Police Board Withdraws Code of Conduct Complaint against Thompson

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The Toronto Police Services Board has announced to have withdrawn its code of conduct complaint against one of its board members, Michael Thompson, who is known for often publicly criticizing Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair. In his remarks in February, board’s vice-chair Thompson mentioned that the TPS needed a “shake up,” while condemning the service’s stripsearching practices and openly declaring not to support the renewal of Blair’s contract expiring in April, 2015.

Soon after those remarks, two board members filed complaints against Thompson for his comments and an ad hoc meeting was held. The meeting concluded that the board’s code of conduct may have been breached. In case a code of conduct violation was proved, the councillor would have not been allowed to participate in any discussions surrounding the chief’s contract renewal. However, Thompson retaliated by initiating a judicial review into the complaint and so an immense court battle was set to begin in less than a week.

However, Thompson confirmed on July 18 that he has received a letter from the board indicating that it sought advice from the Ministry of the Solicitor General and the Ontario Civilian Police Commission and both bodies determined that “no further action is warranted.” Thompson’s lawyer, Clayton Ruby, mentioned on Tuesday that “we are pleased that the Board has decided to end its experiment in censorship.” He alleged that “I will continue to act as I have done consistently during my tenure on the Board,” adding that “exercise vigorous oversight, promote the public interest and keep Torontonians informed.”