Both counsels have presented their closing arguments at the appeal hearing for the termination of Regina’s former chief of police. Now, a decision on the matter rests with the Saskatchewan Police Commission. Farooq Sheikh, who served as chief of Regina Police Service (RPS) from December 2023 up until last year, appealed his dismissal by the Regina Board of Police Commissioners. The hearing began Sept. 14 and concluded on Wednesday. Sheikh was fired in October 2025 after an investigation found he engaged in “dishonourable conduct” with a member of the police board. However Sheikh argues his firing was “unjustified, disproportionate, and wrong.” “The chief’s position is that he didn’t act in the way he wished he would have in hindsight, but there was nothing that reached the level of misconduct here,” Sheikh’s lawyer, Brian Pfefferle, told reporters on Wednesday. “ … He’s taken ownership for a relationship that sort of spawned into something that he didn’t expect and didn’t desire. “Ultimately this led to some discussions that occurred and those discussions, largely in our submission, were taken out of context and if taken at face value with the understanding of the background, there’s really no misconduct.” Pfefferle argued Sheikh’s conversations and relationship with the board member was not misconduct, but rather “ill advised.” When referring to Sheikh messaging the complainant during an in-camera session of a police board meeting he was excused from, Pfefferle said Sheikh had no influence on the board’s decision to vote in favour of his contract changes. “The discussion was taking place with respect to the contract. He was trying to correct an error in the contract and I think it’s undisputed that contract was an error, that [it] was a mistake and it didn’t influence anybody,” said Pfefferle. “He acknowledges he was impatient. He should have waited [it’s] not something he would do again, but certainly not reaching the level of misconduct that’s worth termination.” Police board defends cause for termination Defence lawyer Mitchell Holash, who is representing the Regina Board of Police Commissioners, said the board fired Sheikh with cause. He argued Sheikh’s actions did not reflect the “standard of care and responsibility” a chief for the city should demonstrate - referring to Sheikh messaging the complainant during an in-camera session he was excused from. “The question is, ‘Can the relationship survive the conduct?’” Holash said. He said this question was especially important considering the suggested breach of trust among other matters outlined during the hearing. “It was what is the conduct that arose and was motivated by this unusual relationship, conduct that had him intrude upon by text message [during] an in-camera meeting that he was excluded from,” Holash said. “A phone call that he made to someone that had turned up in surveillance in an investigation and advice that was provided as a result of the relationship in that call. These are things that were of concern.” Although the board’s reason for its termination of Sheikh was due to his “secrecy” of his relationship with the complainant, Holash pointed out it was not the sole reason for their decision. “That’s in the evidence and the commission panel will need to discern that and consider whether or not that that meets the mark because we think it does,” Holash said. Counsels say it could take up to a few months for the Saskatchewan Police Commission’s three-member panel to make its decision.
