Gwen M. Boniface

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Gwen M. Boniface, COM, OOnt, is a Canadian police officer, former lawyer, and the current Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (O.P.P.) since 1998. She is the first female to hold this position. She is also the first female President of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, and the first Canadian to hold the Vice Chair of the Division of State and Provincial Police of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

She will step down as Commissioner in October, 2006 to accept an advisory position with Ireland's Garda Siochana Inspectorate (National Police Force).

1 Education
2 Professional career
3 Awards
4 References

[edit] Education

Commissioner Boniface earned a Certificate in Law & Security Administration from Humber College in 1977. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University in 1982 and a Bachelor of Laws degree at Osgoode Hall Law School in 1988.

[edit] Professional career

She joined the Ontario Provincial Police (O.P.P.) in 1977 as a Provincial Constable before being called to the bar in 1990. She was Superintendent-Director of the O.P.P. in the First Nations and Contract Policing Branch from 1993 to 1995.

She served in the Law Commission of Canada from 1997 to 2002. She was the Chief Superintendent Regional Commander for the O.P.P. in Western Ontario from 1996 to 1998. In 1998, she was named Commissioner of the O.P.P.

She was criticised by the residents of Caledonia by how she and the O.P.P. handled the Caledonia land dispute, claiming that the O.P.P. treated natives differently during the dispute.

She announced that she will leave her post as Commissioner of the O.P.P. in September, 2006 to join Ireland's Garda Siochana Inspectorate (National Police Force).^[1]

[edit] Awards

Commissioner Boniface was invested into the Order of Ontario in 2001 for her work with the First Nations communities. She is a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, the Order of St. John, and has the Humber College Alumnus of Distinction Award.

Boniface has been accused of abandoning her officers for the manner in which she directed them to handle the Caledonia occupation. Officers have accused her of creating a two tier system of justice for natives and non-natives. Her pre-occupation with native issues throughout the Province of Ontario has yielded accusations of a conflict of interest as the commissioner of the O.P.P. Accordingly, many citizens throughout the province and the nation have called for her resignation. Many see the opportunity in Ireland as a convenient way for Boniface to wash her hands of the Caledonia land occupation.