Norm Gardner - Provincial Appointee

Provincial Appointee

The method of election for city councillors changed with the 2000 election with a return to a one councillor per ward system. Facing a tough battle against Filion, Gardner opted to retire from politics. With the support of Lastman and Toronto Police Association president Craig Bromell, the Harris government agreed to appoint Gardner to one of the provincially appointed seats on the board allowing him to continue as Police Services Board chairman without having a city council seat. He was reappointed by the province to serve a full three-year term in September 2001.

In October 2001, Gardner supported a decision by the Toronto police to compile a list of suspected terrorist sympathizers. During a radio interview on the subject, he said that he was "assuming that people on this list are predominantly of Middle Eastern descent". Both Gardner's comments and his support for the list were criticized by civil libertarians, including lawyer Clayton Ruby. Provincial Solicitor General David Turnbull defended both Gardner's comments and the police decision.

Gardner supported a race relations probe in late 2002, following media reports that the Toronto police engaged in systemic discrimination against blacks. He denied that racial profiling existed, but acknowledged that there was an understandable rationale behind the complaints. He later criticized the Toronto Star for running a series of articles on racial profiling, arguing that they hindered the ability of police officers to do their job.

Gardner stepped aside as Police Services Board chair in 2003 after it was discovered that he had accepted the gift of a handgun from the vice-president of Para-Ordinance Inc., a Toronto firearms manufacturer that Gardner assisted in getting a discount rate for an exhibition booth at the 2001 International Association of Chiefs of Police convention. Gardner reimbursed the manufacturer $700 for the weapon, a restricted semi-automatic pistol, shortly before the controversy was made public. The initial six-week investigation by the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services (OCCOPS) resulted in a formal inquiry later in the year. It was later revealed that Gardner also took 5,700 rounds of ammunition from the city's police services for his personal use, with the permission of the chief's office. In 2004, it was revealed that Gardner had approved his own expenses for conference travel.

Gardner was replaced as Police Services Board chair in January 2004 by Alan Heisey. In April, the OCCOPS inquiry ruled that Gardner came "a hair short" of misconduct in his acceptance of the handgun, but also ruled that his decision to accept free ammunition brought discredit to the board. He was suspended without pay from the board until the end of his term in December 2004. Gardner argued that he did nothing wrong, and appealed the decision. He also refused to resign his commission seat for several months, a decision that left the board deadlocked between conservatives and progressives. This division contributed, in part, to the controversial non-renewal of Chief Julian Fantino's contract.

An Ontario Court of Appeals decision later overturned Gardner's suspension on technical grounds, while offering no opinion on whether or not he had violated policy. Gardner publicly stated that the decision cleared his name, and announced his resignation from the Police Services Board on November 1, 2004, one month before his term was complete, stating that his reputation was intact.