London police board spent $104K on PR firm to sell high-spending budget

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The London police board paid a prominent public relations firm more than $100,000 to help sell its controversial high-spending budget earlier this year, according to documents obtained by The Free Press.

One city councillor called it “disturbing” to learn the board used taxpayers’ money to win support from the public and politicians for the $672-million, four-year budget request that was ultimately approved as part of the overall city budget earlier this year.

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Police board chair Ali Chahbar signed a contract with Navigator, a Toronto-based crisis communications firm with a long track record of representing high-profile clients, in January, according to documents released under a freedom-of-information request.

Navigator sent the police board six invoices, ranging from $6,104 to $37,103, between Jan. 4 and May 15. The total amount of the invoices was $104,662.

Chahbar said it’s not unusual for boards to hire consultants or other experts to provide professional advice and guidance.

“Just like we would hire a law firm to help us prepare a legal contract or provide legal advice, we hired Navigator to help the board create an open, detailed and professional communication plan and materials regarding our recent multi-year budget that was passed by city council earlier this year,” Chahbar said in an emailed response to questions.

Around four-fifths of the documents released to the Free Press were redacted except the contract, invoices, and a copy of a news release announcing Chahbar and board vice-chair Megan Walker had been re-elected and would make the 2024-27 proposed budget their top priority.

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Also included in the 285-page package is a report entitled A Safer City Now – a phrase that would be associated with the budget and displayed at news conferences – that was provided to the media on Jan. 23 when the board and Chief Thai Truong held a media briefing on the record-setting spending request.

The 27-page report included statistics showing London had the second-fewest officers per capita in Ontario, the third-highest rate of violent crime among big cities and response times for some calls taking more than four days. It also outlines how hiring more officers and adopting new technologies, such as body cameras and a digital evidence collection system, would transform the way police deliver service to the community.

“Navigator provided advice and assisted the board in developing a comprehensive communication plan and materials, which included multi-media presentations, communication products and even the creation of dedicated online resources like a website and email address so that members of the public could provide their input and feedback on the budget directly to the board,” Chahbar said.

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Ward 6 Coun. Sam Trosow said he was surprised to learn the police board paid Navigator $104,000 – roughly the annual salary of a first-class constable – to help it secure its budget request.

“To learn they spent that kind of money, I find it very disturbing,” Trosow said. “This is a very poor use of money.”

Trosow noted several city-funded agencies that had their budget requests scaled back likely didn’t have the ability to pay high-priced communications firms to help with their pitches.

The four-year, $672-million police budget – representing an annual average of $167 million, with a 28 per cent increase this year – received a smooth ride at city council, where the majority of politicians refused to even discuss reducing it. Ward 9 Coun. Anna Hopkins put forward a motion to slash $4.9 million from the budget, but it was voted down 9-6, ending the debate before it even started.

The four-year city budget crafted by Mayor Josh Morgan and approved early in the year by city council contains steep tax increases, starting with an 8.7 boost this year followed by increases of 8.7 per cent in 2025, 5.7 per cent in 2026 and 6.7 per cent in 2027.

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More than half of the 2024 tax increase was driven by the police budget that included hiring more officers, buying a second armoured vehicle, electric vehicles and drones, rebuilding its headquarters and creating a training centre.

Under the police board’s procurement policy, expenditures between $25,000 and $100,000 require the board to get at least three quotes, while purchases of more than $100,000 require a request for tenders to be issued.

“The call for bids shall be circulated and advertised using an online bid and tender system to ensure the most comprehensive and most competitive response to the call for bids,” the policy says. A summary of the bids must ultimately be submitted to a deputy chief before awarding a contract.

Chahbar said the board complied with the procurement policy when it hired Navigator earlier this year.

“All subsequent invoices for services beyond the original scope were reviewed and authorized for payment in accordance with board policy,” he said, without providing any additional details.

Navigator declined to comment on its work for the London police board.

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“Navigator neither confirms client relationships nor discusses client engagements,” the agency said in an email.

Specializing in crisis communication, reputation management, public affairs campaigns, government relations and capital markets, Navigator has a history of representing high-profile clients, from politicians and media personalities to corporations, and uses the slogan: When you can’t afford to lose.

Former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi hired the firm in 2014 when he faced mounting sexual assault accusations, as did Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly during the Freedom Convoy protest that paralyzed the capital city for three weeks in 2022.

Hockey Canada paid Navigator $1.6 million to help the organization following accusations that a group of players from the Canadian national junior team sexually assaulted a woman in a London hotel in 2018. Most recently, former Gov.-Gen. David Johnston hired the crisis communications team, at the expense of Canadian taxpayers, last year at the beginning of his mandate as special rapporteur on foreign election interference.

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The police board – made up of the mayor, three city appointees and three provincial appointees – is responsible for overseeing policing in the city. The board is supported by an executive director and an administrative assistant, but doesn’t have any communications staff, unlike the police force that has a communications and media relations department consisting of a sergeant, a constable and overseen by a civilian manager.

London police have never hired Navigator, a spokesperson said.

dcarruthers@postmedia.com

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