The withdrawal of charges against about a dozen men caught up in Toronto police’s “Project Marie” operation in Marie Curtis Park last year has again called into question the thinking behind the plan, which critics say was homophobic.

The six-week project last fall in the Etobicoke park, which included the use of undercover officers seeking individuals interested in sexual activity, led to at least 72 people, mostly men, ticketed for non-criminal offences including trespassing and public sexual activity. Police said at the time that only one person was charged with a criminal offence.

Almost immediately after news of the project’s results broke last November, a group of about 10 lawyers banded together to offer their services free to anyone caught up in the operation. Toronto lawyer Marcus McCann told the Star about 20 per cent of the individuals ticketed reached out to the group, and all of them had their tickets withdrawn by the prosecution over the course of 10 months, and as recently as September. McCann said fines for trespassing and sexual activity could total about $600.

“In terms of the legal defences, the lesson here is the same as it has been for 30-plus years: that those who choose to fight these types of morality raids tend to be vindicated,” McCann said.

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“The tickets themselves are fairly minor, no more serious than a jaywalking ticket, and yet the consequences for those who are affected by Project Marie can be very, very serious. We know historically that the effect of these kinds of morality raids has been devastating on some of those captured by them, leading to the break-up of families, depression, other mental issues, suicide attempts. These are high-stigma offences.”

Toronto police have always denied that Project Marie was homophobic, but rather, they say, it was an attempt to respond to complaints from some residents about public nudity, indecent exposure and drug and alcohol consumption in the park. The force has since acknowledged that its LGBTQ liaison officer was not consulted before the execution of Project Marie, and that it should have spoken with LGBTQ groups beforehand.

“At the time, Project Marie was successful in addressing the immediate concerns that were raised by local residents,” said Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray on behalf of 22 Division. “However, we know Project Marie raised concerns and, in retrospect, we should have considered outreach to our LGBTQ community partners. Going forward, as we continue to receive community complaints about Marie Curtis Park and other locations, we will execute enforcement projects in good faith.”

Gray said uniformed officers visited the park before the undercover officers who issued tickets “and engaged with those found to be loitering in the park.”

“They were told in advance why there was an increased police presence and that certain activities were not permitted by law in the park.”

Critics of the project have pointed to a lack of understanding on the part of the police and some residents as to why men who have sex with men would be “cruising” in the park in the first place, and that there were other alternatives to bringing in the police, such as working with local LGBTQ groups, using bylaw officers instead of police officers, and creating a public awareness campaign about sharing space in the park.

“People use parks for many reasons that might not be considered ‘public’ or aligned with mainstream public values,” said Jonathan Valelly, a member of Queers Crash the Beat, a collective of queer and trans people “invested in police accountability and challenging the violence of the criminal justice system.”

Valelly highlighted that closeted individuals may not necessarily feel safe, for example, in a neighbourhood designated as a gay village, where many other gay individuals meet.

“People actually cruise in public parks because we live in a homophobic society,” he said, “which means going to places marked as gay in the public sphere, such as a gay bar or gay area of town, is not necessarily safe for people, or comfortable for people, psychically or physically. . . . Gay men and men who have sex with men are a resilient bunch, who will find each other in a way that doesn’t really bother anyone else.”

Politicians from the three levels of government were highly critical of Project Marie, including MPP Cheri DiNovo.

The police operation “was a complete waste of public dollars and, more to the point, other than just dollars, someone should be held responsible for that,” DiNovo, the NDP’s LGBTQ critic, told the Star. “Even the ones who had the charges withdrawn, that’s incredible stress and really, let’s face it, what’s behind this is homophobia.”

DiNovo said she would like to know if Toronto police have come up with a policy on how to better handle complaints similar to those received from residents before Project Marie last year.

It’s unclear just how many charges were withdrawn, successfully or unsuccessfully prosecuted, or where individuals plead guilty.

McCann, the lawyer, said stigma may have prevented some individuals from calling a lawyer and seeking help. Along with other lawyers, activists and politicians, McCann wants to know the cost of Project Marie, as well as the number of officers involved and who approved it.

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Gray, at Toronto police, said the force does not disclose details about resources put into any project. She confirmed that Const. Kevin Ward at 22 Division co-ordinated the project, which like any project required the approval of the unit commander.

Ward is facing professional misconduct charges before the police tribunal for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a college student, sharing sensitive police information with a member of a student group he helped create, and making inappropriate comments, gestures or suggestions to members of the group. Reached by the Star, Ward’s lawyer, Gary Clewley, declined to comment on the charges.

“Going forward, one thing we learned from Project Marie is how (to) balance enforcing the law with what is seen as commonly acceptable behaviour amongst a group of people, and how (to) connect with the partners that we’ve built up in the community to reach that balance,” Gray said.