Herrrreeeee we go. :lol:
TORONTO - Chief Bill Blair paid for the gas.
Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB) member Andy Pringle covered the cost of attending an exclusive salmon fishing club on the legendary Kedgwick River in New Brunswick.
The two went fishing on the same salmon waters in the summer of 2012 that have attracted the likes of George Bush, **** Cheney, Robert Redford and Bing Crosby.
The three-day trip taken by Blair and Pringle, one-time chief of staff for former Ontario PC leader John Tory, saw them travel by car to the private fishing lodge where Pringle is a member.
Councillor Doug Ford wants some answers and says he will proceed with a formal complaint to the board and to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD).
“Is it OK for a chief of police to be on holiday with a board member?” he asked.
It is a fair question that has been lost in the controversy flowing from Mayor Rob Ford’s crack-smoking admission.
Councillor Ford is entitled to express his concern and the board, according to regulations, has an obligation to investigate — even with the help of outside counsel, if necessary.
Blair, Pringle and police board chair Alok Mukherjee have repeatedly failed to respond several times to the Toronto Sun’s questions about the fishing trip.
There have been explanations provided, however, to other media.
“We were in the middle of, as you’d remember, some tough discussions about reducing the police budget,” Mukherjee told a Toronto Star reporter. “In that context, Mr. Pringle said that maybe some informal sidebar conversations in an informal setting might be useful to sort of persuade the chief to see that he had to deliver on the reduction target.”
If it was official board business, the board would have had to approve the junket and pay for it.
Pringle told the Globe and Mail: “I considered it part of my responsibility to find out about the organization I’m a board member of, to get to know the issues and challenges better,” and “I don’t see that as unusual.”
But it is not usual practice for a member of the board — which oversees the conduct, performance, salary and budget of the chief — to pay for a junket to discuss police business or otherwise without a public component and recording of the discussions.
A trip with the chief and a board member, however, is not unprecedented.
Mukherjee travelled to India — the country of his birth — in 2010 for a conference and drew scorn and sanction from his board members — namely for seeking a $1,000 reimbursement for an “honouring Chief Blair dinner” at the Canadian consulate. The May 20, 2011, TPSB minutes state “the board determined that chair Mukherjee’s conduct constituted a breach of the code of conduct and determined that it would take no further action with respect to this breach.”
Mukherjee has not commented on whether there will be a probe into the salmon fishing excursion.
The Globe story also stated Blair and Pringle “drove to New Brunswick in the chief’s car, according to police spokesman Mark Pugash. Chief Blair paid for gas; Mr. Pringle covered the accommodation. The chief landed two large salmon.”
The cost of the junket is unknown but the lodges along the Kedgwick River are known to be as expensive as they are exclusive.
The board’s own code of conduct states: “No board member will accept fee, advance, gift or personal benefit that is connected directly or indirectly with the performance of his or her duties of office.”
Pugash did not return e-mails to confirm but, sources say, senior officers in uniform have a similar expectation written in policy.
Councillor Ford, who has asked if the mayor was discussed during the trip, said he wants the air cleared on the details of this fishing trip.
It would also be interesting to see what effect the trip had on the intense budget battle in which the mayor had asked for all departments to cut 10% from their budgets. In the end, the police ended up with a 0.6% increase or 4.5% decrease, depending on who is doing the spinning.
But not a 10% reduction.
What role did reeling in those salmon play in achieving this and will such a strategy happen again?
Toronto Police chief's fishing trip raises questions | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
TORONTO - Chief Bill Blair paid for the gas.
Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB) member Andy Pringle covered the cost of attending an exclusive salmon fishing club on the legendary Kedgwick River in New Brunswick.
The two went fishing on the same salmon waters in the summer of 2012 that have attracted the likes of George Bush, **** Cheney, Robert Redford and Bing Crosby.
The three-day trip taken by Blair and Pringle, one-time chief of staff for former Ontario PC leader John Tory, saw them travel by car to the private fishing lodge where Pringle is a member.
Councillor Doug Ford wants some answers and says he will proceed with a formal complaint to the board and to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD).
“Is it OK for a chief of police to be on holiday with a board member?” he asked.
It is a fair question that has been lost in the controversy flowing from Mayor Rob Ford’s crack-smoking admission.
Councillor Ford is entitled to express his concern and the board, according to regulations, has an obligation to investigate — even with the help of outside counsel, if necessary.
Blair, Pringle and police board chair Alok Mukherjee have repeatedly failed to respond several times to the Toronto Sun’s questions about the fishing trip.
There have been explanations provided, however, to other media.
“We were in the middle of, as you’d remember, some tough discussions about reducing the police budget,” Mukherjee told a Toronto Star reporter. “In that context, Mr. Pringle said that maybe some informal sidebar conversations in an informal setting might be useful to sort of persuade the chief to see that he had to deliver on the reduction target.”
If it was official board business, the board would have had to approve the junket and pay for it.
Pringle told the Globe and Mail: “I considered it part of my responsibility to find out about the organization I’m a board member of, to get to know the issues and challenges better,” and “I don’t see that as unusual.”
But it is not usual practice for a member of the board — which oversees the conduct, performance, salary and budget of the chief — to pay for a junket to discuss police business or otherwise without a public component and recording of the discussions.
A trip with the chief and a board member, however, is not unprecedented.
Mukherjee travelled to India — the country of his birth — in 2010 for a conference and drew scorn and sanction from his board members — namely for seeking a $1,000 reimbursement for an “honouring Chief Blair dinner” at the Canadian consulate. The May 20, 2011, TPSB minutes state “the board determined that chair Mukherjee’s conduct constituted a breach of the code of conduct and determined that it would take no further action with respect to this breach.”
Mukherjee has not commented on whether there will be a probe into the salmon fishing excursion.
The Globe story also stated Blair and Pringle “drove to New Brunswick in the chief’s car, according to police spokesman Mark Pugash. Chief Blair paid for gas; Mr. Pringle covered the accommodation. The chief landed two large salmon.”
The cost of the junket is unknown but the lodges along the Kedgwick River are known to be as expensive as they are exclusive.
The board’s own code of conduct states: “No board member will accept fee, advance, gift or personal benefit that is connected directly or indirectly with the performance of his or her duties of office.”
Pugash did not return e-mails to confirm but, sources say, senior officers in uniform have a similar expectation written in policy.
Councillor Ford, who has asked if the mayor was discussed during the trip, said he wants the air cleared on the details of this fishing trip.
It would also be interesting to see what effect the trip had on the intense budget battle in which the mayor had asked for all departments to cut 10% from their budgets. In the end, the police ended up with a 0.6% increase or 4.5% decrease, depending on who is doing the spinning.
But not a 10% reduction.
What role did reeling in those salmon play in achieving this and will such a strategy happen again?
Toronto Police chief's fishing trip raises questions | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
