Officers involved in death can be named, judge rules
Peel Regional Police asked for publication ban after being sued by family
An Ontario court has rejected the “extraordinary and rare” request for a sweeping publication ban on the identities of five officers involved in the death of Ejaz Choudry, a mentally ill man fatally shot by police in 2020.
In a 25-page decision released Monday, Ontario Superior Court judge Paul Perell ruled the names of the Peel Regional Police officers should be released as part of an ongoing $22-million lawsuit filed by Choudry’s family, concluding there was little proof the officers’ safety would be put at risk if named.
“The evidence that there is a risk of harm is weak and insufficient to justify an exemption to the open court principle,” Perell wrote, calling the request for anonymity by the so-called John Doe officers “extraordinary and rare.”
“There is no evidence that any police officer in Canada has been physically harmed as a result of any type of vigilante justice that the John Doe Officers fear,” Perell wrote.
The five officers have never been named and were cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the SIU in 2021. They were not named in the judge’s ruling on Monday.
In arguments before Perell earlier this month, officers had argued that online threats and broader, anti-police “vitriol” had created personal safety risks that required a broad ban on the officers’ identities in ongoing legal proceedings stemming from the Choudry family lawsuit.
The family’s lawyer — alongside a coalition of legal and civil rights groups — had vigorously opposed the ban, calling it an “unprecedented” move that would place a cloak of secrecy around a police killing and pose a serious risk to Canadian court transparency.
In a statement released Monday, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), which had intervenor status in the case, lauded the decision, saying the identities of officers in police accountability lawsuits “should not be hidden from the public.”
“It is vital that the public know about allegations of police misconduct, be able to identify repeat bad actors, and see justice be done,” said Shakir Rahim, director of the CCLA’s criminal justice program.
Perell agreed, finding that — without knowing the names of the officers — journalists and the public would have no way of knowing if the cops had been involved in other incidents and whether there may be a systemic problem.
Choudry, a father of four, was killed in June 2020, after his daughter called a non-emergency line and requested medical assistance, saying her father had schizophrenia. Peel Regional Police dispatched a tactical unit, and when Choudry moved towards police with a “large kitchen knife,” officers Tasered, fired rubber bullets at and, eventually, fatally shot Choudry, according to the SIU.
The Choudry family lawsuit alleges the officers used deadly force without justification against a frail, racialized man who did not speak fluent English. Peel police have denied the allegations.
In response to the family’s lawsuit, Peel Regional Police filed the motion seeking the publication ban and sealing order on the officers’ names last year.