Law Times

Page 12 September 10, 2018 • Law timeS www.lawtimesnews.com do their job and still achieve the objective of proper investigation and ensuring our communities are safe without targeting mem- bers of racialized communities or exercising their powers in a way that could give way to bias." But the regulations contain large exemptions that lawyers say could still leave many people, especially marginalized popula- tions, vulnerable to arbitrary and unnecessary police interactions. The regulations do not apply if the police officer is attempting to collect information for an of- fence the police officer reason- ably suspects has been or will be committed, the regulations say. The regulations also list certain situations where the regulations don't apply, such as when arrest- ing someone, executing a war- rant or if an officer is undercover. In a submission sent to the review in June, the Ontario Bar Association wrote that the ex- emption "is susceptible to broad interpretation, and as a result, undermines the stated objec- tive of eliminating random, arbitrary and discriminatory interactions with police." The submission says it is susceptible because the regulation does not specify if the particular offence is a crime in progress or if there needs to be a connection be- tween the location of the street check and the crime in progress. "The regulation creates an exemption that is very, very wide," says Russomanno, who is also an Ottawa director of the Criminal Lawyers' Association. He helped prepare a submission from the organization in 2015 that also raised concerns about the exemptions. Lawyers are also concerned police officers don't have enough training about racial bias. "There is a lack of training, at least in some police forces across the province, in terms of racial profiling," says Poziomka. "And I think that carding and street checks is a mechanism that can be abused as a result of that lack of training." The regulations say officers must be trained every three years about racial bias and the rights of individuals to not provide in- formation to police officers. In its submission, the OBA says this training should be offered every 18 months. Members of the public need to know what their rights are when they're interacting with po- lice, says Christien Levien, a crim- inal defence lawyer in Brampton, Ont., who developed an app, Le- galswipe, to help educate people about what their rights are during interactions with police. Levien, who speaks openly about his own experiences with racial profiling while being carded, says marginalized "com- munities don't feel empowered to hold the police accountable when their rights are being vio- lated. This has very little to do with the type of training being offered [to police officers]. "The community cannot properly exercise their rights un- less they're being educated about what their rights are," he says. Street checks do serve some purposes, says Simon Borys, a criminal defence lawyer with Bo- rys Law in Kingston, Ont. Before becoming a lawyer, Borys was a police officer in Southwestern Ontario. He says information po- lice gather during street checks is part of "intelligence-led" policing and can help officers obtain infor- mation that can help investigate crimes in the future, such as see- ing where and with whom poten- tial suspects spend their time. "Street checks and intelli- gence-led policing is a vital part of the modern approach to po- licing," he says. "I think it would be taking a step back to prohibit that practice entirely." Borys says policing can "be susceptible to that kind of insu- lar mentality [that] sort of feeds on itself." He agrees police need to give objective reasons for why they stop people, and they need to be accountable. But he says the culture can change by hiring high-quality police officers. "There's not an easy solution to this," he says. "Balancing these different rights and interests is a difficult thing." LT the providers directly and ar- range for pre-payment of travel expenses to and from their ap- pointments." The board's position still remains unchanged when it comes to benefits for migrant workers injured on the job, says Yachnin, but there is some room for hope. "Before, there was no poten- tial for any long-term benefits — really no matter the injury, and no matter the impact on some- one's life and their inability to work, that was the only chance they had — [it] was short term, three months of benefits," she says. The clinic continues to work on issues related to migrant workers, and another case in- volving a man from Trinidad and Tobago is pending before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, says Yachnin. Airissa Gemma, a commu- nity legal worker with the clinic, who was co-counsel on the mat- ter, says she is pleased with the decision. The tribunal's decision was groundbreaking and will lead to beneficial results for other mi- grant workers, she says. "He was a long-term worker. As a migrant worker, he'd been coming here for years. And it was just despicable the way that he was treated in terms of [being told], 'Go back home and fend for yourself,'" she says. Lorne Waldman, a lawyer who practises immigration and constitutional law in Toronto, says he supports the tribunal's decision. "I think migrant workers are extremely vulnerable and any decision of any tribunal that acknowledges this and in any way makes it easier for them to assert their legal rights for fair compensation is something that should be lauded and support- ed," he says. LT FOCUS Continued from page 10 Continued from page 11 Room for hope More training on bias needed Jack Braithwaite says carding should be completely eliminated. • Forces Driving Change • Components of the Gig Economy and the new rules that apply to them • Adapting to the New Realities • Ontario Reforms: Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act • Alberta Reforms: Bill 17, Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act • Federal Budget Changes • Down the Road COURSE HIGHLIGHTS: Broad legislative reform measures in Ontario and Alberta have highlighted the rapid evolution of workplace law, driven by the increase in "precarious employment" and the "gig economy." The game and the stakes are changing rapidly, and the mantra of the past is becoming a distant echo. Efforts to reduce costs by using temporary workers, contract workers, or other non-traditional relationships may not be effective any moreMake sure you're listening to the right sounds by attending this seminar. *Discount applies to in-class only REGISTER BEFORE OCTOBER 12 AND SAVE UP TO $300* LAW REFORM IN THE GIG ECONOMY Toronto In-Class Course • Online Live Webinar | November 14 Register online at www.lexpert.ca/legal-programs For questions and group rates, please contact: Toll-Free: 1-877-298-5868 • Direct: 416-609-5868 Fax: 416-609-5841 • Website: www.lexpert.ca/legal-programs • Email: cpd.centre@thomsonreuters.com COURSE LEADER: STUART RUDNER, RUDNER LAW Untitled-4 1 2018-09-05 10:28 AM

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