Policing issue to be finalized next term

After a heated debate in council on Monday, the policing issue for Amherstburg was deferred to the next council term to make a decision.

Tempers flared and voices were raised but it was learned the policing issue won’t actually be formally decided until the next term of council. 

After over an hour of back-and-forth discussion and accusations, it was learned that while an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) community resource plan won’t be back until, most likely, September, council can still get the ball rolling on public consultation but the next council will decide on OPP or Amherstburg policing.

What was decided Monday night was that there will be no integrity commissioner investigation into a meeting two members of council had with the mayor of Windsor earlier this year.

That debate was the result of a report on policing prepared by CAO Valerie Critchley that town council had requested at its last meeting back in June where it was to outline discussions on the matter and more details about in-camera votes.

The report noted the Jan. 13, 2025 letter from Windsor that called for them not renewing the policing contract with Amherstburg for another five-year term. The 11-page report noted the original five options Amherstburg town council was faced with, including sticking with Windsor, going with LaSalle, contacting the OPP, investigating a regional police model or a standalone Amherstburg model.

In Critchley’s report, it stated regarding the OPP option that “using the costing models provided by the OPP, administration estimated that, based on the population and size of Amherstburg, and the annual level of calls for service, that the annual cost for this option would be approximately $3-4M per year. In addition, there would likely be some initial ‘start-up’ costs associated with capital needs, however, greater clarity would not be gained on these costs until a formal proposal was received from the OPP.” 

Critchley wrote in her report that administration met with the chief and deputy chief of the Strathroy-Caradoc Police Service as it would be a good comparator for Amherstburg. She said the 2026 budget is now $10.9 million in Strathroy-Caradoc and based on a per capita calculation, that would equate to an annual budget of $11.9 million in Amherstburg.

One-by-one, the options have dwindled, including a March 11, 2026 motion that would have reconsidered Windsor police, but that failed. The county wasn’t interested in a regional model and LaSalle felt they didn’t have the time to implement a new policing model.

Mayor Michael Prue started the discussion at Monday night’s meeting by stating they were not there to reopen a third option with Windsor, with the only options remaining on the table being the OPP or re-establishing the Amherstburg Police Service. 

Councillor Diane Pouget noted she is now able to take part in policing discussions, as she is no longer in conflict of interest due to her family member retiring from Windsor police.

Pouget began a list of questions to Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb and Councillor Linden Crain, specifically focused on the latter’s meeting with Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens. Pouget said Amherstburg approached Windsor three times looking to renegotiate but “not once did Windsor come to us stating they were willing to negotiate.” 

Pouget repeatedly called the meeting a “secret meeting” and put several questions towards Crain and Gibb. She asked why the meeting was held when there was an “emphatic no” from Windsor and a “no” back from Amherstburg.

Crain said that after attending numerous events with Windsor council members at it, he said they were interested in maintaining communication with the town.

“Windsor has stated they are interested in speaking with us further. I sent this  to all members of council and unfortunately it was not able to be included on an agenda,” said Crain.

Crain said he received an e-mail from Dilkens stating the city would still be interested in having a conversation if Amherstburg was still interested. 

Gibb said he met with Dilkens but every mayor and deputy mayor in the County of Essex as well.

“I did not ask permission to do it. I don’t have to ask permission to do that,” said Gibb. 

Gibb indicated his job is to ask questions and get information, stating he was quoting Pouget from the previous meeting. He said he wanted to gather information to make a decision.

“I do not answer to the rest of the people on this council. I answer to the people of the Town of Amherstburg,” said Gibb. “With all due respect, I don’t have to ask permission to speak with anyone.”

Pouget countered by stating she conducts her business in public.

“I don’t do it behind people’s backs and I don’t go to any secret meetings,” she said.

Pouget worried that council was put in a vulnerable situation and that in-camera meetings contain confidential information.

“It’s not a secret meeting. I’ve told everyone publicly that we met. The media is aware,” said Crain.

Crain said the meeting was at a Windsor diner and said if it was secret, it would have been behind closed doors at city hall.

“We’re allowed to do our own homework and our own research,” said Crain. “That’s exactly what has been done. When I heard Windsor was still open to negotiating, that’s when I decided to bring a motion to council asking for a reconsideration.”

Pouget responded by asking why Prue wasn’t invited, stating “he’s our official spokesperson. He’s the leader of our community.”

“I don’t know why I would have had to invite the mayor to a meeting with the mayor of Windsor,” said Crain. 

Gibb told Pouget she has been “a leader” on council when she doesn’t take no for an answer when she believes in something.

“I find it very disingenuous that when I believe in something and I try to put forth a different idea or the power of this council to change people’s minds or to bring public pressure about different options, I find it very disingenuous that I’m not allowed to do it but we’re asked to accept it from other members of council,” said Gibb.

The deputy mayor said council members do the job the best they could and voters will decide in October whether they did the job well or not.

Pouget further questioned whether meetings were held “secretly” with the County of Essex or LaSalle, with Crain stating a “flat no” from the county resulted in no meeting and a lack of resources from LaSalle also resulted in no meeting. He said “I’m going to have that meeting” when Windsor expresses interest in a future conversation.

Gibb reiterated he’s met with every county mayor and deputy mayor as well as Dilkens.

“Sometimes you have to ruffle feathers to have a public conversations,” said Gibb.

Councillor Peter Courtney said the issue has been discussed extensively and the issue with Windsor wasn’t only about a voting seat with the Windsor Police Services Board (WPSB). He called the meeting with Crain, Gibb and Dilkens a “secret surprise” rather than a “secret meeting” and accused Crain of going to the media with the issue.

With Critchley’s report, Courtney said council can speak more freely on the matter. He said angry residents believed he wasn’t doing his job on the matter. 

The policing issue is very divisive and now the anger and frustration has returned to the community, Courtney stated. He said the report shows “all the timestamps” when meetings were held.

“We’ve done our part,” he said.

Pouget further pressed about the Amherstburg resident on the WPSB and believed the issue was “irrelevant.” Gibb said it is not irrelevant, and he said one of the reasons the public was told the town wouldn’t continue with Windsor police was a lack of local representation on the board. 

The meeting got to the point where clerk Kevin Fox addressed, with the blessing of Prue, procedural matters about how the meeting should be conducted.

Gibb questioned whether emotion and ego was part of the problem and believed there is still an opportunity to see what Windsor can offer.

“I don’t think it serves the people of Amherstburg,” said Gibb.

Gibb added the town should at least have received a price from Windsor on the issue.

Pouget further continued by asking Crain whether the good relationship he has with Windsor has anything to do with “all legal” donations he received during the 2022 election campaign. 

“The mayor of Windsor is a good friend of mine. He is a past employer. We’re in the relationship business. We’re receiving a service from Windsor,” said Crain, adding he wants to see relationships continue. “Having relationships is extremely important. It doesn’t have anything to do with a donation. You can go online, you clearly have, there’s also donations from developers. I hired an auditor to review my campaign expenses. There’s nothing to hide.”

Crain later called it a “false perception” that previous campaign donations are impacting his view of the issue. He also asked if another member of council could ask for a reconsideration about a Windsor police negotiation, but Prue said procedurally that could not be done, something Fox backed up. 

Crain continued that the matter should be deferred to the next council and that candidates should have a say and be able to hear from residents during the campaign. 

Later in the hour-long discussion, Pouget made a motion to have council contact the integrity commissioner to investigate the meeting Crain and Gibb had with Dilkens. That motion would fail in a 5-2 vote with only Pouget and Prue in favour.

“Both the deputy mayor and myself have been completely transparent from the beginning,” said Crain. “

Crain said he has been subject to numerous integrity commissioner investigations, believing they were frivolous in nature.

“I did nothing wrong here. I had a conversation with another elected official. If members of this council are willing to spend more money to investigate something that is a non-issue, that has no merit and that is frivolous in my opinion before an election, go right ahead. Spend taxpayer money to find out information that I’ve already shared,” said Crain.

“If this council wants to vote to do that, go right ahead. I will wear it as a badge of honour,” said Gibb. “I wanted to have this public conversation and we got this public conversation. We got ourselves all on record. If anyone thinks I did anything wrong, come at me. Come at me now, because I’m going to tell you, this was done right. If you want to invest more money on a political witch hunt, go right ahead.”

Councillor Don McArthur didn’t support the motion because he didn’t believe the integrity commissioner could dig out many more facts that what has come out the last two town council meetings. He believed they cleared the air and he didn’t believe it would be the best use of resources.

“The public will have all the facts at their disposal and the public is free to make their own determination,” he said. “I don’t think it’s worth the expense. I think sometimes the integrity commissioner can be recognized and I’m opposed to that.”

McArthur believed the dust should settle, and so did Courtney. Courtney agreed it is up to the people to decide, adding he believed going to the integrity commissioner would be a waste of money.

“It’s done. We said what we said and we move forward now. Let the people decide,” said Courtney.

Crain asked for a recorded vote, and the meeting met with further controversy when Prue started speaking during the vote. Crain challenged the chair when Prue started giving his remarks.

Prue called it standard procedure to have the mayor speak, with Crain stating Prue could have spoken during the debate instead of during the vote. The mayor said he and previous mayors have spoken during a recorded vote to explain their vote and clarify where the mayor stood.

“It’s been happening for the last 15 years and I’m just trying to exercise that,” said Prue.

Town council voted to sustain the chair, with Prue continuing his remarks. The mayor said it was a difficult situation, acknowledging Gibb is running against him for the mayor’s job in the election. Prue said by going to the integrity commissioner and if they find Crain and Gibb were blameless, that actually protects them.

McArthur said a decision of this magnitude should be taken to the people by candidates to hear what the public truly wants. McArthur said his decision was made twice not to pursue another five-year term with Windsor, and that it was made with integrity and not emotion.

McArthur said when he first campaigned in 2018, the overwhelming thing he heard was that people weren’t happy with the switch to the Windsor Police Service. He said he has a great deal of respect for then-Mayor Aldo DiCarlo and then-Deputy Mayor Leo Meloche but believed they did not win that year because of their votes on policing.

There were real, measurable savings to the town with the switch to Windsor, McArthur added, but “they weren’t gargantuan.” He said salaries of the chief and deputy chief were eliminated but the frontline costs remained.

“Every year, those savings went down, went down and went down,” he said.

Amherstburg paid $5.5 million in 2021 and 2022, $5.6 million in 2023, $6.3 million in 2024, $6.9 million in 2025 and $7.3 million in 2026.

“If you average that out, that’s a compound annual growth rate of 5.8 per cent,” said McArthur. “That’s higher than the rate of inflation. When I talk about diminishing value, that’s where I’m getting that from.”

Using that 5.8 per cent number, the dollar figure could raise to $8.6 million.

“We know the cost of Windsor police. To say we don’t know the cost of Windsor police, I don’t agree with it. We know the minimum,” he said. “They’ve told us multiple times that’s too low.”

Critchley’s report stated it would be between $3-$4 million for OPP and over $11 million for Amherstburg police re-establishment. McArthur said he would rather use $4 million per year to fix roads or put in new recreational amenities than ship it to Windsor.

“Money that would be shovelled to the City of Windsor, I want it spent in the Town of Amherstburg,” said McArthur.

McArthur believed teeth-gnashing and accusations in council chambers could have been avoided if Amherstburg was treated better by Windsor. He said if another deal with Windsor were to be made, “we’re going to do it again in five years.”“They want more money. That’s it,” said McArthur. “This was the mechanism, process and playbook they used. I think it was disrespectful to this council. If you want to make a deal, you go to Mayor Prue. I think it was disrespectful to the people of Amherstburg. I thank Windsor police for their service to our community.”

The next council should make the decision on policing, McArthur added.

Courtney thanked staff for putting the report out.

“I never wanted to come here. The media doesn’t give a (crap) about the Town of Amherstburg,” said Courtney. “When we go to them and seek controversy, what (Crain) started, they love it.”

Courtney said financial reasons was a main reason he voted not to continue pursuing Windsor. The reception of the letter in January 2025 was another reason, he said, and that was the only correspondence he saw. 

Costs for a new Amherstburg police is an option, but an expensive one, he added, with OPP “being the only option. You have to delve into service delivery.”

“Was it emotional? I don’t think so at all,” Courtney said of the decision-making process. “We did our due diligence.”

Courtney liked the letters from other municipalities that were shared in the report, something he shared on social media because social media is “a toilet bowl.” He said town council did its job well throughout the process, including exploring all options.

Councillor Molly Allaire said she was annoyed, stating she has also been approached by Windsor council members as well.

“It’s literally every week they talk to us. They know they want a continued partnership. They don’t know the whole story either,” Allaire contended. “I continue to stand my position I expressed during our in-camera discussions. At this time, Windsor made their position clear they didn’t want a partnership. They said no. I believe we should respect that decision but we should respect the decision council made as a whole and we had careful consideration through that discussion.”

Allaire wished candidates well as they discuss the matter on the campaign trail, encouraging them to understand the facts and all the contacts.

“Definitely read this report, administration did a great job,” said Allaire.

Allaire believed town council made the right decision.

“Yes, we’re a small town but small town proud. I fully support council with what we did,” she said.

Gibb said when the matter originally came to town council regarding contract renewal, he didn’t want to pursue Windsor either. The more he talked to residents, Gibb said people were wondering why they weren’t going back to Windsor asking for a rate or a different level of service for a different price.

“We are sitting here making a decision not to get a price or options and we’re making that decision for the next set of councillors who are sitting here. We’ve already admitted we’re not going to make the decision. We’re also making the decision not to give all the options to the next council,” said Gibb. “I’m not saying I would vote for Windsor or reconstituting the Amherstburg Police Service or vote for OPP. But we aren’t even asking the question and that’s the problem.”

Gibb said residents were promised every option would be looked at.

“We’ve broken that promise. That’s how I feel,” he said.

The deputy mayor said he spoke with other mayors and deputy mayors and many are not happy with the level of service from the OPP. He believed the residents of Amherstburg are being done a disservice by not exploring Windsor further. Prue said later in the meeting he has spoken to colleagues who are happy with OPP policing, though the service isn’t as much but “dollar for dollar” they are pleased with it.

“We needed to look into every option. We haven’t done that and I think that’s something we’re going to regret in the future,” said Gibb. “I just don’t see the logic in not asking the question.”

Gibb said the conversation had to be held and he didn’t want the next council rushed into making the decision with one option.

“That’s why I ruffled some feathers. That’s why the salacious headlines. We needed to have this conversation in public and air all our dirty laundry,” he said.

Crain said he wanted to see all options regarding Windsor, OPP and Amherstburg.

“How much is it from Windsor? We have no idea,” he said. “We can assume a 5.8 per cent increase. We can’t make a decision based on assumptions. We can’t make a decision based on estimates. I want to see a price from Windsor. I think it’s a very simple request. Unfortunately, we’re not heading in that direction.”

Crain added a voting seat on the WPSB is a non-issue, noting there is no seat on the Transit Windsor board. He said the town is receiving a service and wanted a further conversation with Windsor.

“I’m not here to point fingers. I’m here to find information, share it with residents and that’s why I brought it to the public,” said Crain.

Pouget said she listened to all tapes of previous meetings and now supports council’s decision not to pursue Windsor police. She said town administration went “over and above” to reach out to Windsor.

“Nothing materialized after that. Windsor could have sent us a letter directed to you Mr. Mayor and to council saying ‘we’re willing to negotiate now,’” said Pouget. “That never, ever happened. How many times does someone have to tell us no.”Costings are based on per capita and Pouget believed the extra cost could not be put on taxpayers. She agreed with McArthur that savings could be put on infrastructure or parks.

“We know we can’t afford Windsor policing. We know we can’t afford our own standalone policing. We know what those costs are,” said Pouget. “We can pretend that we don’t, but we do.”

Pouget said she supports town council and that she would have voted the same way.

Prue said Dilkens is not just another politician or just another mayor from another municipality.

“He is our service provider. He is our contracted agent. He is the one that sets up the deal, gives us the offer and either we take it or not,” said Prue.

Prue maintained that the city told the town they “weren’t making enough money on the deal.”

The mayor said they explored all options in policing, from a regional force that the county shot down and to LaSalle, with timing stopping that option. Amherstburg police would be “very expensive,” he added, and the report from the OPP is still being sought.

“We have explored every single option that I and this council committed to from the beginning,” said Prue. 

Prue added it was in early 2025 when Windsor sent “a terse e-mail” they didn’t want to renew the current agreement with Amherstburg. He translated the e-mail as stating Dilkens was telling the town “to get lost.”

“He has never once talked to me on anything since that date,” said Prue.

Prue said Amherstburg was treated badly and “I would not demean this town to go back and say ‘please, please, give us a better option.’” According to Prue, Windsor is facing deficits because Amherstburg is no longer giving them money for policing and the city will have 30 additional police officers when the contract expires.

“I will not be party to any motion that sends us cap in hand begging ‘how much are we going to get this for?’,” he said. 

Prue said the OPP option has to be brought back to the current council as they have six months to deal with the offer. While a decision can’t be made by the current council, delaying it would not be fair to the new council. Critchley said once details are received from the OPP, the public consultation could be done sooner.

Policing issue to be finalized next term

By Ron Giofu