Public Safety committee  The federal government controls the standards for next-generation 911. You can actually build that standard so that every police agency in every part of the country has to have that triage capability in next-generation 911. This is a federal responsibility that can trickle down into every single jurisdiction.

Public Safety committee  You referenced recruitment and retention. I think we're actually doing an amazing job of recruiting. It's our coach officer programs—and again, I don't put this on the coach officers. We haven't enabled that first line of cultural change, which is the actual coach officer program being sophisticated and robust enough to really maintain the vitality of the quality and diversity of what we're bringing in, but the quantity of that has increased.

Public Safety committee  Thank you, Mr. Harris. First of all, I want to be very clear. I was part of a team that was led by Bill Blair, now Minister of Public Safety. I was the deputy chief working for Bill. I contributed to the overall strategy that Bill was leading in that time frame. I applied for the chief's job in Toronto and Mark was successful, and I fully support his leadership within the organization and his attempt to modernize the Toronto Police Service, which touched on many of the things we've talked about here today.

Public Safety committee  Again, I want to very quickly reference that my comments around neighbourhood policing were clear. Prevention should be the first thing we do. Off-ramping people out of the justice system, not on-ramping them into the justice system, is the first thing our neighbourhood officers should do.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. That's part of the point I was making before, and I think it has been reflected by Tom and Dale. It is impossible for a human being in a uniform with a badge, a gun and most importantly an oath of office, and with brains and a heart and arms to wrap themselves around the vast diversity of human issues that we are being asked to go to on a 24-7, 365 basis in small, medium and large communities across this great country.

Public Safety committee  Yes, certainly.

Public Safety committee  Yes, the EDI action plan was tabled in February in front of our board. It is an evergreen plan, meaning that we've taken what we believe are the top 10 most impactful activities that we can do to address overall equity, diversity and inclusion. To be clear, that is to ensure that within our police service all of our members are treated with respect and dignity and are able to work in a harassment-free environment; that we address systemic bullying, workplace mobbing, harassment and sexual harassment; and that we provide a safe, healthy and well environment for our members to then be psychologically, emotionally and physically capable of going out and serving in a very diverse and pluralistic community.

Public Safety committee  That's a great question. I'm not an expert in this area, but I'll do my best to answer, sir. I actually visited Portugal twice, for major conferences around smart cities, in my time in the private sector. The integrated approach to creating a smart city underpins the integrated approach to the process of decriminalization.

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much for your question. I will revert this back specifically to systemic racism. I will admit my concerns around decriminalization of cannabis. It occurred while I was temporarily outside of policing in the private sector. I watched it from a very different lens, more as a father and community member, with my concerns around its impact.

Public Safety committee  I've concluded. Thank you.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. I would like to thank the committee for inviting me to participate in this very important discussion. My name is Peter Sloly, and I am the chief of the Ottawa Police Service. I am proud to serve the one million souls who reside in the nation’s capital. I am proud of my 28 years as a police officer in Canada.