Pat Mandy takes over as Chairman of the Hamilton Police Services Board – Hamilton | The Canadian News

The Hamilton Police Services Board has a new chairman.

Credit First Nation Mississaugas member Pat Mandy was unanimously elected to the position during the board meeting Thursday afternoon.

Mandy first joined the board, as a representative from the province, in March 2018.

She was nominated for the position of president by Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger during his final meeting as a member of the police services board.

Eisenberger has resigned from the board, as City Council representative, to make way for Flamborough Coun. Judi Partridge.

Mandy says that now she is in a position to “teach and share with others, because I believe that working for our future, working together is knowledge, mutual understanding and relationship building.”

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“My indigenous name,” Mandy adds, “means ‘people unite women’” in Anishinaabe.

Mandy also says that she will face many challenges amid the international conversation about underfunding police services.

“I think we need to change the conversation about underfunding,” Mandy says, “and start redirecting our efforts and resources in a more effective way.”

“We need to see how we can change the system,” Mandy adds, “so that we don’t always need the services of the police to react, but rather to start upstream and put some of the support, we’ve heard about housing, mental health.”

Mandy is a retired healthcare administrator with an impressive resume in leadership positions.

She was the first Indigenous President of the Ontario College of Nurses, the first Executive Director of the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network, and served as Vice President of Patient Services at Hamilton Health Sciences.

Mandy was named a member of the Order of Canada in June 2017.