London, Ont. council approve new member for police services board

With lots of options to select from, the London Police Services Board has its newest tentative member.

London, Ont. city councillors selected Ryan Gauss to assume the vacant seat on the board.

The seat was left vacant when former chair of the board Susan Toth resigned in January after being reappointed only two months before.

Council members had a pool of 54 applicants to select from, up significantly from 11 the last time a board seat was vacant.

With 54 people in the pool to select from, councillors could vote once for any of the candidates in the first round. Those receiving votes would then move on to a runoff election before an official motion would be passed appointing the first person to receive at least eight votes.

Only three candidates received votes in the first round: Gauss, Zeba Hashmi and Joseph Wabegijig.

Gauss is currently the director of operations for London North Centre MP Peter Fragiskatos. According to his submitted resume to the city, he previously worked for 10 years in a civilian role for the RCMP, holding positions that included administrative assistant, divisional training adviser and human resource adviser.

Hashmi, a Muslim woman, currently serves on the board of directors for the London Public Library and Covent Garden Market and is involved with multiple London Muslim Organizations.

Wabegijig is currently serving with the Wikwemikong Tribal Police Services Board and as an adviser for the Ontario Clean Water Agency, as well as having experience as an elected councillor with his home First Nations community of Wikwemikong.

In the second round of voting, Gauss received seven votes, Wabegijig six and Hashmi one, dropping Hashmi from the third and final round of voting. In the final round of voting, Gauss received the required eight, with Wabegijig having six.

A motion was then passed unanimously with one absent member to approve the selection of Gauss.

As the first racialized woman to sit on the police board, Toth said in her resignation speech she hoped a visible minority would fill her position, noting the Comprehensive Police Services Act that calls on boards to recognize population diversity, “directing the province and municipality to consider it a priority.”

“This is a legislative ask,” Toth said at the time of her resignation.

Currently, the only board member with a diverse background is the new chair, Ali Chahbar. The other members are vice chair Megan Walker and regular members Nancy Branscombe, Mayor Josh Morgan and Couns. Steve Lehman and Susan Stevenson.

Gauss’s appointment will be made official at a regular council meeting in April.

— with files from Global’s Amy Simon.