'I've come full circle': Vezeau-Allen explains sudden exit from police board

Lisa Vezeau-Allen had been elected by her fellow city councillors to sit on the Police Services Board for another two-year term this past January. 

It was around that same time when she came up short in her bid to chair the municipal policing oversight board following a stint as board chair last year.  

Five months later, Vezeau-Allen is no longer a member of the board, abruptly handing in her resignation letter to Police Services Board Chair John Bruno at the end of the open portion of Thursday’s police board meeting — a sudden departure which seemingly took board members in attendance by surprise.  

During an interview with SooToday Friday, Vezeau-Allen said she felt it was a good opportunity to step down given that much of the heavy lifting, such as negotiating contracts with Sault Ste. Marie Police Association and senior members of Sault police, had been wrapped up in the months leading up to her exit.        

“I felt confident that now is a good time,” she said. 

Vezeau-Allen is founder and board chair for Grocer 4 Good, a social enterprise that provides job skills training, paid employment and volunteer work to people facing barriers or who are chronically underemployed. 

She’s also vice president of Autism Ontario, a role she’s held since 2020. 

But those roles, she told SooToday, did not factor into her decision to step down from the Police Services Board.  

Vezeau-Allen wants to focus more of her time on the various boards and committees she is a part of; in addition to being a member of the city’s social equity and accessibility committees, she also sits on the executive board for both the District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board and Sault Ste. Marie Housing Corporation. 

She would also like to see another member of council take her spot on the police board in order to bring "fresh ideas and fresh perspectives" to the table.   

“I think I’ve come full circle, and I really want to give that opportunity to somebody else on council — whether it’s the mayor who steps back in or another member of council, I think it’s important that we really stay connected with our police presence,” said Vezeau-Allen. “I think the board is a good way to stay connected, but I think I’ve done all that I could do from that board governance perspective and I am looking forward to taking what I have learned and experienced on that board and taking it into other aspects of my board and committee and council life.”

The city councillor said she continues to have “open communication” with Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Chief Hugh Stevenson, deputy police chief Robert MacLachlan and community safety officers when it comes to policing matters in the city.   

“I’ve built good relationships with those people — I don’t need to be on the board to discuss issues with them and advocate for the safety of our citizens,” she said. “That doesn’t need to happen.”

Vezeau-Allen initially joined the Police Services Board as a municipal appointee in 2019.