Mayoral candidates’ photos with uniformed Toronto cops slammed as ‘improper’

“Posing for a picture with a candidate is political code for showing your support,” said Toronto lawyer Jack Gemmell.

thestar.com
May 24, 2023

A photo of mayoral candidate and former police chief Mark Saunders smiling alongside a line of uniform auxiliary volunteers at a police event this weekend has reignited concerns over Toronto cops posing with candidates mid-election despite a prohibition on engaging in “political activity.”

Saunders --- whose photo was taken at a community barbeque at a North York police station Saturday, then shared on his campaign Twitter account --- is one of four mayoral candidates to snap pics alongside police members at community events in recent days.

Brad Bradford, Ana Bailao and Olivia Chow all took photos with uniformed police in the past week; Bradford and Bailao then shared the photos on their official mayoral campaign Twitter accounts.

The photos prompted criticism this weekend that the images inappropriately implied an endorsement by the officers.

In a tweet on Saturday, former Toronto police board chair Alok Mukherjee called out Saunders’ photo as “unacceptable and improper.”

In an interview, Mukherjee --- who has publicly sparred with Saunders --- said candidates “should know better” and stressed the police officers must be cautious of deliberately or unknowingly becoming tools in a political campaign.

The images have raised questions about whether the photos amount to participation in “political activity,” which is prohibited under Ontario’s Police Services Act. The ban is also outlined in a Toronto police board policy that states “endorsement or opposition of political candidates by municipal police officers is prohibited.”

Saunders should have been especially wary of posing with uniform officers mid-campaign, said Toronto lawyer Jack Gemmell --- who in 2015 lodged a complaint against then-chief Saunders for attending a Bill Blair campaign event and posing for a photo with him, launching a probe that found Saunders had contravened Ontario’s ban on political activity.

“Posing for a picture with a candidate is political code for showing your support,” Gemmell said in an email to the Star.

“This is blindingly obvious where the candidate is the ex-Chief of Police,” he added.

Asked about it at a campaign stop Tuesday, Saunders defended the photo, saying he wanted to show support for law enforcement and “there is never an issue for me going to the police station” in the area in which he resides.

As a candidate for mayor “I’m going to be all over the place,” Saunders said, insisting the intent was not to make it look like an endorsement from police and noting he didn’t hand out campaign literature.

In an email, his campaign manager said she viewed the photo “as a signal of support FOR the police; not a signal of support FOR Mark.”

On Tuesday, both Bailao and Chow --- who appeared together in a photo with uniformed police at last week’s Dragon Boat Festival --- said that they attend multiple events where there are public employees, including police officers.

“In general, our campaign avoids posting any photos that are taken by event organizers or anyone else that include city employees,” said a spokesperson for Chow’s campaign. (The photo of Chow with police was posted on Bailao’s Twitter account).

Stephanie Smyth, a spokesperson for Bradford --- who tweeted a shot Saturday shaking hands with police at Woodbine Beach --- said Bradford “went to thank” the city’s first responders. Smyth noted the tweet was from Bradford’s councillor account; it was later reshared by his mayoral account.

According to the Toronto police board policy, the police chief is required “each time an election campaign commences” to send a reminder to employees that they can’t use their status as police officers to endorse or oppose candidates.

Asked by the Star Tuesday morning if that had happened, a spokesperson said Chief Myron Demkiw had sent the reminder out Tuesday.

That timing is consistent with the timing of similar reminders in recent previous election campaigns, said Toronto police board chair Ann Morgan.

Stephanie Sayer, a spokesperson for the Toronto police, defined the political activity officers are banned from participating in as including “publicly expressing their political views or canvassing for a candidate, while in uniform or on duty.”

“Nothing in the (Police Services Act) or the Board policy prohibits officers from taking photos with candidates,” Sayer said.

Mukherjee, the former board chair, said it is critical that the “important” separation of policing and politics be upheld.

In 2017, after Gemmell filed his complaint, Ontario’s Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) found Saunders violated the provincial legislation prohibiting officers from participating in political activity when he attended a campaign event for federal Liberal candidate Bill Blair. At the event, which Saunders helped facilitate, he posed for a photo with Blair, though he was not wearing his uniform at the time.

Saunders was later ordered to attend a “counselling session... designed to reinforce the chief’s awareness of the principles underlying the political activity regulation,” according to a letter sent by the Toronto police board to Gemmell.

Speaking to the Toronto Sun shortly after the Blair event, Saunders said he “didn’t intend to blur the distinction between my responsibilities as police chief and private citizen... I will be more careful in the future.”

Toronto police were also under fire in 2018, when a handful of officers posed for a group photo with far-right mayoral candidate Faith Goldy.

Toronto police did not take any action against the officers, who had “no idea” she was running for mayor and who regularly pose with members of the public, a police spokesperson said at the time.