Ontarioâs Special Investigations Unit â the often embattled and scrutinized provincial police watchdog â is looking for a new director.Tony Loparco, who has spent five-and-a-half years at the helm and is the longest-serving SIU director, is leaving his post at the end of the month, an SIU spokesperson confirms.The departure leaves the Ministry of the Attorney General needing to fill a position thatâs been called âone of the toughest public-sector posts there isâ â leading the agency that oversees investigations into police-involved fatalities, serious injuries and allegations of sexual assault.The vacancy comes after a major, and at times highly critical, Court of Appeal judgeâs review of the SIU and its functions, and as Queenâs Park considers new policing legislation that would weaken the police watchdog, including lowering expectations around when it must be called in to investigate officers.Last month, Doug Fordâs government unveiled its rewrite of the previous governmentâs police laws, which had granted the SIU greater powers and was dubbed âthe most anti-police legislation in Canadian historyâ by community safety minister Sylvia Jones. One of Fordâs first moves after becoming premier in July was the 11th-hour halt of the new legislation, scheduled to come into force the next day.Read more:Whatâs changing in Fordâs new police oversight law â and why it mattersOpinion | Edward Keenan: The Tories are keeping key parts of the Ontario law they call âanti-policeâFord government unveils plan to âfixâ police oversight, limit SIU mandateAttorney General Caroline Mulroney â who will have final say on Loparcoâs successor â called the SIU process âridiculously opaqueâ at last monthâs press conference unveiling her governmentâs new policing laws. Proposed changes to the watchdogâs mandate would inc ...
|