The District of Muskoka has appointed community members to the OPP Detachment Boards.
Council approved the appointees during its July 15 meeting.
On the board watching over the Bracebridge OPP, Michael Brady will represent Bracebridge, Myra Levy will represent Gravenhurst, and Kara Wanoth will represent Muskoka Lakes.
They will be joined by District Chair Jeff Lehman, Chief Rhonda Williams-Lovett of Moose Deer Point First Nation, and the respective mayors of Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Muskoka Lakes, and Georgian Bay.
An elected official and community member haven’t been decided yet for Wahta Mohawk First Nation.
For the Huntsville OPP, Fred Landry will represent Lake of Bays and Pauline Meunier will represent Huntsville.
Lehman and the mayors of Huntsville and Lakes of Bays will join them.
“We do appreciate the great amount of interest, the number of people who put their names forward, to serve their community on these new OPP Detachment Boards,” he said.
Amy Back, district clerk, detailed how a selection panel sorted through 19 applications for Huntsville and 13 for Bracebridge.
She explained the community appointees will stay on the board a maximum of six months after the next municipal election on Oct. 26, 2026. Back said that will give the incoming district councillors time to choose new members.
Back pointed out the provincial appointees have not been named yet, adding she isn’t sure when that will happen.
The boards are being created as mandated through the Community Safety and Policing Act. It was originally passed in 2019 by the provincial government but only went into effect as of April 1, 2024.
