The Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act (Bill 68, 2019; French: Loi de 2019 sur la refonte complète des services de police de l'Ontario) is a law in the province of Ontario that brought a number of reforms to policing in the province.[1]
In 2018, the government of Ontario, then led by the Ontario Liberal Party and Premier Kathleen Wynne, had introduced a number of police reforms in the Safer Ontario Act, 2018 (Bill 175). After the 2018 Ontario general election, however, the new Progressive Conservative-led government under Premier Doug Ford decried the legislation, with MPP Sylvia Jones stating that it was "the most anti-police legislation in Canadian history. It was a disaster."[2]
The bill brought a number of changes to policing in Ontario, including:
Removing court security and the enforcement of municipal bylaws from the definition of adequate and effective policing
Requiring every municipal police service board to write a diversity plan for board appointments and requiring board members to undergo human rights and diversity training
Allowing municipal police service boards to increase their numbers from five members to seven or nine
Requiring police record checks for municipal police service board appointees
Amendments to the division of responsibilities between municipal police service boards and chiefs of police
Requiring municipal police service boards to publish orders given to chiefs of police
Allowing chiefs of police to extend the probationary period for officers by an additional six months
New regulations for special constables
Creating the Inspector General of Policing agency
Re-organising the Independent Police Review Director into the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency
Amending regulations around reporting of misconduct and to police officer disciplinary procedures
Introducing the possibility of suspension without pay for police officers
Allowing members of police associations to sue the association if they feel that it did not fairly represent them[3][4]
From 7 March to 21 March 2019, the bill was reviewed by the Standing Committee on Justice Policy.
On 26 March 2019, the final vote on the bill was held, with 70 MPPs voting in favour and 31 voting against. It received royal assent from Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell that same day.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission stated that mistrust of police by marginalised communities was a significant issue in the province and that the bill "includes many features that can help Ontario move towards a modern vision of equitable policing." However, the Commission also argued that additional features were needed, including requiring police agencies to establish permanent collection of human rights data and ensuring that investigations into police misconduct were handled by a fully independent body.[5]
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association opposed the bill, with executive director Michael Bryant stating that "the government has gutted police oversight, scrapped the police complaints commission, and really set the clock back on accountability and transparency of policing."[6]
In October 2020, Devon Clunis was chosen to lead the new Inspector General of Policing agency. He had previously served as chief of the Winnipeg Police Service from 2012 until his retirement in 2016.[7]
