Jason Wooland,the security chief for Ontario Power Generation, has received a six-month unpaid suspension from the Port Hope poilce board. An investigation found he tried to leverage his public role to secure firearms for his corporate employer.
The 6% fee offered to the Port Hope Police Service
The controversy centers on an attempt by Jason Wooland to transform a municipal police service into a procurement agent for Ontario Power Generation (OPG). Because OPG manages high-security nuclear sites, armed security is a mandatory requirement, but the company reportedly struggled with the slow pace of federal procurement processes. To circumvent these hurdles, Wooland proposed that the Port Hope Police Service handle the firearms acquisition on behalf of OPG.
To incentivize the municipal service to take on this role, Wooland reportedly offered the police service a six per cent administrative fee. According to the report, this was essentially an attempt to pay the public service to act as a corporate purchasing entity, bypassing the standard federal channels that usually govern such sensitive equipment.
From April proposals to the October 24 high-pressure tour
The effort to secure this deal was not a one-time lapse but a persistent campaign. Wooland first introduced the firearms proposal to the Port Hope police board in April of the previous year. Even after he formally declared a conflict of interest, he attempted to revive the discussion during a closed-door meeting in September, only leaving the room after a police service advisor intervened to enforce protocol.
The situation escalated on October 24, following a tour of an Ontario Power Generation facility. Witnesses described Wooland as employing "high-pressure" tactics during this encounter to convince police leadership to accept the firearms arrangement. This pattern of behavior suggests a disregard for the boundaries between his corporate obligations to OPG and his public duties to the board.
Requests for violent offender lists and internal police files
The investigation by Ontario’s inspector general of policing revealed that Wooland's interests extended beyond hardware. He allegedly attempted to use his position on the Port Hope police board to obtain privileged information for his role at Ontario Power Generation , including lists of violent offenders and detailed records regarding internal police discipline procedures.
As the report says,these requests were characterized as entirely inappropriate. While the police leadership denied the requests, the attempt highlights a broader trend where corporate executives in public oversight roles may view sensitive government data as a corporate asset. This blurring of lines is a recurring risk in public-private partnerships, where the drive for corporate security efficiency can clash with the privacy and confidentiality mandates of law enforcement.
Inspector General Ryan Teschner’s rejection of the 'good faith' defense
In his defense, Jason Wooland claimed he was acting in good faith to help the Port Hope police service address budget shortfalls and was simply reflecting the "collaborative culture" of Ontario Power Generation. However, Inspector General Ryan Teschner rejected these justifications, stating that conflict-of-interest regulations are not optional and no "good faith" exemption exists for breaching the code of conduct.
Teschner specifically cited breaches of sections 21(a) and 22 of the Code of Conduct for Police Service Board Members. The ruling emphasizes that board members must act as public stewards, and Wooland's failure to step aside despite mulltiple warnings necessitated the six-month suspension without pay.
Which alternative avenues will Ontario Power Generation now pursue?
With the Port Hope police board officially rejecting the firearms acquisition proposal, Ontario Power Generation is now forced to find other ways to equip its security personnel. It remains unclear whether OPG will return to the federal procurement process or seek a different legal mechanism to acquire the necessary weaponry for its nuclear sites.
Furthermore, the report leaves open whether other executives at Ontario Power Generation were aware of or authorized Wooland's "high-pressure" tactics. while some representatives suggested a different official should have handled the offer,the source does not clarify if any other OPG employees are under investigation for encouraging the breach of the police board's code of conduct.
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