Adam: Eric Stubbs could be a good Ottawa police chief, but the way he was cast sucks

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Eric Stubbs may or may not make a good Ottawa police chief. Time will tell.

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But there is no doubt that the way he was elected, three days before an election, by a lame police board that owes its existence to outgoing Mayor Jim Watson, is outrageous. The chairman of the board, Eli El-Chantiry, was not truthful when he stated that the police board is an independent body and therefore has every right to appoint a new chief. “The police services board is a distinct and separate body from the city council,” a statement from the board said. Which means the board makes its own decisions and the council has no say in the matter. And so watson added with a serious face: “The police board has the right by law to choose the new police chief; he is not the council, he is not the mayor.”

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This is the same Watson who engineered the firing of Diane Deans on a 15-9 vote in February because the board, when she was in charge, appointed an interim chief during the Teamsters’ protest without notifying the council. El-Chantiry voted to expel Deans and was later handed her job.

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But if the board is “distinct and separate” and has power under the law to appoint a chief, why did Watson and his gang interfere in February? Why was the Deans board, operating under the same law Watson refers to, not independent enough to appoint a chief, but the Chantiry board is?

The answer? rude policy. Watson didn’t like Deans, so he had to go, law or not.

It is the kind of behavior that undermines trust in politicians. They say one thing and then act another if it suits them. The board is ostensibly independent only if Warson’s ally El-Chantiry is chairman, and that’s largely how he has operated the current board: dancing to Watson’s drumbeat. One can only hope that the new council will act differently under a new mayor. The council, and indeed the province, must make clear whether the board is independent or subject to the whims of the mayor, particularly if it has certain veto powers. This lame duck board should never have appointed Stubbs, regardless of his credentials. This was a job for a new board after the election.

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Why does it matter when Watson and El-Chantiry are dating? Because it is wrong and undemocratic, and should not be allowed to set a precedent. An outgoing board and mayor have no right to impose themselves on an incoming municipal government. Public confidence in the Ottawa police has never been lower, and the appointment of a new chief under such controversial circumstances does little to improve public morale. The deed is done, but it must be denounced for its heinousness, to dissuade future politicians from attempting something similar.

Of course, none of this is Stubbs’ fault. “I didn’t, and I didn’t control when the hiring process happened,” he said. “I was open, I applied and I went through a rigorous process to get to this point.” He is correct. Stubbs turns out to be the unfortunate victim of the dysfunction that plagued the city government by the time the Teamsters’ protest reached the city.

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Still, there is a cloud over the appointment, and Ottawa residents are right to be concerned. Stubbs has his own baggage. His handling of indigenous protesters in British Columbia and the complaints filed against him by the BC Civil Liberties Association while leading a task force in Terrace, BC, raise questions of his own.

Stubbs has some explaining to do when he gets to Ottawa, and he also has to repair the damage caused by his appointment. He has promised to work with the new mayor and council to “overcome any negativity and heartache,” and it should.

Ottawa needs a good boss to change the culture of a force plagued by scandals. Former Chief Peter Sloly received a frosty welcome in Ottawa and was undermined from the moment he took office, culminating in abject police failure during the Teamsters’ protest. Let’s hope Stubbs does better.

mohammed adam is a journalist and commentator from Ottawa.