The Ontario Civilian Police Commission has concluded one of its longest-ever Hamilton investigations, finding that Hamilton’s Police Board budget process was “significantly deficient.”
The Commission found that the “deficiencies suggest that the Board was inclined to acquiesce to the Service’s 2024 budget proposal without a full assessment.”
The Commission conducted a 14-month investigation following complaints filed by the Police Board majority alleging a litany of violations by Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch in his capacity as a Police Board member.
Ontario Civilian Police Commission Chair Sean Weir writes in a letter dated June 2, 2025, that all but one of the complaints were not founded, but did find Kroetsch’s “repeated and highly critical comments about the Board” following the flawed 2024 budget process constituted “conduct that would discredit or compromise the integrity of the Board, contrary to section 13 of O. Reg. 421/97: Members of Police Services Boards – Code of Conduct (“Code”),” and that the Commission “has cautioned Mr. Kroetsch.”
Weir’s 10-page report details significant issues and tensions on the Board that are rooted in other Police Board members having a “mixed reception” to Kroetsch “due to his history of activism, as well as his past criticisms of the Service and the oversight provided by the Board.”
Much of this tension began in 2019 when Kroetsch was the Chair of Hamilton’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee and was among community leaders who demanded accountability following a violent attack against Hamilton’s Pride festival in Gage Park.
Hamilton Police conducted their own internal review of the June 15, 2019 violence, and Hamilton Police Service (HPS) found few shortcomings with its own response.
Following sustained public pressure, the Police Board eventually hired an outside investigator.
The 125-page Independent Review into the Events Surrounding Hamilton Pride 2019 report was a damning indictment of serious failures by HPS.
“The HPS’s inadequate preparation for Pride 2019 resulted in a failure to protect the public and Pride attendees during the event,” wrote Scott Bergman, the lawyer hired by the Hamilton Police Board to conduct the review. “The HPS should unequivocally apologize to the community.”
Kroetsch is a leader within Hamilton’s progressive-left movement, regularly speaking at rallies regarding policing, some with chants that included abolishing or defunding police.
Kroetsch and the 2024 Police Budget Process
The investigation found Kroetsch’s “policy and governance values differed from those of most of his colleagues on the Board” and this was particularly prevalent during the 2024 police budget process.
During the process, Kroetsch put forth amendments and proposed changes to the budget.
“Although Kroetsch’s concerns regarding the Board’s 2024 budget process were reasonable, they were met with resistance and inaction from the Board,” according to the report.
One of the grounds of complaint filed against Kroetsch was his critical comments during Board and Council meetings. These were dismissed.
“The Commission determined that any of Kroetsch’s critical comments made at Board meetings that were subsequently reported by the media did not support misconduct findings.”
However, the Commission says that by repeating those comments outside of meetings, Kroetsch did violate the Ontario Code.
“The Commission determined that although Kroetsch’s critical comments to legacy media and on social media regarding the Board’s 2024 budget process were largely consistent with those he made during the Board’s open meetings, they did not benefit from the greater leniency that should be afforded to Board members with respect to comments they make within the Board,” the investigation found.
“The Commission determined that these critical comments were disparaging on their face, because they claimed that the Board had not discharged its statutory duties and suggested that the Board was acting in bad faith. As a result, the Commission concluded that these comments went beyond permissible criticism allowed by section 6 of the Code and crossed into conduct that would discredit or compromise the integrity of the Board, contrary to s. 13 of the Code.”
The Commission ruled Kroetsch’s motions regarding the police budget made at City Council meetings where permitted.
During the 2024, Kroetsch moved unsuccessful motions to decrease the police budget by approximately $5-million in savings out of the $214.8-million that was approved.
The Vigil Following the Death of Erixon Kabera
Three Hamilton Police Board members attended a vigil in the days following the death of Erixon Kabera, who was shot and killed by a Hamilton Police officer when Kabera pulled out a realistic replica firearm and pointed it at police.
The three members were Kroetsch, Ward 7 Councillor Esther Pauls, and Anjali Menezes.
The Board added Kroetsch’s attendance to its complaint.
“Kroetsch’s attendance at the vigil was consistent with his role as a councillor. Likewise, generally holding the Service and its officers accountable for their actions, including in relation to citizen deaths is, in and of itself, consistent with the role of a Board member,” according to the report.
However, when the vigil morphed into a protest against the Hamilton Police Service, during a march to Hamilton Police headquarters, the report suggests Kroetsch should have left.
His continued attendance at this point “was imprudent and should not be repeated.”
Weir’s letter to the Police Board concludes by “[encouraging them] to foster an environment within the Board that is welcoming to different perspectives and open to its members’ criticism with respect to its processes and the scope of the oversight it provides.”
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Published: July 14, 2025
Last updated: July 14, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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