Province quietly appoints pair to local police board

By COLLIN GALLANT on May 17, 2023.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

The provincial government added two members to the Medicine Hat Police Commission late last month, but they won’t be formally introduced until after the election is over, the News has confirmed.

The News has independently confirmed two appointees are among more than a dozen people named by the province under new powers it gained after changing the Police Act late last year.

That includes new members to commissions in Calgary and Edmonton, revealed last week after city councils publicly objected to the move, saying it infringed on local jurisdiction.

In Medicine Hat, no one connected to the commission, the city, or the police service would go on record to confirm the change or appointments, outlined in correspondence last month to local authorities.

The News has independently confirmed information with several sources who were not authorized to speak publicly about the changes, which were originally thought to take effect in 2024.

When presented with the information Tuesday, Coun. Andy McGrogan, the city’s former police chief, told the News the timing and reasoning behind the moves hasn’t been explained to council.

“I think it’s ludicrous,” he said. “There’s been no dialogue as far as I know, no dialogue between the commission and the province now or beforehand about the who and the why (behind it).”

He said that after retiring as chief he specifically requested not to sit on the commission as a nod to its mandate of independent civilian oversight of the police service.

“There should have been a dialogue. I have a lot of questions about the ‘why.'”

UCP Leader and incumbent local candidate Danielle Smith was preparing for a forum in Brooks on Tuesday when her staff was presented with questions from the News.

Her government passed the Police Act changes last year and approved a list of appointees in late April, steered the issue toward her party’s public safety campaign planks when questioned about three appointees for Calgary.

“It’s no secret that the NDP and their fellow travellers want to defund the police. And it’s no secret that we are in the position that we’re in right now because it has demoralized our front-line officers and they haven’t felt supported – and they are supported by us,” she told reporters.

That came after Calgary city council voted down amendments to its own commission bylaw to change the makeup of the body and allow new members – a move Smith called “grandstanding.”

Similar objections about local government autonomy were made by Edmonton city hall.

In the province, only cities that have municipal police forces have police commissions, such as Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Taber and several other centres.

Locally, Medicine Hat would have to pass a similar bylaw, but nothing has been introduced to this point and now can’t until at least June.

That comes after city council discussed the issue in closed-session on April 17, according to abridged minutes, but the matter was deemed to be protected under privacy legislation.

Two city council members who represent the city on the commission – Couns. Alison Van Dyke and Shila Sharps – declined comment following Monday’s city council meeting, as did Mayor Linnsie Clark.

Other members deferred questions to board chair Ted Rodych, who is out of the country on vacation until June. He has not returned messages left with his commission provided cellphone or email.

The Commission’s main function is to approve and oversee the MHPS budget, which will total $22.5 million this year. That includes $1.6 million in grants from the provincial government as well as a percentage of local fine revenue that is transferred back from the province.

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