Suspended over a year, Thunder Bay deputy police chief's future will soon be known amid leadership questions
CBC
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) has completed an investigation into serious allegations of workplace harassment and misconduct against Thunder Bay police's deputy chief, Ryan Hughes, who has been suspended for over a year, CBC News has learned.
The Thunder Bay Police Services Board (TBPSB) suspended Hughes in January 2022 "pending an internal investigation" into what they would only call a human resources matter, according to a board statement at the time.
The board never revealed further details about what led to the suspension or what they were doing to address the HR matter, and didn't provide a timeline as to when a decision may be reached on the deputy chief's future.
Since then, CBC News has obtained confidential board documents that show two senior members of the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) in the northwestern Ontario city filed separate complaints about Hughes. They included allegations of workplace harassment and misconduct that "may [have] criminal elements."
Those allegations were eventually handed to Toronto police to investigate, said board secretary John Hannam in an email. The investigation has since concluded, and the Thunder Bay police board is now reviewing a report and considering its response, with a decision expected "soon," he added.
Hannam did not say if the investigation found the allegations to be substantiated.
The troubled TBPS has experienced a particularly turbulent year of high-profile suspensions, external investigations, human rights complaints and calls for disbandment.
Now, alongside a decision on Hughes's future, the new police board is starting to take shape after imploding last spring, and a new police chief is expected to be in place in a matter of months after Sylvie Hauth avoided a public misconduct hearing by expediting her retirement.
But as the TBPS prepares to move forward, key questions from the past year of leadership crises remain — and the public may never get answers.
One of the earliest signs of renewed troubles within the police service's leadership came after a shocking decision in January 2022, when the oversight board announced it was suspending Hughes.
Before becoming deputy chief, he spent 20 years in policing, most recently managing the criminal investigations and intelligence units as a detective inspector with the TBPS and previously worked with York Regional Police.
But in the year since the suspension, the police board has remained silent on the reasons for it or what type of investigation was underway.
In February 2022, the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) began an investigation into allegations of misconduct against Hughes and then Chief Hauth, related to a 2020 criminal investigation of former board member Georjann Morriseau on allegations that were later found to be unsubstantiated.
In June, the OCPC investigation cleared Hughes of any wrongdoing, but he remained suspended.
The City of Edmonton is developing a wildfire strategy to mitigate risks within the municipality and help neighbouring regions, the city's emergency advisory committee heard Wednesday.
About 20 workers, students and local MPP candidates gathered outside Hamilton's Mohawk College Wednesday — where a fifth of full-time jobs have been cut since December — to call on the province to better fund post-secondary education.
In a busy race to Queen's Park, nine candidates are vying for the Sarnia—Lambton seat — a riding that's been conservative for nearly 20 years.
There's just over a year left in the Canada-Alberta child-care agreement and it's shaping up to be a rocky one for some parents, who — for this first time in the history of the agreement — will see their fees increase as a new phase of the program rolls out.
B.C. MLA Adrian Dix says he gets texts, emails, and even stopped at his local Safeway. He says people urge him to cut off power or even water to the U.S.
B.C. cities, in general, would be among the least vulnerable in Canada if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through on tariff threats, according to new data from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
Here's where and when you can vote in advance polls in Waterloo region, Guelph and Wellington County
Voting day is Feb. 27 in the Ontario election, but people can cast their ballots this week in advance polls.
Staff with Summerside Electric say they're not getting many updates from Maritime Electric after a failure at the utility's Sherbrooke substation over a week ago caused strain on the city's electrical grid.
The N.W.T.'s public utilities board has ordered the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) to start paying Naka Power $48,500 per month to use a transmission line in the Hay River area, starting March 1.
Ideologically motivated violent extremist groups are using antisemitism in a bid to recruit followers and inspire violence, according to a report from Canada's spy agency.
It's a move that could reshape North American trade.
Ontario's main political parties are competing for the hearts of voters by appealing to their wallets, with a mix of tax cuts and money-back rebates pitched as helping with the cost of living.
With one full week to go before voting day, Elections Ontario is working to reverse a recent downward trend in voter turnout, which set a record low of 43 per cent the last time Ontarians went to the polls in 2022.