Caledonia among tough files new OPP commissioner has handled

On the day that his career reached a pinnacle, Chris Lewis walked proudly down the hall of the Ontario legislature flanked by Premier Dalton McGuinty and Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci.

It was July 7 and he had just been appointed commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police force.

Photographers recording the moment were overheard to say: “Who’s he?”

Mr. Lewis cheerfully admits he lacks the profile of his predecessor, Julian Fantino.

“His style is a little different than mine,” Mr. Lewis said in an interview with Global TV’s Focus Ontario.

“We share a lot of values,” he said of Mr. Fantino, whom he describes as both a friend and mentor.

“Ultimately I’m not the same person.”

Mr. Lewis, 53, officially takes over as OPP commissioner on Sunday.

The native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. is the first northerner to rise to the top job, leading one of North America’s largest forces, with 5,900 uniformed officers. It has a vast and complex mandate, responsible for everything from catching speeders on the 401 to enforcing the law in remote aboriginal communities.

Mr. Lewis is a 32-year veteran of the provincial police. His first assignments took him to places like Kapuskasing and Smooth Rock Falls — tiny detachments where he would lock the station door before going out on solo patrol on dark, wintry highways where the radios did not always work, and where backup would be an hour’s drive away.

Lewis rose to the post of deputy commissioner in charge of field operations. He also oversaw the creation of an Aboriginal Policing Bureau and for the past three years has been in charge of one of the OPP’s thorniest files: Caledonia.

Since 2006, native protesters have occupied the Douglas Creek Estates, a housing development that was being built on lands claimed by First Nations. In the early days, the provincial police force tried to evict the demonstrators. Since then, the protesters and the residents have been uneasy and frequently hostile neighbours.

At the news conference where his appointment was announced, Mr. Lewis bristled at a reporter’s description of it as a “standoff.”

In his Focus Ontario interview, the new commissioner elaborated.

“They’re not violating any law,” he said of the protesters, noting that the disputed land is now owned by the province, which bought it from the housing developer in an attempt to defuse the situation.

“If the Government of Ontario said they had to come off that land, then they would be trespassing and we’d have to act on that.”

Lewis said there have been hundreds of charges laid against both natives and residents, and more than 40 officers injured during the occupation, but he believes the area is now relatively peaceful, if not exactly happy.

“The tensions are still there in the community of Caledonia because they’re upset that this ever happened. I totally appreciate that.”

The new commissioner also takes over at a time when the provincial police’s Anti-Rackets branch is in the midst of an investigation into three provincial ministries. Two weeks ago, the OPP raided government offices in the vast Macdonald Block across the street from the legislature in downtown Toronto, seizing boxes of documents and electronic records.

Both the police and the government clamped down on information, leading to erroneous reports about who was under investigation. Ontario Tory Leader Tim Hudak complained the silence meant that innocent civil servants were being unfairly tarred with suspicion.

When Premier Dalton McGuinty returned from vacation earlier this week, he revealed that police are focusing on the ministries of Transportation, Community and Social Services and Economic Development and Trade.

But he did not elaborate and Mr. Lewis will not either, saying he actually does not know the details.

“The bottom line is we never identify suspects. In the past we mistakenly did and we were sued,” he told Global News.

“Until we have enough information to either lay a charge or confirm a charge won’t be laid, we really won’t be saying any more. We don’t want this to be played out in the media.”

All the OPP will say about the investigation is that it relates to allegations of “irregular financial transactions between provincial government ministries and vendors.”

Although Mr. Lewis officially takes over Sunday, he said Julian Fantino will not be physically vacating the commissioner’s office in Orillia, Ont., until some time next week. And the new top cop is fine with that.

“I’m not about to change a lot of things. . . . I share in his beliefs and will always do the best thing for the organization.”

Before the taping of his Focus Ontario interview, Mr. Lewis laughed when it was pointed out that he does something regularly that Mr. Fantino would never do: sleep with one of his senior officers. The new Commissioner is married to OPP Supt. Angie Howe.

Global News