Alternate Title
Caught in the act
Investigation into the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services' conduct in relation to Ontario Regulation 233/10 under the Public Works Protection Act
Rapport de l’Ombudsman : enquête visant à déterminer comment la Police provinciale de l’Ontario et le ministère de la sécurité communautaire et des services correctionnels ont géré les blessures de stress opérationnel chez les policiers : dans le feu de l’action.
Note
"December 2010."
The original document was published on the public website of the Government of Ontario. © Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2010. Reproduced with permission.
Issued also in French under title: Rapport de l’Ombudsman : enquête visant à déterminer comment la Police provinciale de l’Ontario et le ministère de la sécurité communautaire et des services correctionnels ont géré les blessures de stress opérationnel chez les policiers : dans le feu de l’action.
Summary
Regulation 233/10, passed to enhance security during the G20 summit, should never have been enacted. It was likely unconstitutional. The effect of Regulation 233/10, now expired, was to infringe on freedom of expression in ways that do not seem justifiable in a free and democratic society. Specifically, the passage of the regulation triggered the extravagant police authority found in the Public Works Protection Act, including the power to arbitrarily arrest and detain people and to engage in unreasonable searches and seizures. Even apart from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the legality of Regulation 233/10 is doubtful. The Public Works Protection Act under which it was proclaimed authorizes regulations to be created to protect infrastructure, not to provide security to people during events. Regulation 233/10 was therefore probably invalid for having exceeded the authority of the enactment under which it was passed.