Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley says the province likely won't follow Ontario's lead and put a stop to arbitrary street checks conducted by police.

The Ontario government is proposing a strict set of regulations banning all random and arbitrary police stops. It will also set limits on how and when police can question and document citizens, a practice commonly known as carding.

New draft regulations unveiled Tuesday in Ontario would require that police provide a written record of exchanges and inform citizens that stops are voluntary.

The policy was proposed following provincewide consultations after police in Toronto and other cities were blasted for a practice many say amounts to racial profiling and violates privacy rights.

But Ganley downplayed the negative impact of street checks by police in Alberta.

"Street checks are just police having conversations with people in the community and police are part of the community," said Ganley.

D'Arcy DePoe says evidence shows that street checks discriminate. (CBC) "So if you're saying 'am I prepared to prevent police from having conversations with people in the community?' Probably not. I mean, I think they're part of the community and that would be an unduly restrictive sort of way of proceeding.

"It's really important that we allow them to use this tool of community-based policing in accordance with ensuring that this is not based on any sort of profiling," Ganley added.

In September, a CBC News investigative report on Edmonton street checks cited local aboriginal leaders and lawyers who shared concerns about street checks voiced by critics in Ontario. They called for stricter limits to be placed on Edmonton police.

Each year, Edmonton police randomly stop, question and document tens of thousands of citizens who are not under arrest.

Street check figures provided by Edmonton police showed between 2011 and 2014, officers stopped and documented an average 26,000-plus people per year. The information is stored indefinitely.

No complaints and no new rules

On Wednesday, Ganley shot down the idea of introducing regulations to restrict street checks.

She said Edmonton police are already "taking proactive steps to keep in touch with best practices" and provincial policing standards to ensure people's rights are protected.

"No one has made a complaint. I encourage people to make these complaints if they have the complaints," she said.

"They're coming up to people and asking people what they're doing, what they're up to, and asking for and recording their names and identification information." - D'Arcy DePoe, past president of Alberta's Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association

"But in terms of the policy — Ontario had a different policy than what we have, and obviously they had some problems arising out of that policy, and they have addressed them."

She declined to elaborate on how the policies here differ. Critics say there is little difference, and the concerns are the same.

D'Arcy DePoe, past president of Alberta's Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association, said he finds some of Ganley's remarks troubling.

"I'm a little concerned about the comment that street checks are just police having conversations with people in the community, and this is somehow an aspect of community policing," said DePoe.

He said it is "generally regarded as a very good thing" when police engage in public contact in individual communities and neighbourhoods. But street checks are more than "mere conversations."

"Police aren't coming up and introducing themselves. They're coming up to people and asking people what they're doing, what they're up to, and asking for and recording their names and identification information," he said.

And "that gets put into a computer data bank," he added.

DePoe said there is a great deal of evidence that street checks discriminate.

"That needs to be addressed in the community by police, politicians and ordinary citizens. We have to examine whether this is a worthwhile practice and ask 'do we want it to continue?'"

andrea.huncar@cbc.ca

@andreahuncar