TORONTO — Charges of obstruction of justice and breach of trust against Thunder Bay’s former police chief will proceed to trial despite the service’s former lawyer, Holly Walbourne, being found not guilty of similar charges last month.
Sylvie Hauth was charged two years ago with two counts of obstructing justice and one count each of obstructing a public or peace officer and breach of trust.
She was initially supposed to stand trial with Walbourne but their cases were severed earlier this spring after Hauth had an undisclosed medical issue and her trial was delayed.
It is alleged Hauth attempted to obstruct members of the Thunder Bay Police Service Board in October 2021 and that she also made false or misleading statements to the external counsel of the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) between November 2021 and June 2022.
On Tuesday in a virtual Toronto courtroom, Crown attorney Matthew Asma said his office does intend to proceed with the charges against the former police chief and he was ready to set new trial dates.
He also said the Crown has reconsidered which counts to proceed on and will only pursue the allegations of Hauth misleading the OCPC investigator and not the charges related to allegedly misleading the police board.
A judicial pre-trial to discuss potential issues with the case was set for May 13 and the matter will next be spoken to again in Toronto on May 14.
None of the allegations against the accused have been proven in court.
