two provincial appointments.
Kincardine's representative, Councillor Rory Cavanaugh, said he was able to meet with the other four municipal members near the end of April, but after confirming two civilian members for the board, they ran into insurance issues.
"We can't have our second meeting, and this extends to all the detachments across Ontario," he said. "Because unfortunately, the way they wrote the legislation, the new detachment level police services board isn't recognized as a municipal board, and so insurance companies — the ones that will quote it — are quoting an astronomical amount, and the others are saying, 'I don't want to touch it.'"
The Ontario Association Of Police Service Boards put out a statement last month, asking that no further board meetings take place until the insurance issue is resolved.
Cavanaugh said while the municipality's insurance covers him while acting as a representative of Kincardine, no coverage for the board's two community members is a big issue.
"The biggest fear with that would be that a member who wasn't insured or indemnified would make a comment or say something that would incur liability," he said. "So a member of the public coming forward, who is trying to be a Good Samaritan and doing their part to help out, is taking on a huge risk if something happens. The board is a legal entity, it can be sued, and it would really suck if someone sued the board and was told, these five people will have representation and protection, but the other ones will not."
A motion by Cavanaugh was passed at Kincardine council on Wednesday requesting the Province take immediate action to address barriers preventing police boards from obtaining insurance.
He said he's also aware that delegations have been submitted to the AMO Annual Conference in August to address the issue.
On top of that, he says the province has still not submitted its appointments for the final two spots on the nine-person board.