Susan Eng

Who is Susan Eng?

Susan Eng, LL.B. is a Toronto lawyer and former chair of the Metro Toronto Police Services Board from 1991 to 1995.

Eng, the daughter of immigrants from China, studied at Jarvis Collegiate Institute and received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1975. She was called to Ontario Bar in 1977.

In 1984 Eng was a candidate in the Ward 6 by-election to fill John Sewell's vacated seat on Toronto City Council. She attracted support from the Progressive Conservative Party's Larry Grossman and Susan Fish and from Liberal Jim Coutts. Running as an independent, she was defeated by New Democratic Party candidate Dale Martin by a margin of 6,546 votes to 5,716. In the 1985 municipal election she supported Peter Maloney's unsuccessful candidacy in the same ward.

Eng was first appointed to the Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Board in 1989 by the Liberal government of David Peterson.

Eng’s appointment to succeed June Rowlands as Board chair was endorsed by the Toronto Star and Premier Bob Rae, as she supported Rae's police "reform" package, including mandatory reporting of each time an officer unholstered their gun. Eng's appointment was opposed by many members of the police force, North York mayor Mel Lastman, and Scarborough mayor Joyce Trimmer. She had a tense relationship with police chief William J. McCormack. There was also a public disagreement with her cousin, police Sergeant Ben Eng, which included Susan skipping a banquet that honored Ben's contributions to the community, and being asked not to attend the funeral of Ben's grandmother. She served as board chair from 1991 to 1995.