Barrie Police Inspector General Court appeal postponed again

A Police Services Act tribunal summons scheduled for this morning for a senior Barrie officer to address pending charges against her has been postponed again.

insp. Val Gates, who is now facing two charges of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act stemming from an internal duty incident, was scheduled to take part in a conference call at 8:30am today.

However, a notice on the Barrie Police Service website on June 11 noted that the conference call had been postponed until July 30 at 8:30 a.m.

No reason was given for the postponement.

Gates is also scheduled for an additional conference call on Wednesday, June 26, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Gates was first charged in December 2023 with a charge of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act following an alleged on-duty domestic incident.

The second charge, according to police officials, was filed early last week.

Both charges are related to the same series of events, police confirmed.

The specific nature of the allegations remains unclear.

This is not the first time the case has been postponed either.

Earlier this year, a hearing that was originally scheduled for Jan. 12 was pushed back to Jan. 23 due to a scheduling issue. At the time, prosecutor Jessica Barrow noted that there had been a disclosure request earlier in the week and the prosecution needed more time to complete “anything that needs to be completed in relation to the disclosure request”.

Gates, who is married to Barrie Police Chief Rich Johnston, has spent much of her police career working in domestic violence, as well as mental health and child/youth advocacy.