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Sask. Police Commission hears appeal of officer fired for friendship
with Hells Angels associate

   Hannah Spray
   | CBC News | Posted: August 28, 2026 11:47 PM | Last Updated:
   August 28

   Former Saskatoon police sergeant Robbie Taylor seeking
   reinstatement

   Image | taylor

   Caption: Former sergeant Robbie Taylor is appealing his
   dismissal from the Saskatoon Police Service. (Submitted by
   Robbie Taylor)
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   A Saskatoon police officer who was fired over a friendship with
   a Hells Angels associate is still trying to get his job back.
   Former sergeant Robbie Taylor is appealing to the Saskatchewan
   Police Commission, after an independent hearing officer upheld
   his dismissal in a decision issued earlier this year.
   Police Chief Cam McBride fired Taylor in March 2025 after
   deciding Taylor was "unsuitable" to be a police officer due to
   his friendship with a man who was an associate of the Hells
   Angels biker gang.
   At an appeal hearing in front of a three-member panel of the
   police commission on Friday in Saskatoon, Taylor's lawyers
   Scott Hopley and Brian Pfefferle argued the hearing officer's
   decision should be overturned.
   "She may find something that was worthy of discipline, that was
   worthy of correction, but this is somebody who was not, in our
   submission, incapable of continuing to work as a police
   officer," Pfefferle said.
   One of the main issues raised on appeal is an allegation of
   abuse of process, which was also raised during the weeklong
   hearing in September 2025.
   It relates to the fact that then-police chief Troy Cooper
   received a complaint in 2023 about Taylor interfering in a
   traffic stop of his friend, whose name is subject to a
   publication ban.
     * Former Saskatoon cop not done fighting his firing over
       friendship with Hells Angels associate

   The complaint was passed up the chain of command through
   then-deputy-chief McBride, and Cooper ultimately decided not to
   pursue any disciplinary action.
   However, the first time Taylor's lawyers learned that Cooper
   had decided to take no action was when McBride testified about
   it at the hearing last September.
   That was "unfair" to the lawyers while they prepared for the
   hearing, Hopley argued.
   "Worse, this kind of tactical, strategic approach to hide
   critical information, that strikes at the heart of the
   administration of justice," Hopley said.
   "This is an outrageous abuse of process."
     * Hearing officer to rule Friday on whether missing memo
       should lead to reinstatement of fired Saskatoon cop

   Ashley Smith, the lawyer for the Saskatoon Police Service,
   argued there was no actual document to share with Taylor's
   lawyers regarding the decision to take no action.
   Under persistent questioning from police commission chair Aaron
   Fox, Smith acknowledged it was "relevant" information, but
   maintained it didn't exist in a form that could be disclosed.
   She said the disclosure that was shared clearly showed there
   had been a concern that went up the chain of command, and
   wasn't investigated.
   Smith also argued that Taylor should have known a friendship
   with someone associated with an organized crime group was not
   OK.
   She said nothing short of dismissal was appropriate, because of
   the loss of trust between McBride and Taylor, and the need to
   maintain the public's trust in the police service.
   The Saskatchewan Police Commission panel — consisting of Fox,
   Leanne Lang and John Ajioritis — reserved its decision.

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