OPP morale, Caledonia to top Fantino's agenda

New commissioner acknowledges trouble in ranks as land-claim protest continues

MURRAY CAMPBELL
Oct 13, 2006
Global & Mail

The new commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police says he will work quickly to boost officers' morale, but he offered no immediate clues about how he intends to proceed in the contentious Caledonia land-claim dispute.

Julian Fantino said yesterday he needs time to educate himself on the issues surrounding the occupation by Six Nations protesters of a housing estate near the southwestern Ontario community. But he accepted that morale at the province's most senior police force has declined because officers feel they have not been allowed to enforce the law there.

"The morale of the men and women of the OPP is a very important issue that I certainly intend to address directly," Mr. Fantino said in a conference call from Boston, where he was attending a policing conference.

But he declined to make further comments about how he will deal with the officers' complaints. "The whole issue of Caledonia -- I'm going to have to learn and educate myself up to speed on all the nuances and all the issues there," he said.

Mr. Fantino, 64, was named OPP commissioner yesterday for an initial two-year appointment. Currently Ontario's commissioner of emergency management, he started as a beat officer in Toronto in 1964 and has served as the chief of police in Toronto, London and York Region.

He was selected after a Canada-wide search by a placement firm that sifted through more than 30 applications.

"Julian Fantino has a long record of public service across Ontario," Premier Dalton McGuinty said in a statement. "I wish him very well in his new post as he takes over the leadership of a very professional force."

The appointment was welcomed by the Ontario Provincial Police Association and the opposition Progressive Conservative party.

OPPA president Karl Walsh said Mr. Fantino's reputation for being "a cop's cop" will serve him well with the OPP's 7,500 uniformed and civilian employees.

He said morale has declined because of the situation in Caledonia, where officers feel they are not being allowed to enforce the law because of fears the protest might turn violent.

"He has to restore the confidence of the rank and file in the leadership of the OPP and he has to restore the confidence of the public," Mr. Walsh said. "He can let police do their jobs, that's all we've ever wanted to do."

Progressive Conservative critic Garfield Dunlop said restoring morale within the force will be Mr. Fantino's "No. 1 challenge."

New Democratic Leader Howard Hampton said the new commissioner will face a sharp learning curve in dealing with First Nations controversies. The former attorney-general suggested that old-fashioned policing doesn't work in such cases.

"This is a different kind of law enforcement, this is a different kind of administration of justice," he said.

Mr. Fantino gave no hint yesterday about how he intends to proceed in Caledonia, where a court injunction against protesters issued in the spring has not yet been served. The government has bought the disputed housing subdivision, which the natives claim was given to them in a treaty signed with the Crown more than a century ago.

"We will make wise decisions that are in the greater good," the new commissioner said. "We certainly are respectful of the rights and entitlements of people, but we also, I think, have to be very mindful and respectful that there is a rule of law, that anarchy can't prevail and that we will do our utmost best to ensure that peace and tranquillity prevail and whatever it takes to do that we will have to consider all options."

Finance Minister Greg Sorbara, a long-time friend of Mr. Fantino, said the appointment does not signal any change in the government's policy of trying for a peaceful resolution of the Caledonia dispute. Asked whether he thought there is a potential for conflict between the new commissioner and the government, Mr. Sorbara replied: "I think he's going to do an extremely good job."