“The HomeSense Investigation”: Why is Sylvie Hauth on trial?

Former Thunder Bay Police Chief Sylvie Hauth and her legal counsel Holly Walbourne have been charged with obstructing a peace officer, breach of trust, and multiple counts of obstruction of justice.

Walbourne is currently on trial. She plead not guilty to all charges on Monday. The two were set to be tried together, but medical issues forced the trials to be separated and delayed Hauth’s proceedings to May 5.

Hauth and Walbourne are accused of downplaying their involvement in an internal “HomeSense Investigation” into Morriseau after the provincial police board took over the case.

The HomeSense Investigation

In the summer of 2020, the Thunder Bay Police Service was investigating a potential leak of confidential information to civilian reporter Brian Webster, who ran the Facebook page The Courthouse Inside Edition.

That summer, then-TBPS board chair Georjann Morriseau was shopping at HomeSense when a man wearing a COVID mask approached her. She testified on April 13, 2026 that he recognized her as board chair and identified himself as an officer, but she did not recognize him. He told her officers were “gossiping” about a text from Webster to a police-issued cell phone.

The text read:

“Hey Mike, I see they are thanking members of the Thunder Bay Police in their bust announcement. Any anonymous info about what hardworking TBPS officers did?”

The police phone that received the text from Brian Webster was confirmed to belong to Constable Michael Dimini, who was still on the force but had left the unit five months earlier. Dimini was later cleared of charges regarding the leak. In February 2026, Dimini was found guilty on separate breach of trust and obstruction of justice charges stemming from unlawful residential searches and arrests in November 2020.

Morriseau spoke to Deputy Chief Ryan Hughes about her HomeSense conversation, but she could not identify the man.

Hughes took this very seriously. An investigation into the Webster text was in progress, and Hughes said he was wary of “gossip” about internal business being shared with Morriseau, who did not need to be informed.

Several members of the force interviewed Morriseau about the HomeSense incident, including Holly Walbourne, who travelled to Morriseau’s house to speak with her on the subject. During these interviews, police raised the names of multiple officers in an effort to identify the masked man, but Morriseau could not identify him.

Morriseau testified that investigators treated her as though they believed she was lying. She said she felt bombarded with questions that left her “rather scared and frustrated”. At this point, Morriseau was still a witness in the investigation.

“I think once the meeting at my house (with Walbourne) took place, I was feeling more and more that there’s something else happening in the background here in terms of why I am continually being interrogated,” Morriseau testified on April 13, 2026. “I felt like I had to watch my back everywhere I turn.”

One of the officers suggested as the masked HomeSense man was Detective Jason Rybak. In November 2020, Rybak told Ryan Hughes that he was informed his name came up in an internal investigation. Shortly after, he “uncomfortably” revealed Morriseau gave him that information, according to Hughes’ testimony on April 15, 2026.

Because of this admission, Hughes launched a criminal investigation into Morriseau for breach of trust on November 23, 2020.

In December of 2020, then-police chief Sylvie Hauth decided to transfer the investigation to the OPP.

In August of 2021, the OPP cleared Morriseau of all wrongdoing. They concluded there was no basis to lay criminal charges.

Hauth’s memoranda

In October of 2021, Sylvie Hauth presented a memo to the police board regarding the OPP investigation into the Morriseau case. Morriseau made a complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) alleging discrimination based on her race as an Indigenous woman.

The Ontario Civilian Police Commision (OCPC) looked into Hauth’s Memorandum. In June of 2022, they alleged in their Notice of Particulars that “(Hauth’s) report contained a number of false statements which would lead the reasonable reader to conclude that she had no knowledge that DC Hughes had initiated a criminal investigation against Chair Morriseau until December 9, 2020. That memo was distributed to the Board members on October 12, 2021 and it was anticipated they could rely upon it for the truth of its contents.”

Hauth also drafted a second memo a week after the first, in which the OCPC alleged she continued to mislead on the date she was informed of the Rybak interview and about her knowledge that a Production Order against Morriseau was imminent, not a mere possibility.

The full OCPC final summary report can be found here.

The aftermath

The OCPC put in place an administrator to oversee the board in April of 2022. Many of the board members resigned shortly thereafter.

Later that year, the OCPC brought misconduct charges against Sylvie Hauth under the Police Services Act, suspending her for 12 months. Hauth formally resigned as police chief in 2023.

Holly Walbourne resigned as TBPS legal council in 2023.

Morriseau has also left the force and serves as Commissioner of the First Nation Tax Commission.

The present

Holly Walbourne is currently on trial for obstructing a peace officer, breach of trust, and two counts of obstruction of justice. The trial is expected to last around three weeks, which means a verdict should be determined by May 1.

Sylvie Hauth is facing charges of obstructing a public or peace officer, breach of trust and two counts of obstruction of justice. Her trial is set for May 5.