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OpEd: Provincial election aside, it’s time to properly fund the Ontario Provincial Police
April 28, 2022

As a public safety analyst for Bell Media’s television and talk radio stations, I’ll always give my honest opinion on policing issues – including regarding OPP matters, when asked and if it’s within my police experience. Although I’d do anything to help my former police service, I will not insert myself into OPP matters in any way unless asked by the commissioner.

However, I continue to hear of troubling issues from former colleagues regarding critical OPP staffing challenges and feel an obligation to comment and express my concern.

I was the OPP commissioner, and deputy commissioner, etc. I know the drill. I’m confident that behind the scenes the current commissioner continues to quietly plead his case to the provincial government for more human resources, but he cannot go public with that pitch or there’ll be another staff vacancy in the OPP – his.



My comments are NOT a critique of Commissioner Carrique and his team. I’m sure the OPP would be at full strength if it was his call. And I totally appreciate the numerous competing financial priorities faced by the Ford government. None of this is easy. But something is going to break if not soon fixed and the people of Ontario and the men and women of the OPP will bear the brunt of the impact.


The OPP deliver frontline policing to a large chunk of Ontario’s municipalities. They also provide support in a variety of ways to municipal and First Nations police services on request – from the smallest to the largest. No one service can do it all and they all help each other, but as the largest and the one with the biggest footprint, much of that provision of support does fall to the OPP. That includes 24/7 uniform backup, forensics, detectives, emergency response, public order, specialty investigations and more. They are funded in part to do that by the taxpayers of Ontario; they do it with pride and do not seek reimbursement.

At the same time, they conduct traffic and marine patrols, enforcement and investigations, and search and rescue operations in OPP jurisdiction, to over a million square kilometers of geography. ALL of that is an expensive business, requiring vehicles, vessels, aircraft, fuel, equipment, buildings/infrastructure, uniforms, supplies and the most expensive resource, “people.”


Over the past several years, the OPP has been forced to leave hundreds of employee vacancies to meet government financial challenges. Although the OPP commissioner oversees the preparation of the OPP budget within general set guidelines, it is adjusted (most often trimmed) and submitted through the solicitor general and staff to the appropriate Ministry of Finance officials for consultation, adjustment and eventual approval by government.


The commissioner must be reasonable of course in terms of his budget request, and staffing numbers must be in keeping with municipal policing contract obligations; demonstrated workload; proposed new business lines (units); as well as anticipated supplies/services/technology numbers.



When government says cuts are required, the only area where that is generally feasible in any appreciable amount, is in salary dollars. That requires some staff vacancies not be filled, and the vast majority are police officer positions. Determining where those positions can be left open becomes the challenge. Some detachments, units and bureaus will feel the pain. The bigger the cut, the bigger impact it will have. Every commissioner under governments of all political stripes since 1909 has been faced with this process, however some financial times have been more fiscally demanding than others.

So how does this impact public safety?

In many cases, OPP policed municipalities and unincorporated areas will have less police officers to patrol and respond to calls for service. OPP officers will have less available back-up and relief to attend courses or vacation. Crimes and collisions will have less officers available to respond and investigate. Other police services won’t be able to count on the OPP for assistance with the same frequency, and in more remote areas of Ontario there is only the OPP available to assist.


Accordingly, I regularly hear from detachment officers all over Ontario that “nobody is working.”

Between ongoing vacancies, officers who can’t go on patrol because of various health issues being accommodated, officers calling in sick or off-duty on long-term medical leave, etc. they say, there are not enough people to handle the workload.


In one large OPP detachment, I was told that they often had less than four officers on duty during the past summer on days when they would once have had a minimum of a dozen working. That lead to calling in personnel on overtime, burnout for all, increased levels of stress and little ability to take time off.


Full-time OPP units like tactical or investigative teams will have fewer potential recruits to draw from within the OPP. How will they meet the increasing need to fight organized crime? Help other agencies? Stem the flow of handguns into Canada and get more illegal firearms off our streets? The math doesn’t work.


Think back to the various Freedom Convoy protests last February and how Ottawa Police needed outside police assistance. It took weeks for the OPP and RCMP to get sufficient resources in to assist. Not because they didn’t want to help. Not because there were insufficient laws. It was because both organizations are vastly understaffed and could not free up sufficient members and ship them long distances to help in a timely way.


The totality of this scenario is untenable. Adequate and effective policing cannot be sustained in OPP jurisdiction; other police services – including Indigenous police services and their communities – will continue to be negatively impacted and it is not in the best interests of OPP employee well-being and in particular their emotional health to let it continue. In addition, this situation will undoubtedly impact OPP morale and could lead to professionalism and productivity challenges.


Anything less than committed, professional and dedicated police officers undoubtedly hurt public trust, and police services cannot survive without community and recruit pool trust.


The premier has recently stated that improving police funding is a priority for his government, which is wonderful. I’m sure many of Ontario’s police services can use a boost, particularly the OPP. It’s sad that it’s only being spoken of with an election on the horizon, but better late than never. Let’s get it done now and never let it get this bad again.

Chris Lewis served as Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police from 2010 until he retired in 2014. He can be seen regularly on CTV and CP24 giving his opinion as a public safety analyst.

The worst boss: Nightmare for some, reality for many

By Chris Lewis • June 21, 2025
Image: new-manager-training.com Imagine this scenario if you will, getting the worst boss on earth – a person who is the total antithesis of leadership. Your new “Boss” replaces a leader that wasn’t always right and was getting too old to meet the mental and physical demands of the job, but at the same time treated all those around him with respect. He tried to select people for key positions based on their experience base and his confidence that they may not always agree but the individuals picked would be honest with him, other employees and the client base. He undoubtedly made mistakes here and there and did have some flaws but would readily admit to most of them. This boss comes back to the organization having committed a list of publicly confirmed misdeeds and illegal acts – many of which would have singularly been a good reason to not hire even the lowest level of employee, and justification for imprisonment for others. However, he was chosen for the top job despite all that baggage. Conversely, he brings not one redeeming quality to the top position. From day one, it’s obvious that the new Boss is truly a “boss” and not a “leader.” He has old personal scores to settle and wreaks revenge on many employees that he doesn’t like. Not because they were dishonest, incapable or lazy, but because he perceives that they didn’t want him to return or didn’t always agree with his philosophies and rash actions during past affiliations. This activity causes panic among all employees who know they have no choice but to get aboard his out-of-control train or perish beneath it. Then – without any deep evaluation or thought, he makes tremendous cuts to many organizational programs – leaving thousands without work and lacking any strategy to provide much needed services to a vast array of client groups. He viciously cuts through the organization like a chainsaw through softwood. Why? Because he can. Some of these decisions may have had some degree of validity following a proper assessment, while others not, but that analysis never occurred. Most previous positive relationships with partner agencies and the majority of client groups are immediately scuttled by the new boss. He publicly demeans and taunts longtime allies with irrational statements and outright falsehoods. Never in the many decades of history of the organization has such broad-ranging international indignation been felt, largely as a result of his childish behavior. Very few productive relationships remain and although some new ones are developed, they are only with organizations that are poorly considered by clients and upstanding industry players. His decisions continually fly in the face of the needs of the immense client group but more align with the personal business interests of only the Boss and his business associates – some of whom are either known despots or of questionable character. Company stocks continue to plummet as a result of his silliness. That also has a significant negative impact on the fiscal picture of partner organizations around the world. Anyone that respectfully expresses disagreement or suggests alternative decisions to the Boss, are sidelined or fired, then are ridiculed and until they become unemployable. Gas-lighting, exaggerations, denials, the passing of blame and blatant lies are his norm. He seldom speaks the truth about anyone or any situation. The sycophants he has positioned to assist in his destruction of the organization, publicly praise him for his leadership and courageous decision-making, when the majority of employees and clients know it is just flagrant butt-kissing on their part. He constantly seeks and demands praise, even for things he didn’t do, then sulks and whines when he doesn’t receive it. He falsely takes credit for the few good things that do happen but quickly passes blame when things that have his fingerprints all over them, go horribly wrong. His God-complex is resounding and worsens with each passing day. His public claims of success – before and since becoming the Boss, and assertions of being the “Greatest Boss in history”, fall flat with anyone that truly knows him. He aggressively takes advantage of anyone he can but then turns on them at the flip of a switch. No one is beyond being found at the pointy end of his meanness stick. When caught making an error, he’ll blame everyone on his “team” before accepting any criticism. In fact, he’d turn on his own children if he felt it would make him look brave or heroic, or if it would prevent him from public humiliation. He states his 24/7 lies over and over so often to make his base of lemming followers believe him, that he seemingly believes them to be factual himself. Even when he is confronted with witness testimony or audio/video of his brazen lies, he blames others for being out to get him. Being accountable when things go wrong and letting the light shine on others when they go well, is beyond his comprehension. (Can you spell “narcissistic”?) Although he doesn’t understand the business, he refuses to surround himself with people that do, given that he thinks he knows more than any of them and possibly more than anybody, anywhere, ever, since the dawn of time. Public statements he makes are often completely ridiculous and childish, causing all those around him to force plastic smiles, offer him undeserved praise and nod like pre-programmed bobbleheads. People and even affiliated organizations live in such fear of his thirst for retribution that they either cow-tow to his insanity or prepare for annihilation. He is an embarrassment internally and externally, on an international scale. No past executive has even been so blatantly self-centered, mean spirited and/or inept, nor have they ever had such a negative impact on the organization and its people. It may take decades to repair all the damage he has done. Thankfully, his employment contract is only for four years, so there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. Most of those within and those reliant on the organization, as well as friends, associates, allies internationally pray that this nightmare will end at that time. If it’s not too late, that is. Just a bad dream for some or a reality for millions of us?

What did the PM’s most recent announcement on border security really mean?

By Chris Lewis • February 4, 2025
Is there any meat to this or is it more of the same?

What police don’t need during a crisis

By Chris Lewis • January 4, 2025
Police know how to conduct major investigations and find bad guys. Although several specific factors change from case to case, their general investigative playbook remains the same. Once some ungodly multi-victim attack occurs, in very simplistic terms: the scene is protected, and the health of the living victims is looked after. Forensic experts begin processing the crime scene. Witnesses are located and interviewed. Physical evidence is gathered. Area and witness video recordings are collected and analyzed. Victims are identified. An off-site reunification centre is established where there are multiple victims. Next of kin notifications begin. At any point – if a suspect or suspects become known, their background is gathered, and the hunt begins. They need to be apprehended before anyone else is hurt. Area law enforcement officers need to know suspect details ASAP. “Motive” is at top of mind as investigators are synthesizing all this information, whether the suspect is identified or not. Of course, establishing motive often leads to identifying the suspect, but at other times identifying the suspect helps fill in the blanks on motive. What was the initial basis of what became a murder? Was it a robbery? Could it have been a street fight gone bad? Was it simply a want or need to kill someone specific or maybe anyone at all? That’s for investigators to sort out. There is an onus to warn the public or at least tell them something, i.e. “ongoing threat”, “stay indoors”, or “no threat to public safety”. There are reporting protocols to follow. Senior officers need to be advised up the food chain as do their political masters, so everyone knows what is happening. None of that should detract investigators from doing what they do best – catching killers. But that’s when the ravenous “thirst for knowledge” and political grandstanding often take over and completely interfere with police work. The only knowledge the investigators are thirsty for in those early hours is evidence and then identifying, locating and capturing bad people. They do not need politics monopolizing their time or efforts. The New Years Day massacre in New Orleans was big. Fourteen innocent party goers were killed and dozens injured. The world wanted to know what happened and the community wanted to know if they were in danger. I absolutely get that. However, what sometimes comes with such tragedies is everyone wanting to know everything. We see it in most mass murder cases, but this was an exceptional example of the insanity surrounding such a high-profile incident. Whatever blanks weren’t immediately filled in by police officials and verified mainstream media reports, were filled in by social media. In such cases police totally lose control of the narrative as rumours, theories, falsities, conspiracy theories and “hey look at me” games take over. The political party and individual positioning in this case was nauseating. In any multi-agency response, having the leaders of those agencies at press conferences in a united front makes sense. The public needs to have confidence that the situation is in the best of hands. But where did these massive press conferences where police officials are flanked by numerous politicians come from? I can see some elected leaders being present when a new program is launched or government funding is being announced, but it should never be in the early hours of a mass murder. Having a bunch of partisan wonks peacocking on stage and in follow-up interviews, helps no one at the operational level. As some of them were speaking, I was responding to their dumb questions in my mind: Was it a terror attack? Maybe, but let the experts figure that out. In the meantime, it’s a mass murder. Was the killer an illegal immigrant? Let’s worry about that when the dust settles. What political party is to blame for allowing him into the country? We don’t care. Maybe he was born here. Let’s sort that out if he turns out to be an illegal immigrant. Why wasn’t the area more secure? Good question for a future debrief. We need to get the FBI and HSI leaders before a government committee right away so we can find out who failed! Shut up. We have police work to do. There are always enough social media theories, private citizens’ investigations into suspects, outright lies and misinformation being spread to the public, without silly partisan games sidetracking investigators who are fighting to stay ahead of legitimate theories and tips. In the early hours of a mass murder case investigators are probably the busiest they have ever been, and don’t need any of this interference. Controlling the social media fever is next to impossible. It would take a sudden level of maturity across the populace that may be unattainable. But politicians at all levels need to get the message that they are not welcome on stage at operational press conferences and their comments to the media – if asked for them – aside from expressing sadness, thoughts, prayers and confidence in the police, should be “Our law enforcement agencies are investigating, and we need to let them do what they do.” Adding any theories, raising questions or passing blame is totally wrong. If elected officials truly care about their electorate and feel the need to say more, they should have some prior dialogue with the police leaders or their Public Information Officers to ensure that what they say is helpful as opposed to harmful. Otherwise, be quiet.