Investigation requested into Hamilton police board confidentiality breach

The city Integrity Commissioner will be asked to investigate allegations of a confidentiality breach during the Hamilton Police Services Board Selection Committee Meeting.

The committee is working to replace citizen member Ruth Greenspan, whose term on the Board ended last month. During this process, the Board held a closed meeting on Oct. 16 where members discussed the results of private interviews conducted with candidates to replace Greenspan.

The Board additionally passed a motion to ensure the content of these interviews remained confidential. Each member of the 12-person board was requested to submit one candidate for consideration. The Oct. 16 meeting closed shortly after 6:30 p.m. that evening and opened back up shortly before 10:30 p.m.

Following this, the Board met again on Dec. 5 for another closed hybrid session. The Board meetings are closed since the discussion “pertains to personal matters about an identifiable individual, including City or local board employees.”

Early in the meeting, when discussing the minutes for the Oct. 16 meeting, Board Chair and Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann acknowledged someone on her screen indicating the matter could not be discussed. This individual’s identity is not clear in the live stream.

The meeting went private shortly after 5:30 p.m. and remained closed to the public for about an hour. When the open session resumed the board voted to request the investigation. The request was forwarded to for the full council to vote on in the Dec. 13 meeting.

What information was leaked is unclear at the moment as both closed sessions available to view remain closed throughout.