Stronger, more independent police watchdogs. Strict penalties for officers who fail to co-operate with probes into police conduct. An “open by default” approach to investigations into police behaviour, providing the public vital information to understand civilian watchdog decisions.

An omnibus bill tabled at Queen’s Park on Thursday proposes a dramatic transformation to the policing landscape in Ontario, recommending significant changes to the complaints system, granting greater powers to police oversight bodies, defining the core functions of sworn officers, and more.

“Our hope is that these changes will make people — no matter the colour of their skin, what neighbourhood they call home, or their mental health status — feel protected and safe in their communities,” said Attorney General Yasir Naqvi, who outlined the changes alongside Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Marie-France Lalonde.

The 417-page proposed bill includes what critics say is a long-overdue update to Ontario’s Police Services Act that was written in 1990. Among the key changes suggested are giving police chiefs the ability to suspend officers without pay under certain circumstances — a power chiefs across the province have been requesting for years.

The proposed legislation, which Naqvi said he hopes will become law by the holidays, also acts on an ambitious set of recommendations by Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Michael Tulloch that were unveiled earlier this year.

That includes recommendations to significantly increase transparency around the decisions of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which probes deaths and serious injuries involving police and allegations of sexual assault against officers.

If passed, the SIU would be granted greater powers to investigate police — including the ability to lay any criminal charge uncovered during an investigation. There would also be strict penalties for police officers who fail to co-operate with its investigations — including a fine of up to $50,000, up to a year in jail, or both.

“This is an important first step in righting the ship and bringing back public confidence in policing,” said Julian Falconer, a Toronto lawyer who has represented the families of people killed by police in Ontario.

The Safer Ontario Act would also respond to a major component of Tulloch’s report, which aimed to increase the independence of the police complaints system. If passed, the new legislation would mandate that, within the next five years, the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIRPD) would no longer refer any complaints back to the police service where the complaint originated.

Currently, the OIPRD — which hears complaints about police from across the province — sends the majority of its complaints back to the service in question.

The agency would also be renamed the Ontario Policing Complaints Agency.

Gerry McNeilly, who heads the OIPRD, welcomed the proposed changes to his office’s mandate, saying the current setup results in some members of the public questioning the independence of investigations.

But he expressed the need to be “properly resourced,” a concern shared by SIU director Tony Loparco.

“I am committing the SIU to take the steps required to implement those changes with the help of the increased resources that were deemed necessary by . . . Tulloch earlier this year,” Loparco said in a statement Thursday.

Loparco also added his “wholehearted” support for another suggested change — the creation of separate legislation for the SIU, which is written into the Police Act.

The changes would also expand the SIU’s powers to launch investigations not only into the conduct of on-duty current police officers, but former officers, special constables (such as those working for universities) and in certain circumstances, off-duty officers and members of First Nations police services.

The proposed legislation suggests the creation of an inspector general, who would have the power to oversee and monitor police services and police services boards, the government said Thursday. The inspector general would also be able to review complaints, including against board members and chiefs of police.

A strengthened police oversight system has the likelihood of significantly improving public trust in policing, said Fred Kaustinen, the executive director of the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards.

“Policing is an honourable profession. It’s a very important one in our society. It also is the only one that has the lawful ability to impose itself on some of your human rights,” Kaustinen told reporters.

“So it requires special oversight and it requires a higher degree of accountability.”

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The ability for chiefs to suspend officers without pay has been called upon for years, including by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP). Ontario is the sole province in Canada that requires suspension with pay except when an officer is sentenced to jail time.

Under the proposed changes, the circumstances in which an officer can be suspended without pay in Ontario include when the officer is in custody (but has not been sentenced for an offence) or is the subject of bail or other court conditions that prevent them from performing their usual police duties, as well as if charged with a serious offence that was not committed in the course of their duties.

Joe Couto, spokesperson for the OACP, said the proposed changes move policing “forward into today’s context.”

Specific to the powers to suspend police officers without pay, he said government has listened “not only to the chiefs but Ontarians.” The issue of officers paid for months or years while suspended has prompted complaints from the public to chiefs, he said.

Among the proposed changes still to be determined are details around defining the core function of police officers, something that will be detailed in still-to-be-written regulations.

Bruce Chapman, President of the Police Association of Ontario, responds to possibility of greater civilianization of roles currently done by police officers. (courtesy: Broadcast and Recording Service Legislative Assembly of Ontario)

According to a government statement, the province hopes to set “clear parameters that outline police responsibilities and that identify where it may be appropriate to use non-police personnel.”

The plan prompted pushback from police associations, which expressed concerns about the “privatization” of core duties normally carried out by police.

“There is no place for private policing in Ontario, it is nothing more than policing for profit,” said Bruce Chapman, president of the Police Association of Ontario in a statement.

Lalonde, however, assured there was no plan for the privatization of policing. Rather, she said there are certain jobs — such as manning a construction site — that do not have to be performed by a highly trained officer.

Police officers will still be the ones responding when a member of the public needs their services.

“When you call 911 and you need a police officer, a police officer will respond to you,” Lalonde said.

Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca

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