OPP union mess reveals a ‘toxic’ work culture amid allegations of theft and fraud

Two reviews into the Ontario Provincial Police Association reveal that “tyrannical” leaders led to a complete breakdown of governance.

There were harassing, expletive-filled emails, including one telling a staffer to “hurry the f— up” and another threatening to “rip off” a board member’s head.

There were employees brought to tears from “bullying” by top brass, including allegations of inappropriate comments directed at female staff, and that a top official claimed the union was a “workplace discrimination harassment policy-free zone.”

And there was misspending using union credit cards, including trips to the LCBO, $617 spent at “Cigar Masters” in Boston, and extravagant meals — including a $1,392.32 tab racked up at two Monster Jam events at the Rogers Centre.

An independent internal review into the Ontario Provincial Police Association, commissioned by the union in the wake of a criminal investigation targeting top association brass, reveals a “toxic” and “fear-based” work culture, with “tyrannical” leaders who intimidated staff so effectively that “virtually every aspect” of the union’s accountability system failed.

It was “a perfect storm of corporate governance,” according to Carol Hansell, a top legal expert on governance who produced a report for the OPPA to help the union make sweeping changes — including reforming its accounting and expense system and developing a new whistleblower policy.
Explosive allegations of criminal activity rocked the OPP union in March, when the RCMP raided OPPA headquarters and the homes of the union’s former top three bosses: president Jim Christie, vice-president Martin Bain and chief administrative officer Karl Walsh.

The RCMP allege Christie, Bain and Walsh committed theft, breach of trust, fraud and money laundering. No charges have been laid and the RCMP’s investigation is ongoing.

Walsh has since been fired, and Christie and Bain have been suspended.

“Considering the fact that there is an ongoing RCMP investigation, at this time we are unable to comment on these internal investigative reports prepared at the request of the OPPA,” said lawyer Julianna Greenspan, on behalf of the men.

The men also declined to be interviewed for the OPPA internal review, citing the ongoing RCMP probe, though Greenspan issued a statement to reviewers in July saying: “we trust that your investigation thus far has revealed the inaccuracies that are rife within the (RCMP documents).”

Unproven allegations, contained in an affidavit the RCMP used to obtain a series of search warrants, include that the trio participated in a sophisticated financial scheme involving a consulting firm, a travel company and high-risk offshore investments, including two beachside condos in the Bahamas, one valued at $1.5 million.

The criminal investigation was initiated when four union whistleblowers took their concerns to police. The resulting RCMP allegations were “a huge shock to the OPPA’s collective system,” says Doug Lewis, OPPA acting present, and within days the union hired the legal firm of Stikeman Elliott to perform an independent internal investigation.

“We have seen some evidence of bad behaviour, to say the least,” Lewis said in an interview Tuesday. “We’re hopeful that at the end of all this we’ll be able to turn the page and move forward.”

The result of Stikeman Elliott’s five-month investigation — which included interviews with every OPPA employee and board member and nearly 9,000 emails and other documents — were released to all OPPA members Tuesday and obtained by the Star.

The review paints a picture of a dysfunctional work environment, where some staff and board members were beginning to question decisions by Christie or Walsh, but were ultimately too afraid to challenge them for fear of reprisal.

When, at an October 2014 board meeting, executive officer Marty McNamara challenged recent high-risk offshore investments, including a condo in the Cayman Islands, he stated the investment appears to be “money-laundering.”

The meeting then went in camera, and there are no minutes from the meeting. But Stikeman Elliott’s review of emails found that shortly after, Bain fired off an email to Christie.
“(McNamara) kept alluding to us in the Caymans and laundering money. Karl (Walsh) and I will be ripping his head off at the brae (sic) for even suggesting it 3 times.”

One member of the OPPA’s audit committee told Stikeman Elliott that he had a concerns with one financial report, but because the union is “a para-military organization, he felt that he could not question authority unless the reason for doing so was blatantly clear,” according to the report.

Multiple interviewees said the workplace environment was characterized by intimidation and bullying, mostly by Christie and Walsh. Walsh in particular, the Stikeman Elliott report stated, was “famous” for sending “tyrannical,” “aggressive,” “confrontational” or “scathing” emails.
“One staff member reported having to repeatedly console other staff members who were brought to tears by Walsh’s bullying. Some staff also raised concerns about inappropriate behaviour or comments from Christie and Walsh towards or about women and, in one instance, from Walsh towards a member of a specific religion,” says the report.

Bain, however, appeared not to have participated in the same type of “tyrannical” or bullying conduct, “which was stated to be common from Christie and Walsh,” the review noted.
Without the damaging workplace culture, the alleged criminal activity probably could have been halted, according to Hansell, the legal expert in governance. Hansell authored a set of recommendations for the OPPA, based in part on the Stikeman Elliott review.

“There are a number of things that could have been done differently, but had it not been for the fact that virtually every aspect of the OPPA’s governance failed, much of what has happened may not have happened and it may not have been necessary for four members of staff to take their concerns to the police,” Hansell wrote.

Among the most important changes to the organization will be reforms to its accounting, expense reporting and financial oversight, and the creation of a new anonymous and confidential whistleblower policy.

That has become “the most pressing” change for the OPPA to make now, said Lewis — a whistleblower policy that makes clear that there are protections for employees who come forward.

“When the folks who you think are doing things wrong are the biggest bosses in the organization,” Lewis said, “then obviously that’s a problem.”