Windsor Police Services Board suspends force’s vaccine mandate, allowing all members to return

The Windsor Police Services Board has decided to suspend the force’s vaccination mandate, allowing all members who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to return to work.

Back in Oct. 2021, the board approved a proof-of-vaccination policy that would force police service members who did not meet the deadline to go on unpaid leave. But during an in-camera meeting Thursday, that policy was suspended.

Windsor Police Association president Shawn McCurdy, who has been trying to get the mandate lifted ever since its implementation, tells AM800 News about five members will now be able to return to work.

“But we also have a number of other members that will be affected by this because they were off on other leaves, [such as] maternity or sick leave or WSIB. They will be able to return once they're able to do so,” McCurdy said Thursday.

For McCurdy, the timing of the board’s decision is “unfortunate,” as the Windsor Police Service was just one of two forces in Ontario which maintained their vaccine mandates weeks after others dropped theirs.

“We thought it would happen early on when Toronto lifted theirs [on June 1st] — and some other police services in the province. But we're pleased that they finally came to the decision,” he said.

“As soon as we can get them back into the workplace, they’ll be back up.”

Speaking with CTV News, acting Windsor police chief Jason Bellaire said the board came to the decision through an “evaluation of the current status of the pandemic.”

“Just determining what was best for the community and what was best for the police service,” said Bellaire. “It was simply just a discussion based on what we had in front of us. That's how we arrived at that decision.”

According to Bellaire, police board chair Drew Dilkens was not at Thursday’s meeting. CTV News reached out to his chief of staff for a request for comment but did not hear back by publication time.