City ready to take on downloaded prosecutions, solicitor says
Peterborough is ready to take over prosecution of the most serious non-criminal provincial offences, the city’s solicitor said after the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) denounced provincial plans to download that work to municipalities.
“Our office is ready to handle it. The real question is when is it going to happen?” Patricia Lester said Wednesday, pointing out that the city has been long aware of the potential new ability as part of Bill 177, the Stronger, Fairer Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2017.
How the additional cases would impact the local workload also remains unknown, she said. The office currently has the equivalent of 1.5 municipal prosecutors.
“We don’t know what the impact will be,” the lawyer said, adding that she does not know if the city would need to hire another solicitor.
Schedule 35 of the legislation, which received Royal Assent last December, amends the Provincial Offences Act to allows the province to move the prosecution of Part 3 offences.
“Municipalities can now be authorized by agreement with the Attorney General to conduct any prosecution under the Act or the Contraventions Act (Canada) and are no longer restricted to proceedings commenced under Part I or II of the Act,” Part 12 states.
Part 3 offences include careless driving, hit-and-runs, sex offender registry violations and serious motor vehicle collisions, including tractor-trailer rollovers, OPSEU stated.
“These offences often involve fatalities, and penalties can include jail time,” OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas wrote in a letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne. “Our members prosecute any provincial offences that are serious enough that the defendant is summoned to court. These prosecutions need to be directly carried out by the Ministry of the Attorney General.”
If the bill gets final approval, it won’t be the first time the province has downloaded prosecution of provincial offences.
In 2000, part one (mostly Highway Traffic Act offences like speeding) and part two (parking and municipal bylaws) offences were handed over.
Lester confirmed driving under suspension, not having insurance and stunt driving are further examples of Part 3 offences.
OPSEU is “deeply concerned” about the new legislation because Part 3 offences are “completely different” as they include matters of justice and public safety, Thomas stated.
“No other provincial or territorial jurisdiction allows municipalities to prosecute Part III offences,” he wrote. “They’re simply too serious to be lumped in with parking tickets. The government is compromising justice in Ontario, just to save a few bucks.”
It’s not to late to backpedal on the “poorly thought out and potentially hazardous measure,” Thomas stated, pointing out that Bill 177 has yet to be proclaimed. “So I say to Premier Wynne and Attorney General (Yasir) Naqvi: don’t proclaim it. Keep accountability for justice and public safety where it belongs – at the Ministry of the Attorney General.”
NOTE: To view Bill 177, visit http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/ bills/ bills_detail.do?locale=en&B illID=5316&isCurrent=false&Par lSessionID=412&detailPage=bill s_detail_the_bill .