Ottawa Police Services Board chair's resignation followed son's arrest on drug charges

Gail Beck had been appointed head of the police board in April, one month after drug detectives launched the Project Top Shelf investigation.

Published Dec 15, 2023 • Last updated 11 hours ago • 3 minute read

Dr. Gail Beck, appointed Ottawa Police Services Board chair in April, resigned from the position on Thursday. Photo by Jean Levac /POSTMEDIA

Dr. Gail Beck’s abrupt resignation as chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board on Thursday was announced after her adult son was arrested in what the police chief called one of the largest drug busts in the city’s history.

Timon Beck, 37, is charged with participating in a criminal organization and conspiracy to traffic cocaine and crack. For the investigation dubbed Project Top Shelf, police seized 40 kilograms of cocaine and four kilograms with an estimated wholesale value of $1.5 million, or $4.5 million on the street.

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Timon Beck, along with accused accomplices, remained in jail Friday awaiting a bail hearing.

“Mr. Beck has no criminal record and has never been before the courts. He is presumed innocent of all charges. We look forward to receipt of the evidence in this case and defending him against these allegations,” defence lawyer Eric Granger said.

Project Top Shelf included surveillance and identified a stash house for drugs and money.

The highly-detailed investigation included authorized covert-entry warrants that first allowed police to take samples from the stash house in November and to return in December. That time they seized drugs and money and staged a break-and-enter to protect the integrity of the investigation.

Gail Beck, a renowned champion for women and children’s mental health, was appointed to chair the police oversight board after a city council vote in April — one month after Ottawa police drug detectives launched the exhaustive investigation that yielded a pile of cocaine.

The police services board cited personal reasons when her resignation was announced Thursday.

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Gail Beck is the interim chief of staff and psychiatrist-in-chief at The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre as well as its clinical director of youth psychiatry.

Vice-chair Salim Fakirani has assumed the role of acting chair of the police services board.

The board said it would not provide further comment, but appreciated “the dedication and contributions of Dr. Beck” as chair of the board for the past seven months.

When Beck was appointed to the board, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said Beck’s experience in the area of mental health had “extraordinary value.”

The mayor’s office declined comment on Beck’s resignation on Thursday.

Beck, who has produced a free book titled 10 Facts Every Parent Should Know About Marijuana, has built a respected career helping struggling families with mental-health needs. She is at the top of her profession and her honoured contributions are too long to list.

She was appointed police board chair after the previous chair, city councillor Diane Deans, was turfed during the 2022 convoy protest, when truckers and protesters gridlocked Ottawa’s downtown core for three weeks.

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City councillors voted 15-9 to remove Deans from the board after she hired Matt Torigian, former chief of the Waterloo Regional Police Service, as interim chief of the Ottawa Police Service without a job competition following Peter Sloly’s resignation during the convoy protest.

Previous board chair Eli El-Chantiry, also an Ottawa councillor, became interim chair, but did not continue in the position after deciding not to run for re-election in October 2022.

Several community groups are suing the police board, arguing that new rules for delegations violate their right to freedom of expression, with the “escalating restrictions on public delegations to silence any criticism of the board and the Ottawa police.”

The board has denied the allegations in a statement of defence, saying it “acted in good faith.”

Robin Browne, founder of the 613-819 Black Hub said Beck, as board chair, had been “the main one leading the push to restrict delegations.” His own delegations have been rejected five times over the past six months, he added.

He said he hoped future board chairs would create a culture where the board and its members were “responsive to the public,” and would also pursue “evidence-based decisions” about policing standards in Ottawa, particularly the service’s use of force against racialized people.

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