A Toronto police staff sergeant – who is the son-in-law of PC Leader Doug Ford – is facing more than a dozen disciplinary charges related to alleged misconduct.
Ernest ‘Dave’ Haynes, who is the husband of Krista Ford Haynes, appeared in front of the tribunal Tuesday. He is accused of multiple police act breaches, including sharing confidential information with his wife, during his work as a Staff Sgt. for 22 Division between November 2020 and February 2024.
All 15 of the charges against Haynes pertain to alleged emails and social media posts that either shared confidential police information or criticized Toronto Police Service (TPS) leadership or policies.
In one of the situations described in tribunal documents, Haynes is alleged to have sent 79 emails from his TPS account to his wife’s personal email between November 2020 and January 2024. Sixty-one of those emails had a direct connection to official police duties, the document reads.
Haynes is also alleged to have “cc’d” the complainant in a sexual assault case on an email containing confidential police information on Dec. 28, 2023. The tribunal document further alleges that on Dec. 29, 2023, Haynes then forwarded the email to his wife, and on Jan. 2, 2024, forwarded the same email to a law student.
Another allegation against Haynes claims he shared information on his personal Instagram account in February 2024 about confidential police business.
“Your account of the situation was not accurate, you were not demoted, nor did you ‘lose’ your vacation hours. Your statements disparaged the Service,” reads the tribunal document.
Haynes is also accused of sending an “unsolicited and not operationally based” mass email to all members of 22 and 31 D Divisions in December 2023 expressing a personal opinion which the charge says, “undermined the Chief’s and Commands position.”
The charges have not been heard by the tribunal.
Posting to her Instagram story following the hearing on Tuesday, Ford Haynes wrote in part, “The truth will come out eventually. We’re committed to transparency within policing.”
In a GoFundMe set up by Ford Haynes last month, she claimed Haynes was offered a deal by the service to avoid “a very serious grievance that addresses serious systemic supervisory concerns” from going public.
She further alleged that those actions prove that “[the service] cannot provide us with fair unbiased representation.”
“There are many reasons in my eyes as to why we should be provided an opportunity to have unbiased, out of province and unaffiliated with the Toronto Police Association and/or The Toronto Police Service third party counsel to see the disclosures,” the GoFundMe read.
Police unions typically provide police officers appearing before the tribunal with a lawyer.
CTV News Toronto reached out to Haynes' lawyer, his wife, and Ford, but have yet to hear back.
In a statement sent to CTV News Toronto last month, President of the Toronto Police Association (TPA) Clayton Campbell said, “We will not comment on this specific case. What we can say is the Toronto Police Association provides dedication, professional legal support to its members.”
“If a TPA member decides not to avail themselves of the legal support we provide, they can find, fund, and manage someone on their own.”
