BackOn December 14, Ontario Ombudsman André Marin renewed his call for effective legislation to support the province’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, after his latest investigation found the responsible ministry had actively undermined it. Rather than ensuring the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is able to fulfil its difficult role as Canada’s only fully independent civilian police oversight body, the Ministry of the Attorney General has sought to avoid controversy, Mr Marin concluded in his report, Oversight Undermined.
Among other things, the Ombudsman found Ministry officials “systematically” discouraged the SIU Director from speaking out about problems with police not meeting their duty to co-operate with the SIU in cases where they are involved in the serious injury or death of civilians. They dismissed his concerns about lawyers vetting the notes of officers involved in such cases – a practice the Ontario Court of Appeal recently ruled against. And they suppressed an SIU annual report that raised similar concerns, calling it “provocative” and not “useful.”
In his 2008 report Oversight Unseen, he found the SIU was under-resourced, suffered from a perceived pro-police bias, and its investigations lacked rigour and transparency. He recommended it hire more investigators who were not ex-police, respond more forcefully to non-co-operative police forces and make more information about its investigations public. He also said the province should enact legislation dealing specifically with the SIU’s mandate and investigative authority. At that time, both the SIU and the government welcomed the Ombudsman’s recommendations. The SIU has made considerable progress, Mr Marin found. By contrast, he said, the government has only “allowed the long-standing issues impeding the SIU to fester.”
Read the full report, and additional information about the investigation, on the Ombudsman Ontario website
Source: http://www.ombudsman.on.ca
