It appears the Mayor of Bracebridge will also be the face of council at the local OPP detachment board.
During the most recent Bracebridge general committee meeting councillors voted to have Mayor Rick Maloney designated as the representative of Council on the Bracebridge OPP Detachment Board.
OPP detachment boards were established for individual OPP detachments across Ontario to set objectives and to provide consultation for the local community. The move to create the boards comes from the passing of the Ontario Police Services Act, passed in 2019.
The board will determine objectives and priorities for the detachment, monitor the performance of the detachment commander, and advise the detachment commander with respect to policing provided by the detachment, along with other duties.
“I’m happy to see this happen,” said Coun. Don Smith. “There is an interest in the community and it’s been in the works for a long time.”
In 2021 Muskoka District was charged with consulting municipalities, Indigenous communities and residents to determine the composition of both the Huntsville and Bracebridge OPP Detachments. After this consultation, it was decided that there would be a six-member board at the Huntsville Detachment and a 16-member board at the Bracebridge detachment.
The 16-member Bracebridge OPP Board is comprised of one council member from each of the seven municipalities and First Nations (Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Muskoka Lakes, Georgian Bay, Wahta Mohawks, Moose Deer Point, District; as well as six community representatives and three provincial appointees.
The seven Council members are to be recommended by motion of each of the Councils represented. The six community representatives will be selected through a District process to be initiated shortly, while the three Provincial appointees will be managed through the Public Appointments Secretariat which oversees all Ontario government appointments to provincial agencies and other community boards and organizations.
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