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.
