The man who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that condemned Canada's history with residential schools will now oversee a probe into a northwestern Ontario city's police services board as the community grapples with tensions between its police force and Indigenous residents.
The Ontario Civilian Police Commission says Sen. Murray Sinclair will lead an investigation into the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, which is responsible for a force that has come under fire from local Indigenous leaders in recent months.
Several northwestern Ontario chiefs have criticized police handling of the deaths of local youths in the city, going so far as to ask the RCMP to take over the investigations.
In May, the OCPC agreed to a request from one local leader to open an investigation into the police services board.
Monday's announcement naming Sinclair as the lead investigator also spelled out the OCPC's specific concerns with Thunder Bay police.
It says it has "serious concerns'" with the quality of police probes into the youth deaths, statements made by members of the police board denying that racism is an issue, and the fact that
the local police chief is now facing criminal charges.