Diversity Plan for Appointments to the Niagara Regional Police Service Board

Diversity is often attributed to ethnicity and race. However, it is important to note that diversity encompasses many dimensions, including ability, age, education and socio-economic status and much more. Diversity encompasses all people.

This Diversity Plan is meant to ensure that the members of the Niagara Regional Police Service Board appointed by Niagara Regional Council are representative of the diversity of the population in Niagara, in accordance with Subsection 28(1) of the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019.

This plan shall be considered in any appointment or reappointment by Council of a member of the Niagara Regional Police Service Board. Specifically, Subsection 33(1) of the act states that, in appointing or reappointing a member of a police service board, the appointing person or body shall consider:

The need to ensure that the police service board is representative of the area it serves, having regard for the diversity of the population in the areal
The need for the police service board to have members with the prescribed competencies, if any; and
Any applicable diversity plan

Application

This Diversity Plan applies to all Council appointments and reappointments to the Niagara Regional Police Service Board. In accordance with composition requirements under Section 31 of the act, and based on Council's decision regarding the board composition, Council appointments will include:

Two members of Council appointed by resolution of Council
The Regional Chair or if the Chair chooses not to be a member of the board, or is ineligible to be a member of the board, another member of Council who is appointed by resolution of Council
One person appointed by resolution of Council, who is neither a member of Council nor an employee of the municipality (the "public member")

This plan supplements any other policy and legislative requirements that may apply to a Niagara Regional Police Service Board appointment or reappointment.

Use of this Diversity Plan

To ensure compliance with statutory requirements, this Diversity Plan shall be provided to all decision-making bodies for consideration in any process to appoint or reappoint a member of Council or public member to the Niagara Regional Police Service Board, as applicable. This includes, but is not limited to the following, as applicable:

All members of a selection panel established to consider applications for appointment to the board; and
All members of Regional Council, which is the statutory appointing body that is required to consider this Diversity Plan in accordance with Subsection 33(1)(c) of the act

The Regional Clerk or designated staff who administer the appointment process for a public member (undertaking, for example, matters such as outreach, recruitment, communications, initial application screening, providing support to decision-making bodies and writing relevant reports) must also consider the requirements of this plan in any applicable activities.

Legislative requirements relating to diversity and representation on Police Service Boards

This Diversity Plan is required under Subsection 28(1) of the act, which provides that every municipality that maintains a municipal police service board "shall prepare and, by resolution, approve a diversity plan to ensure that the members of the municipal board appointed by the council are representative of the diversity of the population in the municipality." Subsections 28(2) to 28(4) of the act provide requirements with respect to publishing, reviewing and reporting on the diversity plan.

The act includes other provisions regarding the need for a police service board to be representative of the area it serves, having regard for the diversity of the population in the area. These provisions include as follows:

Section 1 states that policing shall be provided throughout Ontario in accordance with various principles, including, "The need to ensure that police services and police service boards are representative of the communities they serve."
Subsection 29(1) provides that, "If the need to appoint a new member of a police service board by resolution of a municipality is reasonably foreseeable, the municipality shall take reasonable steps to promote the availability of the appointment, having regard to the need to ensure that police service boards are representative of the communities they serve."
Subsection 33(1) sets out specific matters an appointing body is required to consider in any appointment or reappointment, including representation and diversity, as noted in Section A of this plan.

Diversity Plan requirements

Appointment of members of Council to the Niagara Regional Police Service Board
Processes to appoint a member of Council to the Niagara Regional Police Service Board may include, but not be limited to the following:
- Those who have been elected to Council receive a survey requesting their preferences for appointments to various bodies, including the Niagara Regional Police Service Board before the inaugural Council meeting. Regional Council considers those members put forward for appointment at its meeting held the week following the inaugural Council meeting and by way of resolution, appoints the selected members.
- A memorandum or circulation of interest used to identify potential appointees based on interest if a vacancy arises during the term of Council
The following measures are meant to ensure that members of Council are aware of the statutory requirements related to diversity and representation. They aim to encourage members of Council representative of the diversity of the Region's population to express interest in a position on the board so that they may be considered for an appointment in accordance with all other applicable considerations and requirements.
- This Diversity Plan will be provided to all members of Council in orientation materials at the beginning of their term of office
- Educational and resource materials respecting the impacts of bias, discrimination and oppression on diverse populations in Niagara, including information on the diverse demographics of Niagara based on Statistics Canada data, and how to make decisions considering diversity, equity and inclusion will be provided to all members of Council in orientation materials
- Any survey, memorandum or circulation of interest provided to members regarding an appointment opportunity clearly sets out the matters Council is required to consider in making an appointment or reappointment to the Board under Subsection 33(1) of the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019
Appointment of the public member to the Niagara Regional Police Service Board
The public member is recommended for appointment to the board after a selection process has taken place. The process includes a review of the applications submitted to a selection panel that is comprised of the members of Council appointed to the board and two additional members of Council appointed by Council to the selection panel.

The selection panel is responsible to review applications and score them in accordance with an applicant scoring matrix based on the list of competencies, skills and traits that is included in the Police Service Board Roles and Responsibilities Booklet and to make a recommendation to Council.
- To encourage participation, Niagara Region will undertake proactive communications and focused recruitment strategies that align with the vision and mission of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan. This proactive approach is adopted with the purpose of reflecting Niagara's diverse demography inclusive of Indigenous peoples, members of Black and other racialized communities, persons with disabilities, women, gender diverse people, members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities, and people from rural and urban locations.
- Niagara Region is committed to equitable and inclusive participation of the public on its boards and committees and to that end has focused strategies that align with the Region's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan vision and mission. These strategies include ensuring that the Region's boards and committees, as much as possible, achieve a balance between a variety of technical expertise, professional and lived experience, knowledge and other representation.
- The principles of equity and inclusion for all candidates shall be adopted and implemented by offering clear application deadlines, an inclusive campaign strategy, and selection process with built-in bias awareness, and interviewing procedures using the same questions and same evaluation criteria for all candidates, while integrating inclusive practices to accommodate diverse communication needs and styles
- The recruitment and selection process for the public member will include advertisements for interested applicants placed by the Office of the Regional Clerk, on Niagara Region's website and social media channels and shared with the local area municipalities. In addition, an effort will be made to tailor the recruitment process specifically, but not exclusively, to reach community organizations that support diverse members from Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities. The recruitment process may also be targeted to groups that might have qualifications relevant to the board, such as professionals in the areas of human resources, finance or governance.
Other considerations

As part of the appointment process for the public member of the Niagara Regional Police Service Board, staff administering the process will also consider whether additional measures may be implemented to assist in ensuring that the members appointed by Council are representative of the diversity of the population in Niagara, such as:
- Improving outreach and messaging to diverse groups that represent the population and community partners that work with diverse community members, noting requirements under Subsection 29(1) of the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, relating to promotion of the availability of reasonably foreseeable appointments, as set out in Section C
- Improving content and plain language of recruitment communications to make the recruitment process more approachable and accessible to more residents with a variety of lived experiences
- Improving application forms and application data through measures such as optional self-identification questions in the application form to allow applicants to disclose aspects of their identity that could include gender, Indigeneity, race, disability and sexual orientation. This information may be made available to selection panel members to increase the number of appointees from diverse population groups.
- Providing education and resources for the selection panel to understand the impacts of bias, discrimination and oppression on diverse populations in Niagara. This will include information on the diverse demographics of Niagara based on Statistics Canada data, and how to make decisions considering diversity, equity and inclusion.
Staff may also undertake additional consultation with staff in the areas of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Indigenous Relations, Community Services, and Partnerships and Communication as part of the appointment process.

Publication, review and reports

Subsections 28(2) to 28(4) of the act require the following with respect to this Diversity Plan:

The plan shall be published on the internet in accordance with the regulations made by the Minister, if any
Niagara Region shall review and, if appropriate, revise the plan at least once every four years
Niagara Region shall publish reports on the implementation of the plan on the internet in accordance with the regulations made by the Minister, if any