Top cop unfairly bashed: Woolley

By IAN ROBERTSON
Mon, August 14, 2006
Toronto Sun

The OPP's top officer was negotiating her new job in Ireland long before the ongoing standoff between natives, residents and cops in Caledonia heated up, a police union boss said.

And Sgt. Cam Woolley said Commissioner Gwen Boniface has been unfairly badgered for the force's handling of often-violent protests at a stalled housing development in Caledonia.

Boniface's announcement on July 28 that she will leave in October to join a police task force in Ireland was greeted as a surprise by politicians and many in the force.

Critics accused her of bailing over Caledonia, where the OPP came under fire for not enforcing a court order to remove native roadblocks and protesters. Several people have complained officers did not protect them during confrontations.

But Woolley, head of the Ontario Provincial Police Association in the GTA, said Boniface -- who joined in 1977 and became commissioner in 1998 -- "was probably one of the best people to handle it."

As ex-superintendent of the OPP's First Nations and Contract Policing Branch, "she is one of the most knowledgeable on First Nations issues," he said in an exclusive interview.

"Most of the criticism of Gwen on Caledonia has been by people who don't fully understand," he said. The standoff "is kind of a no-win situation. It's a lot more complicated."

The OPP's reputation was tarnished when an officer fatally shot native protester Dudley George during the occupation of a provincial park in 1995. With the Ipperwash inquiry resuming next month, officers feared their bosses would not back them in Caledonia if force was used.

Woolley said critics either ignore or don't realize "the role of police is more of a peacekeeper."

Some colleagues and media claim Boniface is often aloof, micro-manages and is unapproachable. They complain she wasn't in Caledonia backing officers.

Woolley, who knows her professionally and personally, disagrees, but said "she doesn't seek the limelight." But whenever an OPP officer was hurt or killed on duty, "she was there" for them or relatives.