Sudbury police probe allegation against Thunder Bay officer
First Nations parent complained about Thunder Bay officer after incident at youth hockey tournament
Jody Porter CBC News
Posted: Jan 17, 2013 1:32 PM ET
Last Updated: Jan 17, 2013 2:28 PM ET
Thunder Bay Police Chief JP Levesque and Inspector Don Lewis were part of a community safety meeting Tuesday night where one man spoke about his concerns about the behaviour of an off-duty officer at a hockey tournament last week. (Jody Porter/CBC)
For the second time in less than a month, Thunder Bay police are being investigated for the way one of its officers treated a First Nations youth.
OPP launched an investigation Jan. 3 after a First Nation student reported that he had been picked up by Thunder Bay police and abandoned in a rural area outside city limits.
Now, Greater Sudbury Police have been called in to investigate a complaint about an off-duty officer’s "altercation" with a First Nations boy and his father at a hockey tournament.
“I experienced, I guess, racism for the first time in my life,” Kelvin Redsky said at a community safety meeting in Thunder Bay on Jan. 15.
The meeting was organized by the Nishnawbe Aski Nation to deal with what Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler called the “broken relationship” between Aboriginal people in the city and the Thunder Bay police.
Redsky spoke during the open microphone session of the meeting. He didn’t go into detail about what happened because he didn’t want to name names, he said.
“It really hurt me when that happened to my son,” he said. “And it happened from the Thunder Bay police who was off duty.”
City Councillor Rebecca Johnson co-chaired the community safety meeting in Thunder Bay. (Jody Porter/CBC)The meeting's facilitator, city councillor Rebecca Johnson, discouraged Redsky from saying any more. She interrupted him and suggested he talk to police officers after the meeting.
“I’ve done that,” Redsky said. “I haven’t had anything done.”
At the meeting, Redsky said Sudbury police were investigating the incident.
After calls from CBC News, on Jan. 16, Thunder Bay police issued a news release.
“The Sudbury Regional Police Service [now called Greater Sudbury Police] is investigating a complaint by a Thunder Bay parent regarding an alleged altercation involving an off-duty Thunder Bay Police Service officer,” it stated.
Thunder Bay Police executive officer Chris Adams said Police Chief JP Levesque called in the Sudbury police so the investigation would be "transparent."
“The allegation is that a young man who was involved in the [hockey] tournament and his father got into an altercation with the officer,” Adams told CBC News. “The officer's actions are under investigation now.”
The officer in question is now on administrative duties while the incident is under investigation, Adams added.
Share Tools
Latest Thunder Bay News Headlines
- Dropping lumber prices a 'growing pain,' analyst says
- A report from TD Economics shows North American lumber prices are down 25 per cent since the middle of April — and that is a significant drop, observers say. more »
- Licensing needed for Thunder Bay taxis: report
- A report that says Thunder Bay taxi fares are higher than the provincial average — and wait times are the highest in Ontario — will go under the microscope at a Tuesday Police Services board meeting. more »
- Aboriginal programs help keep youth out of jail
- Aboriginal youth still make up a disproportionate number of the young people in custody in Ontario, but those number are in decline, according to the Ministry of Children and Youth. more »
- 5 dead after vehicle plunges into river near Slate Falls
- The Ontario Provincial Police say five people died when an SUV crashed into a river in northwestern Ontario. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Quebec premier says Montreal mayor should resign
- Quebec Premier Pauline Marois says Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum should step down following his arrest this morning. more »
- Canadians jailed after Dominican post-wedding fight released
- Two Canadian men imprisoned in the Dominican Republic following a post-wedding brawl last month have been released and will be returning to Canada, a family member says. more »
- Northern Gateway in Canadians' interest, Enbridge tells review board
- Canada will be vulnerable to economic disaster should the Northern Gateway pipeline be rejected, the proponent told a federal review panel Monday as the final phase of public hearings got underway. more »
- MPs weigh in on Justin Trudeau charging speaking fees
- The New Brunswick charity that asked Liberal leader Justin Trudeau to return a speaking fee eight months after he appeared at a fundraiser has sparked a debate among MPs about the propriety of accepting money for what some say MPs should do for free. more »