Ontario police watchdog to host public meeting in Thunder Bay, Ont., Monday – CBC

OIPRD investigating allegations of systemic racism in Thunder Bay police

Sep 25, 2017

The head of Ontario’s civilian police oversight body is scheduled to be in Thunder Bay, Ont., for a public meeting tonight, as part of the ongoing probe into allegations of systemic racism in the Thunder Bay Police Service.

Gerry McNeilly, the Ontario Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), and his staff are holding the first public forum in the city as part of their investigation into the way the local police treat the deaths of Indigenous people.

The meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m., on September 25 at the Da Vinci Centre, is to allow people in Thunder Bay the chance to inform the investigation and share their thoughts on interactions with police; the forum is also expected to cover topics like police-Indigenous community relations, how the community feels about the issue of racism or bias in policing and successes and recommendations to effective policing.