Overcoming Personal Obstacles Leads to Member Advocacy BY LAUREN ALPERN

By Lauren Alpern

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. That has been the mantra of Civilian Director Tim Morrison of the Durham Regional Police Association (DRPA), who was born with congenital heart defects and has been clinically dead three times in his life.

Tim grew up with a father who was a police officer with the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS). He and his best friend, Jamie Bramma, both dreamt of becoming police officers. Jamie – whose father was also an officer – attained his dream, with over 20 years as a constable with the DRPS. Tim, however, had to come up with a backup plan because of his health condition.

“Due to my health, I knew it wasn’t in the cards for me to be a police officer, so I pursued other avenues. After college, I took a role in the property bureau as a property clerk, and in 2001, I became a station operator in Pickering. I’ve done that job ever since,” said Tim, who is now the Station Operator at 17 Division in Oshawa. “Policing was always part of my life, and I grew up as part of the community. I appreciate the selfless work that these people do on a daily basis. They give up time away from their family. Sadly, much of it is unappreciated, but it’s an honourable profession and I wanted to be part of it.”

Tim loves his role with the DRPS because he never knows who’s going to walk through the door, which keeps him on his toes. He is also involved in numerous committees. In addition to his full-time job and his association work, Tim is also the Chair of the Occupational

Tim values the time he gets to spend with his daughters.

Top and right: Tim and his best friend Jamie Bramma grew up wanting to be police officers. Immediately above: Tim’s father was an officer with the DRPS. Below: Tim also curled at the international level. Health and Safety Committee and the Chair of the Joint Job Evaluation/Pay Equity Committee (JJEC), and he sits on the Staffing and Postings, Constitutional, Bargaining, Policy and Political/Lobbying Committees. It’s a wonder he finds any time to enjoy the woodworking workshop he made in his garage.

As a lifetime advocate for his own health, the father of two teenage daughters, Ashlyn (17) and Riley (13), felt that getting involved in association work would be a great complement to his role with the service. After an unsuccessful run for the executive in 2007, Tim ran a second time and is now on his fifth consecutive term.

“Because of my health, I’ve always been good at speaking out, and being on the executive has allowed me to be a bit of a mouthpiece. I’ve been able to use my advocacy and be vocal to push the issues that need to be pushed. And I enjoy that very much,” said Tim, who is also a civilian director on the Canadian Police Association’s board. “Everybody needs that person to be vocal for them, and I enjoy doing that. I believe strongly in being the voice for the profession.”

Tim is the first to say that his outspokenness gets him into trouble sometimes.

“My speaking out is my best and my worst trait. There’s a time and a place, and sometimes I don’t always choose the best time or the best place. I always say to people that I’d rather tell the truth, even if it’s something they don’t want to hear, rather than feed them a line,” said Tim. “It has gotten me in a lot of trouble in my life, but I think it’s also why the people I work with keep re-electing me.”

His wife of 19 years, Lori, knows Tim gets into trouble sometimes, but she says it’s because he’s so passionate

Tim and Lori have been married for 19 years. Lori works for the DRPS as a civilian crime analyst.

and puts everything into whatever he does.

“He wears all of his emotions on his sleeve. If he’s happy, you know about it; if he’s pissed off, you know about it. There’s no guess work with him,” said Lori, who works with the DRPS as a civilian crime analyst. “He’s feisty and doesn’t give up very easily. He’s definitely got some fight left in him.”

Tim, who was the national advocate for the Heart and Stroke Foundation from 2007 to 2010, has had to fight for everything from recovering from his dozen heart surgeries, to playing sports and dealing with the pandemic.

“I was told that if I got Covid, I would die,” said Tim, who only has one lung. “I had to work from home during the pandemic, living in my basement while Lori and the kids lived upstairs. I had to be away from my family for a year and a half because I couldn’t risk getting sick. I couldn’t come out until I had two vaccinations.”

While the family has had to be incredibly vigilant to keep him healthy, Tim has never let his heath condition define him.

“I always wanted to work and never wanted to live off any social assistance program,” said Tim, who was also an international-level curler. “I wanted to live as normal a life as I could, and I pushed myself to be that way.”

Jamie, who got into association work because of Tim and has been a uniform director with the DRPA since 2012, has known Tim for his entire life and is very proud of what he has done with his life, including his passion for association issues.

“He’s the perfect example for anybody who has a higher mountain to climb than others: Don’t use it as a crutch; if you fall down seven times, get up eight,” said Jamie. “He’s been knocked down a lot, but he always gets up and continues to fight.”

Tim’s scrappy attitude comes naturally, which is why he’s so valuable to the association’s members.