Head of Special Investigations Unit warns Ford government’s Bill 68 opens door to ‘political interference’
The head of Ontario’s civilian police watchdog has warned the provincial government that its proposed police reforms would “completely subvert” his agency’s independence and open the door to “political interference.”
“This would completely subvert the SIU’s independence and its police oversight mission,” Mr. Loparco writes. “I strongly recommend that the word ‘criminal’ be struck from the section. To do otherwise would be to go backwards.” Mr. Ford’s reforms, announced last month and praised by police unions and chiefs, follow on his Progressive Conservative government’s suspension last summer of the previous Liberal government’s legislation to strengthen police oversight. His Community Safety Minister, Sylvia Jones, has called the previous government’s changes the “most anti-police piece of legislation in Canadian history.
“The proposed legislation is designed to allow the SIU to focus its resources on appropriate, pressing cases that need to be investigated while supporting front-line police,” Mr. Robichaud said. “This would ensure SIU resources are focused where they should be: on potential criminal activity.”
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