Jarmyn appointed police commissioner

Thomas Jarmyn has been appointed as Prince Edward Island’s new police commissioner and will begin his work on October 2.

A veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, Jarmyn practiced law in Nova Scotia and Ontario and served as counsel to the federal minister of public safety. More recently, he moved to Prince Edward Island to chair the province’s Veterans Review and Appeal Board, a role he concluded on July 1.

“We were particularly impressed by Mr. Jarmyn’s qualifications, and we were pleased to recommend his appointment with great confidence,” said Charlottetown Police Chief Paul Smith, who was part of the selection panel of police and justice representatives. “His diverse background in adjudicating and decision-making makes him a good fit for PEI’s needs in the role of police commissioner.”

The police commissioner is an independent statutory office with a mission to investigate and resolve public complaints of unprofessional conduct against police (other than RCMP) in a timely, fair, reasonable, and impartial manner.

Police Commissioner Gerard Mitchell’s second term as police commissioner has expired. He has served Islanders for nine years in the role, including a one year extension to allow for the recruiting of a new commissioner.

“Commissioner Gerard Mitchell has earned the respect, confidence, and trust of the policing community and we are grateful to him for his service to Islanders,” said Justice and Public Safety Minister Jordan Brown. “We are pleased that Deputy Commissioner Ridlington will assist Mr. Jarmyn through the transition period in order to ensure the Office of the Police Commissioner is positioned to continue its role in maintaining public confidence in PEI’s police services.”

Media contact:
Katie MacDonald
katiemacdonald@gov.pe.ca

Backgrounder

Thomas Jarmyn is a lawyer and former naval officer, serving in the regular force until 1992 and the reserve force until 1996. He served in various capacities on HMCS Iroquois, HMCS Ojibwa, HMCS Skeena, HMCS Cormorant and HMCS Scotian.

Upon leaving the Navy, he was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1995 and practised law as an associate and partner with Burchell MacDougall in Truro and Wolfville, Nova Scotia until 2003. This practice involved acting as a worker’s advisor in Worker’s Compensation cases, a federal crown agent in narcotics and income tax prosecutions and commercial litigation.

Jarmyn relocated to Ontario in 2003 and became a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and carried on a commercial and administrative law practice. He worked in the Office of the President of the Treasury Board during the implementation of the Federal Accountability Act and then as counsel to the minister of public safety.

In 2014, he returned to Veterans Review and Appeal Board as deputy chair and was the chair of the board from April 2015 to July 2018.

Jarmyn lives in Stratford with his wife.