Backgrounder

May 2, 2008

BIOGRAPHY

Gerry McNeilly has spent the past nine years as Executive Director of Legal Aid Manitoba, a quasi-independent body reporting to the provincial Department of Justice. He oversaw a $22 million budget and supervised a staff of 170, including lawyers.

Prior to that, he served for four years as the Chair of the Board of Inquiry for the Human Rights Tribunal - now the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. McNeilly helped transform the Human Rights Tribunal from an ad hoc organization to a standing tribunal, which involved developing rules, procedures, and processes as well as hiring and training adjudicators and mediators.

McNeilly has also served as a justice of the peace and deputy judge. He has extensive experience in change management and was involved in the establishment of the Unified Family Court System in Ontario.

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts from York University and his LLB from Queen’s University Law School.

ONTARIO’S NEW POLICE REVIEW SYSTEM

Under the new system, the Independent Police Review Director will lead a new civilian organization to handle public complaints about municipal and provincial police in Ontario. This will allow for independent, civilian review at three important stages:

• The Director and his or her officials will be responsible for the intake and initial screening of public complaints about the police. Frivolous, vexatious or otherwise inappropriate complaints would be weeded out.
• Once screened, the Director will decide who would investigate. The Director will have the ability to investigate where appropriate, or refer it to the subject police service, or another police service.
• Following substantiation, if it is not resolved informally, the chief of police would make decisions about discipline. The Director will review these decisions.