District Coun. Peter Cooper, who represents the Township of Georgian Bay, believes it doesn’t make sense for the township to be represented on two Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) detachment boards.
As part of a provincial mandate, all municipalities with an OPP detachment must start the process of creating an OPP detachment board by the beginning of April, which is when the updated Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 comes into effect.
Georgian Bay Mayor Peter Koetsier will be part of the Bracebridge OPP and Southern Georgian Bay OPP boards.
Cooper said during the township’s March 4 meeting that he has no issue with Koetsier being council’s representative on either board.
“From a practical perspective, most of our township can be covered by the police with the Midland detachment, not from Bracebridge,” he continued.
The Southern Georgian Bay OPP’s headquarters are in Midland.
Greg Mariotti, the township’s chief administrative officer, explains that District of Muskoka council confirmed Koetsier’s appointment to be part of the Southern Georgian Bay OPP board during its Feb. 22 meeting but it’s up to Georgian Bay council to agree to him working on the Bracebridge OPP board.
Cooper wondered if Koetsier could “sway them” to change the framework for the detachment boards.
“There is active discussion taking place with the OPP, with the district and the Solicitor General’s office is involved about the possibility of changing the boundaries,” said Koetsier.
He pointed out how Georgian Bay is “one of an extremely few municipalities” that are served by two OPP detachments.
“I’m optimistic we will get some resolution to that,” said Koetsier.
Meanwhile, Bracebridge council approved Mayor Rick Maloney to sit on the Bracebridge OPP board.
Coun. Don Smith said he’s glad to see the idea moving forward, adding it’s something many in the community have expressed interest in.