City council is looking at increasing its influence on the Edmonton Police Commission at a time when the commission and the Edmonton Police Service that it oversees are under increased scrutiny for the way the law has been enforced during the convoy protests.
At the Feb. 9 city council meeting, Coun. Erin Rutherford put forward a motion to ask administration to come back to council on March 14 with amendments to the police commission bylaw to increase the number of commissioners from 11 to 12.
"As we've learned, and through this discussion on police safety, we've learned how important the appointments are, so if we have the ability to have an additional appointee for the police commission, I think it's prudent to do that," Rutherford said while introducing the motion in the Feb. 9 city council meeting.
When it comes to the police, she said on Instagram, council has just two leverage points: budget and appointments to the police commission: "Adding an additional voice at the table is a small step that can lead to bigger impacts!"
Many Edmontonians appear to be looking for some kind of impact after events on Feb. 12, where it appeared that police were more intent on shutting down a counter-protest on River Valley Road, which tried to prevent participants in the anti-restrictions convoy from reaching downtown, than they were on enforcing a court injunction prohibiting frequent or sustained horn-honking within city limits.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi tweeted that he was "disappointed to hear unruly protests taking place again" and has heard concerns about enforcement, adding that he can't direct police but has reached out to the chair of the police commission. A number of councillors — Ashley Salvador, Andrew Knack, and Michael Janz — went further, encouraging Edmontonians to register to speak at the next Police Commission meeting on Feb. 17.
The EPS said on Saturday that it had issued 10 tickets and will mail about 60 more, noting that nine were related to noise.
Episode 166 of Speaking Municipally took an interest in Rutherford's motion, noting that the police budget will be the "tentpole debate in the next four-year budget cycle," as co-host Troy Pavlek put it.
Shortly after they temporarily stopped a line of protest-convoy trucks on River Valley Road, counter-protesters were dispersed by Edmonton police on Feb. 12. (Bradley Lafortune)
In late January, council shelved a recommendation to audit the police service, suggesting that such scrutiny would require consent from the police commission.
Rutherford's proposed amendment would increase the number of people that council appoints to the police commission from 11 to 12. The number of councillors or city employees on the commission remains at two, Rutherford clarified to Taproot after the podcast was released. There are currently 10 commissioners, including councillors Anne Stevenson and Sarah Hamilton.
While it might seem like having more councillors on the commission itself would be a good way to increase oversight, Pavlek noted that past experience indicates otherwise.
"One thing that I've noticed just historically is that the single most reliable way to get a councillor to agree with the police and to vote with the police on motions is to put that councillor on the police commission," he said.
This episode of Taproot's civic affairs podcast also digs into the degree to which the city's hands were tied by the province's abrupt decision to lift the Restrictions Exemption Program. As predicted, there will be no municipal vaccine passport program, though the mask bylaw remains in place.
Hear more about that as well as a confusing budget motion, our explainer on police property damage, and some real inside-baseball on how long councillors are allowed to speak.