Policing issue hotly debated by town council

Amherstburg town council had a spirited and often tense discussion on the policing matter, which included references to a meeting held between two council members and the mayor of Windsor.

Amherstburg elected officials also want more information released publicly so that the public can better understand what has been discussed and why previous votes were cast they way they were.

Town council voted unanimously June 23 to waive rules of order for in-camera meetings specific to the Windsor Police Service discussions and show direction that was given on the issue of policing.

Councillor Peter Courtney raised the issue, noting he has been fielding criticism from members of the community.

“I’ve been bombarded with people coming up to me saying I haven’t done my due diligence based on what they’re reading on social media,” said Courtney.

Courtney acknowledged the report that is coming before council July 13 and said council met in-camera twice and came back with the same resolution that the Town of Amherstburg would not proceed with the Windsor Police Service.

“We went over all the reasons why but we can’t speak to it, nobody is privy to it and everyone should be privy to it,” said Courtney. “If I’m going to be chastised and blasted for not entertaining and looking at costing, I can’t speak about what we talked about but I think we need to speak about what we talked about in there.”

Courtney said there were four major reasons he voted the way he did in-camera but no one knows “because the integrity commissioner is going to come and slap me on the hand because it was discussed in-camera.”

“That to me is a transparent conversation that needs to come out,” he said.

Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb said “there should be a fulsome discussions” where each member of council can give their reasons as to why there won’t be further discussions with Windsor. Gibb didn’t think the debate should wait until the main report comes back as he feared town council could be in a lame duck period by then.

“I would rather just have a discussion where council can discuss their reasons why they chose to not go with the Windsor police or ought to go with the Windsor police,” the deputy mayor said. “I don’t need a report for it. I think we can have a discussion to hash it out and give the public a chance to hear our thoughts on the matter.”

“I’m not sure what you’re saying is correct,” Mayor Michael Prue responded. “Council has made a decision. The decision has been made. If you want to say you voted against it, that’s fine, but I don’t want it to be hashed out again. The decision has been made. It’s over. We’re not going with Windsor police.”

Gibb replied that he has received a number of inquiries as well and said he’d like the ability to further respond.

“I would like to have the freedom to express myself and the reason why I may have voted one way or the other. At this point, we can’t discuss it at all,” said Gibb.

Councillor Don McArthur said releasing information “has to be done carefully” but wants people to know how he voted.

“I have nothing to hide,” said McArthur.

McArthur added he found the debate confounding.

“Nothing, at any point, has prevented Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens from phoning up Amherstburg Mayor Michael Prue and saying ‘let’s make a deal.’ I don’t think our staff should be the ones running around, going back to the person that left us with a terse little ‘Dear John’ note, begging to take us back,” said McArthur. “I think that’s wrong. I think it’s unseemly. I think it does a disrespect to Amherstburg and the people who pay our salaries. (Windsor) left us. We had a contract, we had a deal that was supposed to last 20 years. They gave us a paragraph and said ‘we want out.”

McArthur added Windsor did not say in the correspondence that “the money is not working for us anymore” and that they wanted a better deal.

“That’s not what they said. They pulled the plug,” said McArthur. “They walked out on us like four hungry children and a crop in the field and we’re supposed to go after them and spend staff time, staff money, council time, council money, all these conversations on Facebook chasing a ghost that left us high and dry? No, no, no, no.”

McArthur said if Windsor has a deal the city wants to make and wants to fill a hole in their budget, the city and the Windsor Police Services Board (WPSB) should present the deal to Amherstburg.

“Nothing this council has decided has said Dilkens can’t pick up the phone, that the police board can’t pick up the phone,” said McArthur. “If he’s got a case to make, if there’s a deal to be had, make it publicly, make your pitch to us and the people of Amherstburg. That’s how it should be done. We should not be chasing them. They should be chasing us.”

Councillor Diane Pouget pointed out that she had a family member that worked for Windsor police and she had always declared conflict on the matter because of that, based on advice from the integrity commissioner. She said she did not participate in any in-camera meetings because of that conflict.

“It was a surprise for me when I learned through the press that we were considering it again because we didn’t report out so I was not aware of it,” said Pouget.

Pouget added her family member retired April 30 and is no longer in conflict. She said she wants to participate in discussions and wants to get caught up on what has happened in the past. Pouget added she also has fielded a number of calls and e-mails from residents on the policing matter.

“I’m anxious to find out how my fellow councillors voted and the reasons why,” she said.

Courtney emphasized he wanted to know how they can speak freely on in-camera issues, specifically about Windsor police. The debates had the same outcome, he added. To read it in the paper there was a meeting with Dilkens on the issue “and keep pushing down that path again” was “the most disrespectful thing that could have been done.”

Courtney predicted this council won’t make the decision as the OPP isn’t expected to come back with their pricing until later in the year when council could be in lame duck.

The policing issue has made its way into social media, Courtney added, and while “it’s a very powerful tool,” social media is also “a diseased tool that can spread rhetoric and B.S.”

“I can justify why I’m not proceeding with the Windsor Police Service,” said Courtney, “but what I said in there (in-camera), what we heard, and what we made decisions on, I know from my previous term on council from the integrity commissioner that in-camera conversations are supposed to be tight-lipped.”

Courtney added he was also looking for the freedom to speak.

Prue said it has been a contentious issue for several councils, recalling when the switch was made in 2018 before he was elected to council, he made a presentation as a private citizen at a public meeting at the Libro Centre. He said he told then-Mayor Aldo DiCarlo and Dilkens “what a bad idea I thought they were making and how it wasn’t good for the town.”

“I’ve never changed my mind on that,” said Prue. “It was a bad deal then and it’s a bad deal now. The reason it’s a bad deal now is because Mayor Dilkens sent us, as Councillor McArthur said, a very terse memo telling us they didn’t want anything else to do with this town. They didn’t want to do it. They didn’t give options. They didn’t say ‘if you give us another $2 million, we might think about it.’ They just said ‘we’re out.’”

Prue said five options were presented to the community, including approaching Windsor again, a regional service that county council shot down on an 11-3 vote, approaching LaSalle, re-establishing the Amherstburg Police Service or bringing in the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the latter two still being options.

Prue accused some members of council coming back with messages from Windsor with requests on the matter.

“I think it’s been a complete disservice to the people of this town.”

Prue agreed with McArthur in that “you don’t go cap in hand to someone who has kicked you out.”

“Why do you think that they suddenly are interested again? Might it be the $6 million hole in their budget? Might that be it, because that’s what we pay them now,” said Prue.

The mayor added the city will also have “30 police officers they won’t know what to do with.”

“That’s not our problem, this is their problem,” said Prue. “I’m asking this council not to be running out to radio stations or going to meet in private with Mayor Dilkens seeing what can be done, when this council has said no. Some people on this council have been doing that. When it all comes out, I’m going to name them.”

Prue claimed those council members “have undercut this council and the very important decisions we’ve had to make.”

Councillor Linden Crain said it was him who had the meeting with Dilkens, along with Gibb.

“If it was a secret, I wouldn’t have shared it with everyone publicly,” said Crain. “I don’t think it’s a secret by any means.”

Crain said he has a good relationship with Dilkens, also stating he has a good relationship with Essex MP Chris Lewis and Essex MPP Anthony Leardi.

“After we received a public report out in August 2025 stating we would not be proceeding with Windsor police because we do not have a voting seat (on the police services board), that is public information, on March 2 around 8 a.m., myself and the deputy mayor met with Drew Dilkens. The reason we did was because at multiple events and multiple locations, I am receiving feedback from current councillors in the City of Windsor that Windsor is still open to negotiating with Amherstburg and finding a price that makes sense. I wanted to hear it from the chair of the police service board. Myself and the deputy mayor met with Drew Dilkens and that was the case.”

Crain agreed that the matter needs to be discussed in public and he wanted to see a price from Windsor in addition to the costing from the OPP and what it would cost to re-start Amherstburg police. He said that is “a disservice to residents” if all of those costs aren’t presented.

“There’s no harm in finding out what the number is or what it could be before we completely walk away over a voting seat,” said Crain.

Another reason that Crain said he and Gibb met with Dilkens was they found out there is a member of the WPSB who has been an Amherstburg resident for the last 18 years.

“I had these unanswered questions and I think it was incumbent upon me to do that homework with someone I have a relationship with,” said Crain. “It’s no different than any member of council who we all know has met with MPP Leardi on where we want funding from Diageo to go.”

Crain said he does not need permission to speak with other elected officials and stated he was elected to be an advocate. No business was advanced in the meeting with Dilkens, he added.

“I do not apologize for meeting with the mayor of Windsor. I needed to find out answers to questions I was hearing from the community. I hope we do have a conversation about this,” said Crain.

McArthur said he took no issue with people meeting with Dilkens, as that is part of the role of being a councillor. He said his issue is with Windsor and said if there is interest in making a deal with Amherstburg, come to Amherstburg town hall and speak to town council and the public to “tell them why you think it’s going to cost more money to continue policing Amherstburg. Explain why you just walked out and left us with a terse paragraph and why now you are changing your tune, if you are changing your tune. We have no official correspondence that the City of Windsor wants to entertain policing in Amherstburg.”

McArthur reiterated “time is money” for town staff to go after Windsor and speak with them, it costs money.

“They are wasting time, wasting resources, chasing people who have said they don’t want us. We’re doing that for political cover so we can look people in the face and say we’re exploring every option,” said McArthur. “It’s not an option. They pulled the plug. They left. If they have a deal, we shouldn’t be the ones having to spend the money trying to get the framework of that deal.”

Gibb said he “will name names. I’m not going to wait for the mayor to name names. That’s an interesting threat.” Gibb said council promised the people of Amherstburg every option would be explored.

“I do not believe we are doing that,” he said.

Gibb believed pride was entering the discussion in the way the message was delivered.

“At the end of the day, we may not pursue anything with the Windsor police,” said Gibb. “As far as I’m concerned, I sat on this council when we promised to explore every option. I don’t think we’re doing that. If I have to have names named, I will get ahead of it and name myself right now. This is my job as a member of council to make sure we’re making the best decision for Amherstburg.”

Gibb predicted the OPP will come in at a lower cost but offer less service to the community.

“Are we prepared to do that to this community?” he said. “We should have an open, honest communication with the public and I look forward to that.”

Courtney said “the media ran” with the issue of a non-voting seat but he added it was not the only issue.

“That was one aspect. We talked about the funding model,” he said, adding Amherstburg has the second highest policing cost per capita in the county.

There were other aspects discussed as well, Courtney added.

“We have to respect the decisions that are made,” said Courtney.

In a February 2025 interview with the River Town Times, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said the way the contract was built, it allowed for extension of terms up to 20 years. He said at that time that if one side wanted out, they could provide 18 months notice to the other party. Dilkens indicated Windsor is providing four years notice to Amherstburg, as the current contract runs through 2028.

When the city reviewed the dollars and cents of the contract, the Windsor mayor said it no longer makes financial sense for his community. He said Windsor taxpayers have been partially subsidizing policing services in Amherstburg and said if it were the other way around, Amherstburg would feel the same way.

“This isn’t acrimonious for us,” said Dilkens in February 2025. “This has to make financial sense for us.”

Dilkens said it is a matter of finances and what works for the City of Windsor. There is no provision in the current contract to renegotiate so when city council took the recommendation from the WPSB, they “did the right thing” and opted out.

By Ron Giofu