Fort William First Nation Anishinaabekwe appointed chair of Thunder Bay Police Service Board
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY—Fort William citizen and recently acclaimed Thunder Bay Police Service Board (TBPSB) chair Celina Reitberger is aiming to follow through with recommendations from investigations into the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) and TBPSB.
“The big thing is to follow through with the recommendations from the OCPC (Ontario Civilian Police Commission) investigation of the board as well as the [Office of the Independent Police Review Director investigation of the TBPS],” says Reitberger, a lawyer who retired as executive director of Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation (NALSC) in 2017. “I firmly believe, having studied Senator Murray Sinclair’s interim (OCPC) report, that he is going to come out with some positive ideas for moving forward. I’m anxiously awaiting the release of the two reports, but I am also welcoming it because I think it is going to be a very good starting point moving forward.”
OIPRD director Gerry McNeilly delivered the Thunder Bay Police Service Systemic Review Report – Broken Trust: Indigenous People and the Thunder Bay Police Service on Dec. 12 at the DaVinci Centre in Thunder Bay. The OCPC report is expected to be delivered in December.
The TBPSB meets on a monthly basis, with the next meeting scheduled for Dec. 18.
“As the chair, I do get a say in setting the agenda,” Reitberger says. “This next meeting is on the 18th, and we are going to be very much involved in considering the two reports, that I have no doubt will be in our hands by then.”
Reitberger says there was a “very positive” response about her acclamation as TBPSB chair at the Fort William First Nation Annual 55-plus Christmas Celebration on Dec. 10, which was held a few hours after she was acclaimed.
“I got lots of congratulations — someone wanted to take my picture,” Reitberger says on Dec. 11. “Everyone was very excited and happy about the announcement. I am very humbled by this appointment and I hope that I do our people proud.”
McNeilly says Reitberger’s acclamation as chair of the TBPSB is “a great move and a great opportunity for moving forward.”
“I know Celina and she is well experienced,” McNeilly says. “She is highly motivated and she cares about her Indigenous community and the Thunder Bay community at large, so I think it is a very positive move. It is a great opportunity to build on the recommendations of my report on a go-forward basis. I am hopeful that she will provide good leadership, not just to the board but to the [Thunder Bay] Police Service to enhance its relationship with the Thunder Bay Indigenous community.”
Reitberger was appointed as a member of the TBPSB by the provincial government in December 2017. She previously served with NALSC for 15 years, including seven years as executive director, and as a lawyer with a private practice for about 20 years.
“It is a very positive move, firstly to have an Indigenous member of the board, and secondly for her to be named the chair of the board,” McNeilly says. “Hopefully that will impel others to become involved in policing at that level.”
Fort William Chief Peter Collins says Reitberger’s acclamation as TBPSB chair is “a great opportunity,” noting that he nominated Celina as a member of the TBPSB.
“I did not know that she ultimately would become the [chair] of that board, which is a great influence on the TBPSB to represent our people,” Collins says. “There is lots of work that has to be done yet and this is only a step today. If you listened to Gerry [McNeilly] today, he is saying this is day one of many days ahead of us.”