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	CPS Had 'Cancerous Rot', Says Former Chief By Trevor Pritchard Standard-Freeholder June 10, 2008 http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1066185 Former police chief Claude Shaver told the Cornwall Public Inquiry Monday he had "no axes to grind" when he decried the state of affairs on the city's force in a confidential 1993 letter to a pair of provincial auditors. Shaver said he was already planning to retire when he told officials from the Ministry of the Solicitor- General there was, among other things, a"cancerous rot" destroying the Cornwall Police Service. "I wanted to put it on paper and give it to them in the strongest possible terms, so that they understand that there are things happening here," said Shaver, who appeared calm and easygoing during his first day on the stand. "I have no axes to grind here. I want the very best for my police department." A former RCMP officer, Shaver joined the CPS in 1983 as deputy chief and was promoted to chief a year later. He announced his retirement in 1993, only a few months before allegations of mishandled sexual abuse investigations involving city police hit the media. But most of the questions Shaver faced Monday dealt instead with a series of reports issued during his tenure that both praised and condemned certain aspects of the CPS. In 1990, six of Shaver's staff sergeants signed a letter citing a number of reasons that Shaver should resign. Included among those reasons were that Shaver didn't understand municipal police work, was frequently absent, and had lost the confidence of his fellow officers. A subsequent report from the Cornwall Police Association, the force's bargaining unit, alleged there was extremely low morale among the force's rank-and-file. Lead commission counsel Peter Engelmann called those reports "very strong criticism" and asked Shaver if he could explain how the force had arrived at that point. sergeants — who were themselves supervisors — might have felt "frustrated" that the morale report had made its way into the chief's hands. He denied most of the allegations yesterday, and told Engelmann he was surprised to learn his job was being challenged. "My office door was always open to my staff sergeants," said Shaver. "I gave them the freedom to talk about (issues) without any gloves on." In 1993, auditors from the province's solicitor-general's office were called in to perform an in-depth review of the city force. But before they completed their report, Shaver made a number of serious allegations in a letter to the two auditors — including that officers were orchestrating "coups" against higher-ups. Shaver's letter also mentioned a number of recent factory closures and claimed 40 per cent of Cornwall residents were living on some form of social assistance — factors which could have impacted the force's morale, he said. Shaver told Engelmann he wasn't trying to give excuses, but rather provide some context for the out-of-town auditors. "It's a contributing factor that maybe they had never thought of," said Shaver. "They had all of the other information. They had the morale report. They had all of the other inspections. They just didn't have this information, and I wanted to make sure that they had it." Despite the criticisms, one common thread was that the reports never slammed the force's ability to fight crime in Cornwall, Shaver said. He also testified that the city's then-mayor, Ron Martelle, went to city council to try to have him removed from his position. But the police board was his employer, not the city, Shaver said. He eventually accepted a financial settlement — not drawn from the policing budget, he told Engelmann — and announced his retirement in November 1993. In January 1994, a confidential statement made by David Silmser to police about sexual abuse he allegedly suffered at the hands of a city priest and a former probation officer appeared in the media. The Silmser investigation has come under close scrutiny at the inquiry, which is probing how institutions like the CPS reacted when confronted with allegations of historical sexual abuse. Engelmann asked Shaver if the case had anything to do with his retirement. "Nothing whatsoever," Shaver replied. It's expected Shaver — who arrived from Florida to testify — will be asked about some of the sexual abuse cases he oversaw in the coming days. The inquiry resumes today at 9:30 a. m.
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