A former Green Party candidate who is also the spouse of a Port Moody city councillor is the newest appointee to the Port Moody Police board.
Marcus Madsen, who is the husband of PoMo Coun. Hunter Madsen, was appointed to the governing body by the provincial government after the PoMo resident submitted his application.
But the posting has surprised the city’s acting mayor, who is also the chair of the police board.
Meghan Lahti told The Tri-City News this week the decision by the B.C. Policing and Security Branch was “out of the ordinary” because board members are supposed to be independent of council to do their job properly.
“While there isn’t anything explicit in the Police Act, I do know that there is always an effort placed to ensure there is no connection between members of the board and members of council,” Lahti said.
“I have been told that people who are interviewed for the job are asked explicitly. It’s possible they were aware and they determined that it was OK,” she added.
The Tri-City News has reached out to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General but has yet to receive an explanation but a spokesperson said the ministry is looking into the matter.
Marcus Madsen could not be reached for comment but Coun. Hunter Madsen, who takes on the acting mayor role July 1, said his partner applied on his own for the volunteer posting because he wanted to be engaged in civic activities.
“This is the province making the choice and I think, what I had heard is, they were looking to add more diversity… Marcus is LGBTQ and has been an activist. I expect that was part of their motive,” Madsen told The Tri-City News.
He said his partner’s intentions were good, and that making a big deal of it only serves to further divide the community.
‘We don’t need this in the community, which already has so many other things going on. It is an unnecessary debate in what was intended to be a perfectly innocent appointment.”
According to the PoMo Police Board governance manual, a police board is a separate and independent body, and is supposed to “insulate” the department from the political decision-making process, especially around funding.
“The primary responsibility of the board is to ensure that it provides oversight and direction to the department, in a fashion that is consistent with the Police Act and its fiduciary responsibility to the citizens of Port Moody. The board works with the chief constable and the executive team of the department to develop and approve a strategic plan, an annual plan/budget and objectives, and policies,” the manual states.
In order to maintain the board’s independence from council, it is important for members not to be influenced by council, Lahti said, which raises questions about Madsen’s appointment.
She said she believes Madsen is a “competent person” who would “do the job well,” but his appointment is a “distraction” that takes away from work the board has to do.
The next police board meeting is July 8 and Lahti said she will listen to concerns, if any are raised.
The Tri-City News also reached out to Port Moody-Coquitlam MLA Rick Glumac for comment be he has not yet responded.
As well, as a former federal Green Party candidate, Madsen works in customer service for Air Canada.
