By Dan Jones LJI
Northumberland 89.7 FM
Cobourg Police Board Chair Adam Bureau was asked to step down by a fellow Board member Tuesday morning after facing allegations of giving false information to the public about the hiring process of new police Chief Chris Leather.
Ron Kerr alleged that Bureau broke the confidence of the board by disclosing information from a closed session, regarding how board members voted on hiring Leather.
In late May, Bureau, in an interview with Northumberland 89.7, said the board was unanimous, when in fact, several board members were not in favour of the hiring, Kerr said during the meeting.
“You have to realize there are people that did not support Chief Leather’s appointment,” said Kerr.
Kerr explained that when initially asked by the public how he voted, he said no comment to protect the confidentiality of closed-session activities.
However, he said that when Bureau disclosed the vote, he did a disservice to the board and broke protocol. Kerr said Bureau should step down for this reason.
Bureau admitted to saying the board voted unanimously, but that was said before the minutes of the special meeting were released.
It’s not clear when the Board voted to hire Leather, but two special police board meetings were held in May.
Kerr moved to have Bureau step down; however, no other member seconded the motion, and the motion did not proceed.
Bureau admitted both Kerr and board member Dean Pepper voted no on Leather’s hiring.
The Cobourg Police Service hired Leather effective June 1.
Leather has an extensive 36-year policing career, including 21 years with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Leather was the Chief Superintendent in Nova Scotia during the 2020 mass casualty incident, which left 23 people dead, including the perpetrator, while three others were injured. It is the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history.
Bureau said in a previous interview in May this incident was discussed with Leather during the hiring process, but that Leather is accountable for his mistakes.
Listen to the exchange between Bureau and Kerr:
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