City council delays decision on removing councillors from Edmonton Police Commission

The Edmonton Police Commission meets at city hall on October 20, 2022. (Source: City of Edmonton)

City council wants more information on the role of councillors on the Edmonton Police Commission.

Two city councillors currently sit as commissioners on the public oversight body.

The commission, which acts as a middle-man of sorts between city council and the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), is asking city council to remove them in favour of two more members of the public.

It is responsible for overseeing policing, creating policies that guide the police service's objectives and allocating the $420-million annual budget for EPS.

A recent governance review done by a third party recommends the councillors be removed from the commission and replaced with two more Edmontonians.

Thirteen people, all appointed by city council, sit on the commission, including 11 unelected citizens from various walks of life and two city councillors, Anne Stevenson and Jo-Anne Wright.

In the end, council voted to delay the decision. It will likely revisit the idea of removing councillors from the commission next fall after the municipal election.

John McDougall, chairman of the police commission, said Tuesday the delay will not impact the body's work.

"There is nothing that changes," he said Tuesday.

"We've always been engaged with the councillor commissioners, we value the input that they have, we work together as a team, whether you're a provincial appointee, whether you're a municipal appointee, whether you're a city councillor, we work as one team to ensure that we can provide a safer city for all Edmontonians."

Among other findings, the review found there is a power imbalance for councillors on the commission. It says they are better known by the public than other commissioners, so their opinions carry more weight.

Wright has argued that councillors are well-positioned to represent the views of the public given the feedback they receive on policing from meetings, calls and emails.