‘No member of this council should be attacked’: Councillor on WRPS letter to council

Regional Councillor Rob Deutschmann is pushing back against comments made about him in a letter sent to Regional Council from the Waterloo Regional Police Services (WRPS) Board.

The letter, written by the Chair of the WRPS Board Ian McLean, answered some questions about the upcoming 2025 police budget while also raising issues with previous statements made by Deutschmann over the last six months — including allegations that the WRPS was acting “inappropriately,” “has not been transparent,” and that their financial reporting has been “altered.”

In his letter, McLean called the statements a pattern of “troubling accusations.”

“On behalf of the Board, I want to publicly state that we take strong issue with any insinuation, whether direct or indirect, of financial or managerial impropriety by the WRPS or the Waterloo Regional Police Service Board,” the letter reads.

During the Administration and Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday, Deutschmann said the comments made about him in the letter themselves were “inappropriate” and that he was “attacked” for asking fair questions.

“I don’t think any member of this council should be attacked in any way when they are raising questions,” Deutschmann said. “We can parse words from many statements and comments that we all make and present in a certain manner, but I think it’s very inappropriate that that sort of approach and response was made.”

When asked about the letter, Police Chief Mark Crowell said that the letter speaks for itself and that he is concerned about the tone and level of dialogue that occurs around police in Canada in general.

“I would characterize it sometimes as a lack of respect by some, who apparently have an unwillingness to accept simple facts and logic repeatedly,” Crowell said.

“It’s a bit like Groundhog Day, where our members have provided simple answers to simple questions and they are thorough, sourced facts. We will continue to act with total transparency with our financial reporting.”

The 2025 WRPS Budget is set to be presented to the regional police board in November, before being presented to regional council.