The president of the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario says the Ford government's plan to expand eligibility to receive a designation called the King's Commission to First Nations and municipal police officers is "overdue."
The Ministry of the Solicitor General posted a regulatory proposal last week to outline the ranks at which officers would be eligible to receive a King's Commission following the government's Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA) going into effect on April 1. The legislation replaced the Police Services Act and includes a series of changes to standards and oversight of policing such as allowing officers to be suspended without pay in some instances.
The King's Commission, or previously Queen's Commission, has so far just been available to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers, not municipal or First Nations officers. If the regulatory change goes through, the King's Commission would apply to commissioned officers ranked as inspectors and above.
The government is proposing that OPP officers who are inspectors, detective inspectors, superintendents, detective superintendents, chief superintendents, deputy commissioners and commissioners continue to be eligible to get the honorary designation. It is also proposing that "other police officers and First Nation officers" of the following ranks also be eligible to receive the designation: inspectors, detective inspectors, staff inspectors, superintendents, detective superintendents, chief superintendents, staff superintendents, deputy chiefs and chiefs of police.
"It puts us on the at the same plateau as other officers ... because for years First Nations police officers with those ranks have been excluded from receiving that. Now it's getting to the position where we're on an equal basis with those non-Indigenous police," said Darren Montour, president of Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario (IPCO). "It's overdue because we do the same job, we should get the same recognition."
He said for officers, the recognition would "be a lot to go for your self-pride and your overall policing career that you actually made a difference."
Montour said while he would have liked to see this happen sooner, "at least it's happening now."
"There's a lot of things I wish would have happened sooner like increased funding and us being able to provide the adequate and effective policing that all of our communities deserve," he said. "One step at a time and I guess we're getting there slowly."
The proposal from the government comes as First Nations chiefs have launched a constitutional challenge against Ontario and Canada, saying the two governments aren't adequately enforcing their communities' laws and that this amounts to "discrimination."
One of the concerns raised by the Chiefs of Ontario and Indigenous police chiefs is that the now-in-force CSPA includes a section saying "adequate and effective policing does not include, (a) the enforcement of municipal or First Nation bylaws, other than prescribed bylaws." They say this is jeopardizing the safety of their communities.
Kai Liu, executive director of IPCO, said while the King's Commission designation doesn't afford officers any more benefits, the proposed regulation is "going to be more inclusive."
"Even though it doesn't give us any additional powers or titles or rights, the fact that officers from Indigenous police services and municipal services were excluded, it was unfair, so this just makes it more inclusive," Liu said.
The Police Association of Ontario (PAO), which represents nearly 30,000 sworn and civilian police personnel across the province, said it supports the proposed regulation.
“The PAO on behalf of its members is supportive of this proposal that could see all officers across Ontario be recognized for their vital service to their communities and to our province," PAO President Mark Baxter said in a statement. "Every day our members go to work to keep community members throughout Ontario safe and I’m glad that this proposal will make more of them eligible to receive the recognition of a King's Commission."
The change in eligibility for the King's Commission has been in the works for a few years.
Progressive Conservative MPP Mike Harris tabled Bill 78, the Police Services Amendment Act, in December 2021, with the legislation passing and receiving royal assent in April 2022. The legislation was intended to "authorize the issue of a commission under the Great Seal to municipal police officers and First Nations Constables," according to Harris' website. But the legislation, which aimed to expand eligibility for officers of a "prescribed rank," was not proclaimed.
MPP Harris' office did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
Hunter Kell, press secretary for Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said the ministry's proposal would "ensure equal recognition across all levels of policing and seeks to recognize the contributions of officers in municipal and opted-in First Nations police services acknowledging their standards of excellence."
"The extension of King’s Commissions to all other police officers was enacted through the Strengthening Safety and Modernizing Justice Act, 2023, which amended the CSPA. This Act carried over provisions of Bill 78 introduced by MPP Mike Harris Jr. which had made similar changes to the Police Services Act, 1990," he added.
The ministry is accepting feedback on its proposal until June 13.
