MEDIA RELEASE

December 16, 2018

Thunder Bay Police Association (TBPA) response to the reports of OIPRD, Mr Gerry
McNeilly and Senator Murray Sinclair.

After careful review, the membership of TBPA is taking the above-said reports very
seriously and understands the expressed concerns of the Indigenous community. That
said, we feel that the OIPRD report does not highlight the hard work of the TBPA
members that is done on a daily basis within the community of Thunder Bay, nor does
it mention the high Solve Rate for violent crime in the city. Senator Sinclair
references in his final report that TBPS ranks significantly higher than the provincial
and national average for solving homicides and violent crime, while having
substantially higher call rates for service than any other similar sized city in Ontario.
Will we make mistakes? Of course, we are not perfect, and we accept the
responsibility for those mistakes. What we do not accept is the repeated accusations
that our members are “Racist”.

The TBPA is calling on the City of Thunder Bay, Members of Parliament MP Haijdu and
MP Rusnak along with MPP Rickford, to address the inadequate funding policies
regarding the Thunder Bay Police Service. Senator Sinclair references in his final
report that the TBPS is one of the lowest funded Police services in the province. The
current funding policy stands at 7.9 % of the City’s total budget. Mr. McNeilly has
made numerous recommendations that request ‘Urgent’ attention for more funding
and manpower.

The TBPA is also calling on the Chief Coroner of Ontario, Dirk Hyer, to release the
findings of the review by the York Regional Police Service into the 2017 deaths of
Josiah Begg and Tammy Keeash. This is referenced in Mr. McNeilly’s report and to date
Mr. Hyer has refused to release his report.

Statistically Thunder Bay continues to be one of the top ranked cities in the nation for
violent crime and homicides year after year. Still there continues to be inadequate
support from all levels of government to address the high rates of addiction , mental
health issues, the lack of available treatment centers and lack of support for the
Indigenous community in our city.

It seems easier to direct blame toward the Police than it is to be part of the solution.
We are calling on Mr. Fiddler, and all other Indigenous leaders to work with the Police,
and the City of Thunder Bay to address the issues raised in these reports.

Thunder Bay Police Association

PRESIDENT GREG STEPHENSON- THUNDER BAY POLICE ASSOCIATION 1