A familiar face returns to lead the Bradford West Gwillimbury/Innisfil Police Services Board, which oversees the South Simcoe Police Service.
Chris Gariepy was again acclaimed to the role of chair for one year during the board’s monthly meeting in their newly renovated space in the InnPower building in Innisfil on Jan. 22.
Gariepy thanked the board for their confidence in him and said it feels “terrific” to be selected for the position.
“I’m really grateful for the support from the board, no questions, and I’m also very, very lucky to be working with a high-quality board such as this,” Gariepy said after the meeting.
He was nominated by fellow board member and Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin, and said he looks forward to helping guide the board and be a resource for it as members tackle updated responsibilities under the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA), which replaced the Police Services Act (PSA) and began taking effect on April 1 last year.
“There’s so much of it that’s new and I’m spending a considerable amount of time reviewing and studying the Act so that we have the best information possible as a small police service board,” he said.
Gariepy said he’s already had several conversations with the office of Ontario Inspector General of Policing, Ryan Teschner, calling him a “terrific” person well suited to provide advice with board governance.
Despite the time required to fulfil the role, Gariepy said it’s worth it, especially with such a “great” organization and “terrific” command team.
“Now that we’ve got our budget in place for 2025, I look forward to the great things this service can do,” he said.
According to a release from the service, Gariepy joined the board in 2019 as a provincial appointee and brings more than 40 years of extensive business/entrepreneurial experience and community engagement to the role. He was elected vice-chair in 2020 and took the helm as chair on Jan. 26, 2021.
The appointment is for one year with the term set to end and a new appointment made at the board’s first meeting of 2026.
Normally, the selection of the chair would be accompanied by the selection of vice-chair, but as the new CSPA does not require a vice-chair on the board, Gariepy suggested postponing that selection until spring or summer.
In the meantime, past vice-chair Todd Canning remains a member of the board.
In accordance with the CSPA, the board is comprised of five members including:
- The head of both municipal councils or, if the head chooses not to be a member of the board, another member of the council appointed by resolution of the council;
- One person appointed by resolution of the councils, who is neither a member of the council nor an employee of the municipality;
- Two persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council
The current board members include:
- Bradford Mayor James Leduc
- Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin
- Todd Canning, past vice-chair (municipal appointee)
- Chris Gariepy, chair (provincial appointee)
- Sarbjit Singh, (provincial appointee)
