Hamilton councillor says he's being 'silenced' on police board as suspension continues 1 year later

Desmond Brown · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 11, 2025 12:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

A metropolis councillor says his dependable arsenic a subordinate of the Hamilton Police Service Board has been "effectively silenced" for a afloat twelvemonth arsenic an oversight assemblage investigates a ailment made against him by immoderate of his chap committee members.

Cameron Kroetsch, who is besides the Ward 2 councillor, said the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) suspended him connected March 8, 2024 to analyse a ailment filed by the Board alleging helium violated its codification of conduct.

In a missive to people the day of his suspension," Kroetsch wrote that arsenic clip has worn on, it's go adjacent clearer to him that the actions the committee took successful filing the ailment were procedurally unfair, an maltreatment of process, biased, and personally motivated.

"The Board's ailment and the OCPC's probe person prevented maine from participating not lone successful Board meetings, but successful meetings of some the Governance and Budget Committees, of which I'm a member," Kroetsch said.

"My relation is 1 of oversight connected behalf of residents who money the Hamilton Police Service. I've been asked by Ward 2 residents wherefore this is taking truthful long."

The OCPC did not reply that question. In an email to CBC Hamilton, spokesperson Veronica Spada said "The OCPC is not successful a presumption to remark astatine this time, arsenic it does not remark connected the substance oregon circumstances of ongoing investigations."

CBC Hamilton besides contacted the Police Service Board and a spokesperson determination had a akin comment, saying "the Board has nary comments arsenic this substance is presently nether investigation."

Kroetsch said the archetypal ailment against him was filed by past seat Pat Mandy connected Nov. 20, 2023, and voted connected by the board. 

Mandy alleged Kroetsch breached the board's Code of Conduct due to the fact that helium brought a question asking the metropolis to nonstop the usage of the board's fund surpluses; and Kroetsch made nationalist comments connected societal media successful 2023 that were captious of the board's budgetary processes.

Mandy did not respond to a petition for remark by the clip of work of this story.

"When the Board voted to nonstop this ailment to the OCPC, its creation included seat Pat Mandy, vice seat Fred Bennink, and members Andrea Horwath, Esther Pauls, Geordie Elms, Anjali Menezes, and myself," Kroetsch wrote successful the letter.

"Today, the Board's creation is precise different. Of those who were contiguous erstwhile this ailment was referred to the OCPC, lone members Andrea Horwath, Esther Pauls, and Anjali Menezes are presently progressive members of the board. In different words, the bulk of those who voted connected referring this ailment to the OCPC are nary longer connected the board."

Further allegations of codification violations

Meanwhile, Kroetsch said the committee requested the OCPC adhd further allegations of codification violations since the archetypal ailment was filed.

These see nationalist comments Kroetsch made connected societal media astir the fund process successful January and February 2024, nationalist comments to mainstream media during the 2024 fund process, nationalist comments during the Feb. 13 committee meeting, and that Kroetsch attended a rally to enactment the household of Erixon Kabera who was killed by Hamilton constabulary astatine his home.

"The committee did not supply these complaints to maine officially successful writing, which means I was ne'er afforded the close to remark oregon reply to the committee astir them. Instead, the committee simply filed these further allegations against maine straight with the OCPC, bypassing the Board's ain ailment procedure. The OCPC accepted the Board's petition to adhd these allegations," Kroetsch said.

"I judge it's unfair to adhd allegations, astatine will, to an existing probe and doing truthful has lone caused further delays. It took the OCPC, for example, much than six months to behaviour an interrogation with me, which yet took spot successful September 2024 and was the lone clip I've spoken straight with anyone from the OCPC implicit the past year."

The councillor said the probe by the OCPC has dragged on, contempt the information that each the comments helium made were successful nationalist and were easy accessible to the OCPC for the purposes of its investigation.

Additionally, helium said the ailment against him has been handled overmuch otherwise by the OCPC than different ailment against a erstwhile committee subordinate it investigated successful 2018. 

Kroetsch noted that astatine that time, erstwhile committee chair, Coun. Lloyd Ferguson, made nationalist comments astir past Ward 3 Coun. Matthew Green, adding that the OCPC was capable to wrapper up their full probe successful astir 3 weeks implicit the December vacation break. 

"To enactment it different way, the OCPC was capable to behaviour its investigation, talk with erstwhile seat Ferguson, and regularisation connected the substance successful little than a month," helium said.

"I admit that each ailment is different, but I'm acrophobic this appears to beryllium an effort to support maine disconnected the committee for a prolonged play of clip to forestall maine from providing oversight connected behalf of the residents of Hamilton."