Podcast Summary: Rebel News Podcast

Episode: Weak Leadership and Retaliation: The Deepening Crisis within the Toronto Police Service
Host: Tamara Ugolini (guest host for Ezra Levant)
Guest: Bathsheba Vandenberg, Administrative and Regulatory Lawyer
Date: February 18, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode explores the ongoing crisis within the Toronto Police Service (TPS), Canada’s largest municipal police force. Host Tamara Ugolini highlights how weak leadership, internal retaliation against whistleblowers, and a culture of corruption are eroding public trust and endangering both officers and the communities they serve. The show centers on the case of Staff Sergeant Ernest 'Dave' Haynes—who is also Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s son-in-law—detailing his experiences as a whistleblower and the institutional reprisal he faced. Ugolini interviews Haynes’ lawyer, Bathsheba Vandenberg, about police discipline, whistleblower reprisal, internal culture, and what’s at stake for public safety.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Breakdown of Current Toronto Police Crisis

• Host’s Context:

  • Allegations of police corruption and corruption within the TPS have eroded public confidence at a time when trust in authorities is already low.
  • Corruption isn’t new, but the breadth of these allegations—“from murder plots, drug trafficking and leaking sensitive information” [05:45]—is staggering.
  • Internal culture prioritizes “platitudes over public safety” and uses disciplinary proceedings to preserve the status quo.

• The Haynes Case:

  • Dave Haynes, upon returning from unpaid COVID-19-related leave, voiced serious operational and safety concerns (deficient training, staff shortages, poor supervision).
  • His whistleblowing resulted in a forced transfer, disciplinary actions, demotion, and financial penalty. He is now on medical leave for PTSD.
  • The lawyer argues these responses were retaliatory, designed to silence Haynes and chill further internal criticism.

2. Institutional Weakness, Retaliation, and Procedural Fairness (08:12–29:54)

• Vandenberg details:

  • Haynes was originally charged with 15 counts (related to internal emails and social media) across five separate disciplinary cases.
  • Multiple charges have since been withdrawn, often only after protracted legal proceedings or defense motions revealed procedural failings such as missed deadlines:

    "We’ve had one of the cases… withdrawn for lack of jurisdiction. It was found that that notice of hearing hadn’t been served within the six months statutory time limit." [09:57]

  • Following an abuse of process motion, prosecutors abruptly withdrew three further charges, officially “to streamline the process,” which Vandenberg views skeptically:

    "We believe that the withdrawal of the charges is an attempt to try to prevent eliciting evidence… in our abusive process motion." [12:02]

• Pattern of Retaliation:

  • Haynes’s “offenses” included emailing colleagues about resource shortages and operational risks, which led to further misconduct charges.
  • The case reflects a culture where raising legitimate concerns invites punishment instead of reform.
  • Reference to the 2025 “What We Heard” internal report:

    “Promotions and assignments are said to favor connections over competence… Officers who raise legitimate operational concerns are met with bureaucracy, intimidation or outright retaliation.” [07:34]

3. Systemic Issues: Culture, Chain of Command, and Accountability (16:53–29:54)

• Quote from Haynes' internal email (read by Vandenberg):

  “The last few years… have been extremely challenging… especially for our frontline first responding members, with extremely limited resources … [and] constant high demand for our services, sometimes it can seem there is no end in sight.” [19:29]

• Corruption and Impunity at the Top:

  • Charges disproportionately target lower-ranking whistleblowers.
  • Executives are seen as “untouchable”—the chain of command is only enforced downward for discipline, not upward for accountability:

    “When I see charges or issues of corruption in the police force, I want to see the executives being charged. … If we properly apply the structure of command responsibility, … those in the upper chain should be held to account for their subordinates' actions, not just the subordinates.” [23:11]

• Weaponized Discipline:

  • Internal discipline is now a suppression tool instead of a means of upholding standards.
  • Recent cases (such as Detective Helen Gries in Ottawa) show a cross-jurisdictional trend of whistleblower retaliation.

4. The Public Interest and the Risk to Community Safety (28:21–29:54)

• Not in the Public Interest:

  • Vandenberg contends it is not in the public interest to punish whistleblowers who raise safety and resource issues:

    “It is not in the public interest for the police service to be sending a message… that they punish their own for speaking out about resource issues. … It makes standards arbitrary, and that is dangerous.” [28:21]

• Call for Procedural Fairness:

  • Tribunals must observe procedural fairness and allow officers a real opportunity to be heard, particularly in disciplinary proceedings:

    “A fair hearing isn’t just a concept, it’s not just terminology. A fair hearing means that an officer is heard.” [30:47]

5. Broader Message and Solutions (32:44–35:43)

• Wider Trend Across Canada:

  • Vandenberg notes similar issues have arisen in multiple police services, especially after the added strain of 2020’s COVID-19 mandates.

• Call to Return to Core Policing Principles:

  “Let’s go back to basics. Let’s start conversations with each other to talk about what we want to see in our police force.” [34:27]

  • Executives must be held to account, not just subordinates:

    “Some of those excellent police officers, the ones that we need on our frontline to protect us, are being punished by the executives because they stood up to say that there are problems… Instead of getting help, they were silenced, publicly humiliated and punished. This is not good for the police world. And what is not good for the police world is not good for the public.” [34:35]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the culture of fear and retaliation:

  “A culture in which officers who raise legitimate operational concerns are met with bureaucracy, intimidation or outright retaliation. Public safety suffers when internal transparency is replaced with self-protection….”
  — Tamara Ugolini [07:48]

• On command responsibility:

  “When it comes to accountability, that chain of command ceases to exist. … If we properly apply the structure of command responsibility, then we need to see those in the upper chain... held to account for their subordinates' actions, not just the subordinates.”
  — Bathsheba Vandenberg [23:11]

• On the public interest:

  “It is not in the public interest for the police service to be sending a message to the public that they punish their own for speaking out about resource issues... We cannot live in a world where our rules, especially in the police world, become arbitrary.”
  — Bathsheba Vandenberg [28:21]

• Haynes’s own words to his colleagues (as read by Vandenberg):

  “The last few years… have been extremely challenging for a lot of people, but specifically for our frontline, first responding members with extremely limited resources to begin with and the constant high demand for our services, sometimes it can seem there is no end in sight.”
  — Staff Sgt. Dave Haynes (internal email, Dec. 29, 2023, read at [19:29])

Timestamps of Key Segments

• 00:20 — Episode introduction and framing the crisis (Tamara Ugolini)
• 02:00 — Discussion of Haynes case and context of corruption allegations
• 08:12 — Start of interview with Bathsheba Vandenberg
• 09:57 — Breakdown of the disciplinary charges and legal maneuvering
• 16:53 — Analysis of systemic issues, reference to the “What We Heard” report
• 19:29 — Read-aloud and analysis of Haynes’ internal email
• 21:38 — Broader implications for policing culture
• 23:11 — Command responsibility and failures at the executive level
• 28:21 — Discussion of the public interest and fair disciplinary proceedings
• 30:11 — Call for procedural fairness
• 32:44 — Vandenberg on national trends and message to the public
• 35:43 — Conclusion and thanks

Closing Tone

The episode maintains a critical but committed tone, asserting that real reform is necessary not only to restore trust in the Toronto Police Service but also to safeguard public safety. It calls for a return to core policing values, accountability at the top, and a renewed public conversation about what Canadians expect from their police institutions.