Hamilton Police Services Boards (1991-2024)
This list is a snapshot of members of both of Hamilton’s police services boards for the past 33 years, from 1991 to 2024. During this period, both the Region of Hamilton-Wentworth and the City of Hamilton have existed as separate municipal bodies.
The Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth Police Services Board was in effect until 2000 when it was replaced by the Hamilton Police Services Board (HPSB). The HPSB is currently a 7 member board as defined by provincial legislation (for municipalities with populations above 300,000). The HPSB is made up of 3 members of City Council and 1 citizen member appointed by City Council whose appointments usually coincide with terms or City Council; and 2 citizen members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council for the Province of Ontario, from time to time, usually for 2 year terms, through the Solicitor General or the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
Look below the table for Fun with the Data, Related Resources, and an overall Summary. You can use the tools above the table to filter the data or to download it in a variety of file formats for your own use.
| wdt_ID | Name of member | Year appointed | Member until | Appointed by | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terry Cooke | 1991 | 2000 | Region of Hamilton-Wentworth | Regional Alderman |
| 2 | R.J. (Reg) Whynott | 1991 | 1994 | Region of Hamilton-Wentworth | Regional Chair |
| 3 | Sharon Laffrenier | 1991 | 1992 | Province of Ontario | Citizen |
| 4 | Patricia Saunders | 1992 | 1996 | Province of Ontario | Citizen |
| 5 | Peter Shebib | 1992 | 1995 | Province of Ontario | Citizen |
| 6 | Sylvia Kajiura | 1994 | 1996 | Province of Ontario | Citizen |
| 7 | Bernie Morelli | 1994 | 1997 | Region of Hamilton-Wentworth | Regional Alderman |
| 8 | Surinder Ahluwalia | 1995 | 1997 | Province of Ontario | Citizen |
| 9 | Tom Jackson | 1995 | 2003 | Region of Hamilton-Wentworth | Regional Alderman |
| 10 | Dennis Concordia | 1996 | 1998 | Province of Ontario | Citizen |
Hamilton Police Board Chairs (1991-2024)
Below is a short table that lists the Chairs of the 2 boards from 1991 to 2024. Bill McCulloch gave his seat as Chair up voluntarily in 1991 just shortly after winning reelection as Alderman for Ward 2.
| wdt_ID | Name of Chair | Year acclaimed or elected | Chair until |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill McCulloch | 1991 | |
| 2 | Terry Cooke | 1992 | 1994 |
| 3 | Patricia Saunders | 1995 | 1996 |
| 4 | Bernie Morelli | 1997 | 1997 |
| 5 | Tom Jackson | 1998 | 1998 |
| 6 | Anne Bain | 1999 | 2000 |
| 7 | Bernie Morelli | 2001 | 2004 |
| 8 | Murray Ferguson | 2005 | 2005 |
| 9 | Bernie Morelli | 2006 | 2009 |
| 10 | Bruce Pearson | 2010 | 2010 |
| 11 | Nancy Di Gregorio | 2011 | 2013 |
| 12 | Bob Bratina | 2013 | 2013 |
| 13 | Lloyd Ferguson | 2014 | 2018 |
| 14 | Fred Eisenberger | 2019 | 2021 |
| 15 | Pat Mandy | 2021 | Current |
Summary of Hamilton police board appointments from 1991 to 2021
The history of police board appointments in Hamilton is interesting for a number of reasons. Amalgamation, the dissolution of the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth (RMHW), and many successive changes in provincial government all had impacts. From 1991 to 2000 the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth Police Services Board (HWPSB) was governed primarily by the citizens appointed to it by the Province of Ontario. While the position of Chair was often filled by a member of Regional Council, there was often an even split or a majority of citizens appointed by the Province of Ontario who held voting positions on the HWPSB (both before and after the board increased its membership from 5 to 7 members in 1996 up until about 1998 when the RMHW began its own citizen appointments).
Hamilton MPP David Christopherson had a direct influence on the composition of the HWPSB when he was appointed the Minister of Correctional Services and Solicitor General from 1992 to 1995. Activists and NDP supporters were appointed to the HWPSB during this period, which had an impact not only on the decisions it made but on the composition of the board when the NDP no longer formed government in the Province of Ontario.
Starting in 1998 with the citizen appointments made by the RMHW, the composition of the police services board tended to favour those in elected office and their citizen appointee over those appointed by the Province of Ontario. In 2001, the newly amalgamated City of Hamilton and its City Council were responsible for appointing members to 4 out of the 7 seats on what became the Hamilton Police Services Board (HPSB), the body still governing the Hamilton Police Service today.
Over this period, there have been 5 politicians who have been very active on the police services board, namely Terry Cooke, Bernie Morelli, Terry Whitehead, Lloyd Ferguson, and Fred Eisenberger.
- Terry Cooke – Ward 1 Alderman (1985-1994) and Regional Chairman (1994-2000) who was active on the HWPSB from 1991 to 2000 and was its Chair for 3 years from 1992 to 1994.
- Bernie Morelli – Ward 3 Alderman (1991-2000) and City Councillor (2000-2014) who was active on both the HWPSB and the HPSB and was Chair for a total of 9 years (1997, 2001-2004, 2006-2009).
- Terry Whitehead – Ward 8 City Councillor (2003-2018) and Ward 14 City Councillor (2018-2022) who was active on the HPSB for more than 12 years (2006-2018).
- Lloyd Ferguson – Ward 12 City Councillor (2006-2022) who was active on the HPSB from 2013 to 2018 and served as its Chair from 2014 to 2018.
- Fred Eisenberger – Mayor (2006-2010, 2014-2022) who was active on the HPSB during each term of his tenure as Mayor, being the first Mayor* to seek the Chair of the HPSB (he was its Chair from 2019 to 2021, just after he was reelected in the 2018 municipal election).
*Mayor Bob Bratina was briefly Chair of the HPSB toward the end of 2013.
Source
Minutes of the police services boards*, The Hamilton Spectator, Public Appointments Secretariat
*Records collected in 2020
Last updated – January 12, 2024