Ontario policing overhaul worthy of support
The Ontario government deserves most of the skepticism and cynicism it faces these days. A badly-handled and expensive energy policy. Numerous scandals. Then there’s the fact that the Liberals have been in power for 14 years. That’s a long time by any standard and leads many to suggest it’s time for a change.
But none of that means the government isn’t doing good work. Its sweeping reforms to policing and police oversight are an example. The Wynne government tackled significant policing issues, did real consultations, listened to what it heard and developed a strategy that will significantly improve accountability and public trust around law enforcement.
Police chiefs will at last have the right to suspend without pay officers charged with serious wrongdoing. Police watchdog organizations will be more independent and stronger. Investigations into police behaviour will be open by default. Citizen complaints will be handled by a single entity. The practice of having police departments investigate other departments will end, and the Special Investigations Unit will handle all probes. And officers who don’t co-operate with investigations will face hefty fines and even jail time.
The proposed law also gives local police boards the power to hire private companies to provide police services in non-urgent areas such as crime prevention and to hire special constables (armed, but without full police powers) to transport prisoners. This is an area meeting stiff resistance from police unions, but the fact is that policing costs in Ontario are spiralling, and some way of reducing that spending growth is essential. And fully trained police officers are not essential for all duties not directly related to keeping the peace.
The reforms are not perfect. There is little relating to the conduct of local police boards and ensuring they are truly overseers as opposed to being a police support organization. And while the changes around citizen complaints and how they are handled are welcome, they don’t address the problem of transparency and accountability of the oversight body itself. Currently, oversight is provided by the Office of the Independent Review Director (OIPRD) and the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC). Amalgamating them makes sense, but only if they are required to be transparent, forthcoming and accountable. That hasn’t been the case in the past, especially with the OCPC, which can be unresponsive and impenetrable when facing any sort of scrutiny.
These reforms join other recent government initiatives finding favour with many Ontarians — a higher minimum wage, free prescription drugs for young people and new longterm care beds. Whether they change the Wynne government’s flagging fortunes remains to be seen. But they are worthy of support regardless.