The Midland Police Service (MPS) returned to the town's radar this week courtesy of Coun. Bill Gordon.
He introduced a notice of motion aimed at recognizing the four retiring MPS members, asking the municipality to treat them with the same dignity and respect the town affords any other retiring town staff.
“We do it for firefighters and everybody all the time,” Gordon told MidlandToday.
His idea did not go far. Council opted to refer the matter to the Midland Police Service Board (MPSB), nixing further discussion on the matter.
“In all honesty, it went exactly how I thought it would - much like the motions I bring up for all the things because it's me that's bringing them up," said Gordon.
“I expected that to come, but I kind of hoped I would have the chance to have a follow-up with the CAO,” said Gordon. “What I should have done is made my entire case and then have passed it on to him. I actually wanted to have a good discussion.”
Mayor Stewart Strathearn said it’s Gordon’s right to bring forward a notice of motion.
“In this case, it was totally on the wrong menu,” said Strathearn, who served on the MPSB when the town opted to switch to the OPP.
“The people (Coun. Gordon) is talking about were employees of the MPSB and not the municipality,” he explained, echoing comments made at the meeting by John Skorobohacz, the town's acting CAO.
In the process leading up to the disbandment of the town's police service, said Strathearn, the municipality and the board went before the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) with a submission to contract their police service to the OPP.
“Up until, February 8, 2018, Midland was policed by the MPS,” said Strathearn of the municipal force that had served the community for almost 100 years. “On February 8, and by the order of the OCPC, that service was disbanded and the municipality contracted the OPP.”
The mayor said the contract calls for the municipality to fund the police service, which in turn is governed by the PSB.
“The act is very clear to who is the employer and what their obligations and responsibilities are,” said Strathearn. “In the case of the MPS, it was the MPSB.”
Gordon, on the other hand, said the four members of the former MPS that recently ran out of severance, had been on the town’s payroll since Feb. 9, 2018.
“They were collecting their severance as salary continuation,” he said. “That meant the town doled it out to you until your severance was depleted. They were paying all the regular deductions as a municipal employee would, exactly as they had when they were employed with the police.”
At the time the service was disbanded, Gordon said, it was decreed that members could, because of their age and years of service, be eligible for retirement during their time of salary continuation. They could do so without any penalty, he added.
“Of those people, four of them qualified for retirement during this time,” said Gordon. “And they retired in the last month or so.”
The day the service disbanded, he said, the 'original' MPSB ceased to exist.
“It was later reconstituted under Section 10 of the Police Services Act,” Gordon said. “And it's a completely different animal. It's responsible for OPP policing.”
That was the point on which he intended to argue at council.
“What I'm arguing is that they were serving the town of Midland and each of these members has years of experience putting their lives on the line for the town,” said Gordon. “And now that they've ended their service, all I wanted to do was to bring them in and give them their plaque and a handshake and thank them for their service.”
Strathearn had a different viewpoint.
In the letter authorizing the disbanding and acknowledging the severance considerations for the former employees of the MPS would be taken care of, it spells out that the relationship is between the board and the employees, not the municipality, he said.
“The municipality is the funding body,” said Strathearn. “The service is provided to the municipality but the employees are the employees of the board. On Feb. 8, 2018, the service was disbanded and effective immediately, all employee relations were severed.”
The salient point with respect to Coun. Gordon's motion is that he maintains they are just retiring now, he said, and that is not the case, noted the mayor.
“It was the position of the board and the town that we would assist them in getting the best financial outcome,” said Strathearn. “Coun. Gordon maintains that they're retiring now. The fact is they're not retiring; they were severed. Now their severance is finished. We're no longer paying them, nor are we paying into their OMERS pension plan.”
Keeping all that mind, he said, bringing a motion forward to council was not appropriate.
“We don't do service recognition for the library, even though we cut the pay cheques and manage their pension and do all the administration,” said Strathearn. “That's the board's job.”
And the board at that time did not think of honouring the members of the MPS, he added.
“It never came up,” he said, “and perhaps it was an oversight, but we didn't even think of it.”
Strathearn said their attention was consumed by how the transition process would work and how the new service would work.
And for that, he said, he was grateful of all the help given by Jim Rettinger, who retired as a detective sergeant.
“He was huge in helping to make sure the transition went smoothly,” said Strathearn. “He was constantly in contact with HR and was the go-between with HR. He was absolutely professional and amazing. I personally would shake his hand for that.”
Seeing as how it’s being brought up two years later, he said, it’s likely that all the members have now moved on and it’s well past the point of honouring anyone.
“We respect the fact that the officers provided a level of service that we felt comfortable with, but we weren't comfortable with the financial model,” said Strathearn.
If the members were to approach the board about it, he said, it might just happen.
“We might just turn around and say, ‘Ok, let's recognize the entire service,’” said Strathearn. “It's never been brought up.”
Rettinger, however, said he isn’t about to ask the board for anything.
“We weren’t recognized by the MPSB in any way shape or form when we left,” he said. “We were recognized by the community, which held an event to thank us for our service to the town for a hundred years.”
This isn’t a retirement, added Rettinger; it was a termination.
“The issue has been very adversarial,” he said. “I would like them to give me something and shake my hands because they want to recognize our services, not because they were forced to. It would be disingenuous now for them to try and do anything.”
