Members making a difference at Queen’s Park

By Michael Duffy, PAO Policy and Research Counsel

Over the last several months, the relationship between the PAO and our colleagues in the Government of Ontario has yielded significant and positive results for our membership. Our government relations work is tied mainly to our annual Lobby Day in November of each year (this year it’s November 15). At these events, police association executives across Ontario travel to Queen’s Park in Toronto to meet with Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) to discuss policing priorities.

MPPs told that low police staffing levels harm public safety and member morale

In previous years, these Lobby Day events have focused on member mental health, changes to Ontario’s Police Services Act and modernization of the Workplace Safety and Insurance framework. Over the last couple of years, however, the priority has been availability of human resources in policing. Our members have raised awareness about inad- equate police staffing levels in local communities. They have also given MPPs in-depth information about the causes of police staffing issues and how low staffing levels harm both public safety and member morale.

Bill 102, Strengthening Safety and Modernizing Justice Act

After our 2022 Lobby Day event, the PAO followed up with the Ministry of the Solicitor General by outlining several policy proposals that we thought would increase staffing levels. After months of continuing dialogue, the Ontario legislature introduced Bill 102, Strengthening Safety and Modernizing Justice Act.

The Bill focuses on technically amending the soon-to-bein-force Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA). Included in the Bill is an amendment designed to ensure that prospective members who have not completed any postsecondary education remain eligible to join police services as sworn officers.

You may have seen media coverage about this aspect of the Bill that raised the spectre of unqualified youths joining the ranks. These reports failed to acknowledge that the current Police Services Act does not require that recruits have more than a high school diploma, and police services are not engaged in hiring unqualified applicants straight from high school. The change ensures that police services can cast as wide a net as they do today.

Without the amendment, the upcoming CSPA would erect a barrier to entry for those candidates who, for example, joined the workforce after graduating from high school and now, having benefitted from years of work experience, seek to join their local police service. The PAO welcomes the amendment. Now is not the time to add barriers to recruitment in Ontario.

No more tuition fees for new OPC recruits

Accompanying the announcement of Bill 102 was an announcement that the government would no longer charge a tuition fee for new recruits attending the Ontario Police College (OPC). This policy change recognizes the modern labour principle that workers should not be required to pay for their own training. By relieving prospective members of the OPC debt burden, it is more likely that qualified candidates will opt for a career in policing. It was evident during conversations with members of government that the OPC fee was not well understood. Many MPPs were shocked to hear about the financial cost of joining a police service. The PAO is pleased that this burden is being eliminated and predicts that a positive impact on staffing will result.

These measures alone will not, on their own, entirely remedy staffing issues at Ontario police services. Further work is needed to ensure that policing is seen as an attractive option for young workers, to ensure that the mental and physical toll of the job is mitigated as much as possible, and that compensation remains competitive. The staffing issue continues to be a top priority at the PAO.

Government’s bail reform announcement and funding welcomed

On the heels of the announcement of the Strengthening Safety and Modernizing Justice Act, the Ontario Government acted on a further policy proposal submitted by the PAO. After several months of tragedy in Canadian policing, Ontario tasked its Standing Committee on Justice Policy to examine the impact of the bail framework on public safety in Ontario. President Mark Baxter appeared before the committee to communicate PAO members’ frustration with a system that often prioritizes alleged offenders over the communities they are accused of victimizing.

With this in mind, the PAO made specific policy propos- als. We requested that Ontario provide dedicated resources to allow police services to better focus on bail compliance. We also asked the government to create conditions that would allow crown prosecutors and Justices of the Peace to better evaluate the risks associated with granting bail to repeat and violent offenders. The bail reform announcement, made on April 27, 2023, directly enacted these policy proposals by setting aside $122 million for dedicated bail compliance teams. The new policy would also enable dedicated crown prosecutor teams to focus on bail decisions for accused persons who might pose a risk to public safety if released.

Federal government needs to modernize Criminal Code of Canada

Provincial resources are a welcome commitment to public safety but without changes to the Criminal Code of Canada, they are incapable of fully reducing the rate at which violent persons are released. The principles of bail suitability analysis embedded in the Code are out of step with the modern realities of policing and public safety. As such, the PAO has broadly supported efforts made by the Canadian Police Association to convince the Government of Canada to act decisively on this file.

From April 15-19, PAO was at the Canadian Police Association board meeting, general meeting, and lobby day. On Parliament Hill, Association leaders from across Canada lobbied Members of Parliament and Senators to emphasize the urgent need for bail reform related to repeat and violent offenders.

Our united message with our partners across Ontario and Canada was clear and well received. On May 16, The Government of Canada tabled new legislation aimed at making it harder for repeat violent offenders to be granted bail, through a handful of targeted Criminal Code reforms - Bill C-48 (An Act to Amend the Criminal Code – Bail Reform).

It was another significant win for the police community, marked by our combined efforts in effective advocacy work by police associations across the province.

Bill C-48 would amend the Criminal Code so that those charged with a serious violent offence involving a weapon — one with a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment — who were convicted of a similar offence within the last five years will face a reverse onus to get bail.

The proposed law would also expand the use of reverse onus for firearm and intimate partner violence offences, and allow courts to take into consideration community safety and an accused’s history of violence when making a bail decision.

Bill C-48 is a step in the right direction, and we sincerely hope the courts will use these new measures introduced by the government in cases where circumstances warrant.