Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police

The Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (French: Commissaire de la Police provinciale de l'Ontario) is the head of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Commissioner of the
Ontario Provincial Police
Incumbent
Thomas W.B. Carrique
since April 8, 2019[1]
Ontario Provincial Police
Reports toMinister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
AppointerLieutenant Governor in Council[2]
Term lengthAt Her Majesty's pleasure[2]
Constituting instrumentProvincial Police Force Act
Formation1921
First holderHarry Macintyre Cawthra-Elliot
Salary$268,428 (2016)[3]

Pre-OPP Provincial Force Chiefs

In May 1875, the first head of a provincial police force was John Wilson Murray, who was a provincial constable appointed to the position of "Detective for the Province of Ontario".[4] Murray was joined by two detectives under his command, Joseph Edwin Rogers in 1884 and William D. Greer in 1887. By 1887 Murray became Chief Inspector with Rogers and Greer becoming Inspectors.[5]

Beginning of the OPP

Chief Detective Murray died in 1906, and in 1909, the Ontario Provincial Police Force was formally created. It consisted of 45 constables under the direction of Superintendent Joseph E. Rogers, who began as a detective under Murray in 1884.[6]

In 1921, the force was reorganized as the OPP with the passage of the Provincial Police Force Act. Major General Harry Macintyre Cawthra-Elliot was appointed to the newly created position of Commissioner.[7] In 1922, Joseph E. Rogers was dismissed from the force by Victor Williams, thus ending his tenure as the head of the OPP.

Since 1939, most OPP Commissioners have been police officers (Eric Silk was a civilian) and some (12 up to 2018) promoted from current or former members of the OPP.

List of OPP Commissioners
Years Served Name Notes
1921–1922 Major General Harry Macintyre Cawthra-Elliot (1867–1949)[8] Cawthra-Elliot was a career military officer and married into the Cawthra family.
1922–1939 Major General Victor Williams (1867–1949)[9] Williams was the second career military officer to head the OPP; he was previously an Inspector with the North-West Mounted Police.
1939–1953 William H. Stringer (1886–1953) Stringer was a career OPP officer, the first to be promoted within the force.[10]
1953–1958 Edwin V. McNeill (1896–1962) McNeill was an OPP Inspector and served briefly as interim Windsor Police Chief.
1958–1963 Wilfred Hamilton Clark (1904-1971)[11][12] Clark was a career OPP officer, including Inspector of Criminal Investigation Branch.
1963–1973 Eric Hamilton Silk, QC (1908–2004)[6] Silk was the first civilian head of the OPP; he was a career civil servant (counsel with the Office of the Attorney General of Ontario).
1973–1981 Harold Hopkins Graham (1916–2001) Graham was a career officer with the OPP, formerly Inspector, Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner.
1981–1983 James Laird Erskine (1916–2005) Erskine was former head of the OPP fraud squad and Deputy Commissioner.
1983–1988 Robert Archibald "Archie" Ferguson Ferguson was a 37-year OPP veteran (1951–1988).[13]
1988–1998 Thomas Bernard O'Grady (born 1936) O'Grady was a 36-year veteran of the OPP (1962–1998).[14]
1998–2006 Gwen Boniface Boniface was a career OPP officer (21-year veteran and promoted from Chief Superintendent Regional Commander); she joined Ireland's Garda Síochána Inspectorate (National Police Force) as an advisor in 2006.
2006–2010 Julian Fantino Fantino was a Metro Toronto Police veteran; he later served as Chief of Police of the London Police Service, York Region Police and Toronto Police Service; also head of Emergency Measures Ontario (as Deputy Minister).
2010–2014 Christopher D. Lewis Lewis was an OPP veteran who joined the force in 1978 and was promoted from the rank of Deputy Commissioner (Field Operations).[15]
2014–2018 Vince Hawkes Hawkes joined the OPP in 1984 and is a former Deputy Commissioner (Field Operations).[16][17]
2018 Brad Blair Interim Commissioner from November 3 to December 16, 2018.[18] He joined the OPP in 1986, and he became Deputy Commissioner (Traffic Safety and Operational Support) in December 2013.[19]
2018–2019 Gary J. Couture Couture served as Interim Commissioner from December 17, 2018, to April 7, 2019.[20] He joined the OPP in 1985 and became Deputy Commissioner (Field Operations) in April 2014.
2019–present Thomas W.B. Carrique Carrique became the 15th Commissioner on April 8, 2019.[1] He was previously Deputy Chief of York Regional Police, where he began his policing career in 1990.

References
  1. "Office of the Commissioner". Ontario Provincial Police. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  2. "Order in Council 446/2017". Orders in Council. Government of Ontario. Retrieved May 24, 2017. to serve at the pleasure of the Lieutenant Governor in Council
  3. "Search Ontario's 2016 Sunshine List". CBC News. March 31, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  4. Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
  5. http://www.aimonknowledge.cegepba.qc.ca/fr/canadas-great-detective
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-01-11. Retrieved 2010-08-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-08-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-08-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-08-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-08-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. The Globe and Mail, "W.H. Clark: Served 5 years as OPP chief" Nov. 4, 1971, page 5
  12. Higley,Dahn D.,"O.P.P. The History of the Ontario Provincial Police Force", The Queen`s Printer, Toronto, 1984
  13. http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1401976
  14. http://hansardindex.ontla.on.ca/hansardeissue/34-1/l039.htm
  15. http://www.opp.ca/ecms/index.php?id=22
  16. "Vince Hawkes named OPP commissioner". Toronto Star. February 20, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  17. "OPP Commissioner announces retirement". barrie.ctvnews.ca. September 7, 2018.
  18. "TPS Supt. Ronald Taverner named OPP commissioner". toronto.citynews.ca. November 29, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  19. Brad Blair – Deputy Commissioner, Traffic Safety and Operational Support
  20. "Appointment of Ron Taverner to OPP Commissioner delayed". globalnews.ca. December 15, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
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