Gwen Boniface has already left the country
As many of you now know, OPP Commissioner Gwen Boniface has stepped down from her position in order to become a member of the Garda Inspectorate in Ireland, a group that oversees the national police force. Most people believe she quit or was pressured to resign over her poor performance during the Caledonia land dispute.
Curiously, she seems to have already started her new job well ahead of schedule.
A reader noticed this strange mixing of tenses in these two stories I used in my post.
First, from the official provincial government news wire release dated July 28:
Boniface will continue as OPP Commissioner until early October to ensure a smooth transition. An extensive, Canada-wide search will begin shortly to fill the Commissioner position.
Now this from the Irish Examiner, also dated July 28:
She was speaking at the announcement of two more members of the Inspectorate - former Mineapolis police chief Robert Olson and former Ontario police commissioner Gwen Boniface.
Well, if Boniface is supposed to be working as OPP commissioner until October, that is, another two to three months, it seems a bit presumptuous to refer to her as "former" commissioner. That would undermine her authority.
So I checked another story, also from the Irish Examiner, dated July 29:
Chief Inspector Kathleen O’Toole said the tribunal report into the shooting of John Carthy was the body’s number one priority.
The Barr report, published over a week ago, found that the mentally ill man had been fatally shot at Abbeylara, Co Longford, in 2000 by gardaí following a litany of errors and negligence by senior officers.
Ms O’Toole was speaking at the appointment of two other inspectors, completing the three-person Garda Inspectorate.
The inspectorate, answerable to the Minister for Justice, is tasked with examining the efficiency of the force and the effectiveness of its operations.
She said her two fellow inspectors had received copies [of the 740-page report] and that they would read “every sentence” in the report.
“We’ll discuss what recommendations were made, we’ll benchmark those recommendations against best international practice, determine what the Garda Síochána have already done and determine if more reform is appropriate and make recommendations.”
Speaking at the appointment, Justice Minister Michael McDowell said he had asked the new inspectorate to look at the Abbeylara incident.
The two new inspectors are Robert Olson, a policeman with 38 years experience, who has served as chief of police at three cities in the US, and Gwen Boniface, who has 30 years experience and resigns as the police commissioner in Ontario, Canada.
I'm sure what O'Toole meant to say was that this would be Boniface's number one priority starting October, that Boniface would begin reading every sentence in October, and that Boniface would engage in those discussions in October, and that Boniface's resignation doesn't come into effect until October.
Right?
Then I read this in a very hard-hitting commentary piece by Susan Clairmont of the Hamilton Spectator:
Boniface didn't even show for her own swan song. It was Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter who made the announcement that the commissioner was leaving to oversee Ireland's Garda, the national police force.
Actually, she's already there and will be working with former Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole and former Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson in Dublin.
Excuse me? She's already there? Then who is in charge of the OPP? What was Monte Kwinter talking about when he said Boniface would be in charge until October?
Is she phoning it in? Or is she commuting back and forth? And who's paying for her plane fare?
This has all the earmarks of a government trying to avoid scandal by quickly and quietly shuffling an ineffective bureaucrat out of public view. In this case, sending her overseas. To suggest to the press that this is a deliberate and thoughtful process that will take weeks to finish when in fact it appears to be have already been completed in secret is duplicitous and insulting.
And how did she get this job? Did the Irish government seek her out? Did she start a job hunt months ago without letting anyone know? If so, who did she use as references? Or is the Ontario government behind this? Did Dalton McGuinty and Monte Kwinter sell the Irish government a bill of goods some weeks or months ago, hoping the Irish would commit to hiring Boniface before the worst of the Caledonia dispute came to light?
Are the other two inspectors joining Boniface, Robert Olson and Kathleen O'Toole, aware of any of this? Are they going to back up Boniface? Are they cut from the same cloth as Boniface, and are also being exiled to Ireland? Or are they cops who get the job done, and if so, what will they think of Boniface?
I can't speak to what is going on in Ireland, but I can say something about what all this means here in Ontario. If Boniface has left for good and this is not just an appearance for a news conference, then it adds weight to the rumour that there will be no search for a replacement because a replacement has already been selected. And the only way a replacement could take over this quickly (literally the next day) is if the transition has been going on for weeks or even months (not likely), or if no transition effort was actually required (more likely). No transition effort means it's most likely that the replacement is already highly placed in the OPP and not an outsider. Such a person already knows the OPP process, already knows all the active files, and already knows the top staff. All this points to someone like Jay Hope, the deputy commissioner, being given the job some time ago and who is now ready to take over.
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Caledonia OPP Ontario Provincial Police Gwen Boniface Dalton McGuinty Monte Kwinter Ireland Garda Inspectorate Kathleen O'Toole Robert Olson John Carthy
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Comments
Jay Hope - you have to be kidding - another minority (political correct)appointment so that the Government can brag that they now have appointed the first Black to the position of Commissioner. Someone should look into this guys background before it's too late. This guy should never have reached the position he holds now.
Posted by: alonzo shannon at July 29, 2006 08:36 AM
Face it folks, this is the result of a decade plus of Liberal social engineering.
Look at the new prerequisites for Governor-General, you have to be...
1. Female
2. Foreign born
3. Visible minority
4. An ex-employee of the CBC
Posted by: neo at July 29, 2006 10:52 AM
Gwen has left the country already? Gadzooks, this wasn't suppose to be till October. As we say out here in hicksville Alberta - Don't let the door hit yer butt on the way out...
Then a minority posted in her place. Nothing wrong with that, and dont' get me wrong, wish him the best, but it is just the timing.
This political correct environment got us into the mess at Caledonia and et al. Hope the new cop has a thick hide and cleans house.
Ironically come to think of it, he might just be the right guy to do this because no one will wail and cry against him because, well, you know, that is not politically correct to politically correct a politically correct member of the minority.
Wow, where do I sign up for the movie rights to this gong show?
Posted by: tomax7 at July 29, 2006 10:54 AM
Jeez just a little racist around here?
Posted by: Aaron at July 29, 2006 11:42 AM
Maybe she is hooking up with Ken Hill on European getaway. hahahaha
Posted by: TrustOnlyMulder at July 29, 2006 11:46 AM
Aaron.....you're on to us, buddy! You've discovered our little cabal of evil racist scum; our true nature concealed only by a thin veneer of politeness. We fool most people, but not you - you're just too smart.
It must be such a burden to be so enlightened and morally superior. Where do you find the strength?
Posted by: Liebermann at July 29, 2006 11:58 AM
So while she's working for the Irish and being paid by the Irish, is she also being paid by you Canadians?
Somebody's getting cheated.
Okay, maybe everybody.
Posted by: Jay at July 29, 2006 12:47 PM
"Did the Irish government seek her out?"
Maybe they did, given her performance in Caledonia. That and her loyal officers. The ones who stood by and refused to do anything? Sounds like they got the right person to cover up, I mean investigate, their own senior officers whom she is being tasked with reporting on.
And how long is her appointment supposed to last? I get the sense the former Commissioner is supposed to read the report and make reccommmendations, the end. She could be done by October. Then what?
As far as being on our dime, she is probably using up banked time. But I am curious as to the length of her appointment and the timing of her resignation.
Posted by: Cheri at July 29, 2006 01:51 PM
Jay - Hey, you're right! She's double-dipping!
Posted by: Joanne TB at July 29, 2006 03:29 PM
Nice leg work Steve, Dalton McGuinty is running out of feet to shoot, soon he will be shooting inward, now that the wagons have circled.
The Justice Ministry must think the main stream media are brain-dead trying to float this ridiculous, politically correct Petard.
Forget Jay-low, the guys a poster boy for the wanna' be Cultural Elites Club, an OPP 'token house boy', excuse the crude metaphor, perhaps lap-dog for the tainted status quo would be a more apt description.
I wouldn't want to be labeled a 'racist' or 'intolerant', but only of incompetence.
As you know, race has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Lord knows, there more than enough of that to go around Steve.
These guys are the Kings of double-speak, all weasel words and vapid rhetoric. Worse than the Keystone Cops, leadership wise.
A grave disservice has been perpetrated on the rank and file members, they deserve much better for not outing their leadership for the useless entity they are.
Tits on a Bull my be more useful than the command structure Gwen left behind, ousted like a bad disease for her rank incompetence.
The ‘Indian Revolution’ has begun in earnest, thanks to the Den Mothers steady, peaceful hand, except for a few 'Young Turks' with attitude and it's a fragile one at that.
Stools for milking this kind of 'political' work have three legs, don’t they?
My Farmin’ Uncle Pete told me there was a reason for that, it escapes, for now.
And Julian Fantino will get the nod as interim Commissioner to specifically unleash the 'Dogs of War' inward, take the heat and fall-out for the ruined careers, then step aside for the 'new' guy, whomever they find foolish enough to apply for this career limiting dead-end job of the century, as it will be painful reforms for the OPP from here on in, you can take that to the bank.
Pretty soon the firing squad’s 'gun barrels' will be smokin’, they’ll be glowin’ read hot well into a fortnight, that’s a fact.
Fantino’s gonna’ ‘clean house’, now that the source of that ‘smell’ (Liberal taint) has left the room, open a window, quick!
Posted by: Mark-Alan Whittle at July 29, 2006 09:04 PM
Aaron says "Jeez just a little racist around here? "
Me thinks you're pulling your punches there in trying to not even offend the 'racists' with that powder-puff statement. If you mean what you say, feel free to say it without the sound of a political-correct tonal quality admonishment to it. (Incidentally, try leaving that statement with http://www.amren.com/ to experience more flak than you'd receive here)
Unless you're colour-blind by convenience, most honest people call it like they see it...it's a Black & White issue...and a person's race accounts for 100% of employment-equity (reverse racism) standards, if you hadn't noticed. You might ask qualified White Canadian applicants to the R.C.M.P. about that one.
Jay Hope, a Black man, has been touted as the next token O.P.P. commissioner who will stand as an example of our 'progressive tolerances' for minorities. His rapid promotions through the O.P.P. ranks has not been accidental....the politicos need a Black 'poster boy' and he has been tapped on the shoulder as was the incompetent political-appointed Gwen Boniface, the first female O.P.P. 'poster-girl' commissioner. Qualified White men need not apply in today's political-correct climate and promotions based on merit alone are non-existent.
Posted by: Victor at July 30, 2006 10:35 AM
To the posters claiming that Gwen Boniface was unqualified for the top O.P.P. job, that she took the job away from a more deserving White Man, and that she was appointed only because of politically correct tokenism: do you also believe that the Irish Garda Inspectorate, after an exhaustive international job search, decided that yes, indeed, though this Boniface woman is clearly unqualified to oversee the operations of a major police force, we should hire her anyway, because what the Government of Ireland really needs now is a politically correct token hire to appease their local Canadian Aboriginal women's lobby.
Posted by: A at July 30, 2006 10:35 PM
To the posters claiming that Gwen Boniface was unqualified for the top O.P.P. job, that she took the job away from a more deserving White Man, and that she was appointed only because of politically correct tokenism: do you also believe that the Irish Garda Inspectorate, after an exhaustive international job search, decided that yes, indeed, though this Boniface woman is clearly unqualified to oversee the operations of a major police force, we should hire her anyway, because what the Government of Ireland really needs now is a politically correct token hire to appease their local Canadian Aboriginal women's lobby?
Posted by: A at July 30, 2006 10:36 PM
 
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