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Old Posted Nov 30, 2014, 9:57 PM
Colin May Colin May is offline
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Police Chief Blais seeks clarity

HRM Police Chief seeks clarity

HRM Police Chief Blais claims " the current legislation is unclear" and " is hampering the effective fulfillment of his legislated responsibilities ".

In a report for the December 2 2014 council meeting prepared by Chief Blais and submitted by CAO Richard Butts, and also approved by HRM solicitor John Traves, Q.C., he is seeking amendments to Administrative Order 57 - Delegation of Certain Authorities Administrative Order.

In the report Chief Blais claims : " The Police Act contemplates the nature of the Chief’s position and codified certain responsibilities the Chief must uphold. However, with the current legislation being unclear, the Chief’s ability to enter into agreements is constrained, and is hampering the effective fulfillment of his legislated responsibilities. "

The Police Act is provincial legislation and overrides any provisions of the HRM Charter and any bylaws and administrative orders that do not derive from the Police Act and other relevant provincial legislation.
In the Police Act, section 93 clarifies its precedence " 93 (1) Where there is a conflict between this Act and any other Act, this Act prevails "

The Police Act requires a Chief of Police to report to the Board of Police Commissioners, not to the CAO.
During the Rob Ford fiasco the Toronto Police Chief was asked by a reporter if he had told Ford about the progress of an execution of search warrants and Chief Blair responded " I don't answer to the Mayor, I report to the Police Services Board and through them to the council "

If the Police Act " is unclear " and " and is hampering the effective fulfillment of his legislated responsibilities." it seems sensible to ask the Minister of Justice to amend the Police Act to provide clarity and thus allow him to fulfill " his legislated responsibilities".

If Chief Blais has been hampered he has never said so in public,and never told any public meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners.

I attended the November 2014 meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners for the presentation of the Police budget.

The agenda also included : 5. Briefing – Consideration of Amendments to Administrative Order 58, Respecting the Delegation of Certain Authorities.
This part of the meeting was brief and vague and presented by a solicitor from HRM legal. The solicitor was deliberately vague as to the contents of a report as the report had not been before council; and Chief Blais did not provide any hints as to the contents.


Here are a few questions councillors may consider asking Chief Blais, CAO Richard Butts and solicitor John Traves Q.C.

1) Who decided ' the current legislation is unclear' ?
2) When was the Minister of Justice informed 'the current legislation is unclear' ?
3) Who informed the Minister of Justice 'the current legislation is unclear' ?
4) What was the response of the Minister of Justice ?
5) Did HRM ask the Minister of Justice to amend the Police Act to make the current legislation more clear ?
6) What was the response of the Minister of Justice to Q5 ?
7) Does the Board of Police Commissioners agree that 'the current legislation is unclear' ?

In addition, HRM Bylaw P-100 is somewhat out of date and not in compliance with the Police Act, specifically section 8 where the word 'may' should be 'shall'; and also section 8. 2. (e) of the bylaw is out of date and in conflict with the Police Act, the section states a responsibility of the board to " prepare and submit in consultation with the Chief of Police and the Chief Administrative Officer or delegate, to Council an annual budget for the municipal police service." The Police Act section 53 gives the power to the Chief to prepare and submit a budget and contains no reference to the CAO on the subject of budgets.


Footnote : the following links are provided for readers who require more clarity.
Links : http://www.halifax.ca/council/agenda...1202ca1116.pdf

http://www.halifax.ca/legislation/bylaws/hrm/blp100.pdf

http://nslegislature.ca/legc/statutes/police.pdf

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013...the_mayor.html
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  #2  
Old Posted Dec 1, 2014, 12:12 PM
beyeas beyeas is offline
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What does this have anything to do with development/architecture?

Pretty sure there are other forums around for discussing general municipal government issues that have nothing to do with development.
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Old Posted Dec 1, 2014, 5:37 PM
JET JET is offline
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Looking at the other thread titles under "General"; there seems to be fairly general latitude as to what is generally acceptable under the general topic listing of "General"
IMHO
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