Thursday, December 19, 2013

Wood v. Schaeffer: Watchdogs Special Investigations Unit and Ombudsman Ontario Vindicated in the Fight for Accountability of Police in Death Investigations


By Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A., LL.B., L.E.C.
Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario, Canada)
Attorney-at-Law (Republic of Guyana, Island of Trinidad)
Posted on December 19, 2013

December 19, 2013 marks a significant day in the era of police accountability in the area of note - taking and responsibility of police officers to cooperate with the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in investigations into serious injuries and death.

In Wood v. Schaeffer 2013 SCC 71 Police Officers facing SIU Ontario probes can no longer have lawyers help them write their notes.

Historical Overview on the Civilian Oversight Body
(1)   The Creation of the Special Investigations Unit
[35]                          Before the SIU was formed, incidents of serious injuries or deaths involving police officers were investigated internally by the police (A. Marin, Oversight Unseen:  Investigation into the Special Investigations Unit’s operational effectiveness and credibility (2008), at para. 23).  This changed in 1990 with the enactment of the Act, which created the SIU. 
[36]                          The creation of the SIU followed on the heels of a report released in 1989 by the Task Force on Race Relations and Policing (Report of the Race Relations and Policing Task Force (1989)).  The Task Force was commissioned by the provincial government after two black Ontarians were fatally shot by the police in 1988.  Its report contained a host of recommendations, one of which called for the creation of an “investigative team” comprised partially of civilians “to investigate police shootings” in the province (p. 150).  The Task Force recommended civilian participation in investigations of the police because, in its view, the practice of “police investigating the police” could not “satisfy the public demand for impartiality” and fostered “a serious deterioration in the public confidence” (p. 147).
[37]                          The Solicitor General, during legislative debate on the Act, confirmed that the creation of the SIU was a direct response to the recommendation of the Task Force.  He stated that the government had listened to the concerns raised by the Task Force and that the Act “addresses the concern, heard by the general public, of police investigating police” (Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Official Report of Debates (Hansard), 2nd Sess., 34th Parl., May 17, 1990, at p. 1318).
The importance of Police Officers notes

Paras. 62 - 68 deals with the duty to make notes in a very authoritative sense:


(a)   The Duty to Make Notes Generally
[62]                          Section 9(1) and (3) of the regulation require witness and subject officers to “complete in full the notes on the incident in accordance with [their] duty”.  The regulation does not define the duty to make notes.  Nor does the Act, which provides a non-exhaustive list of the “duties of a police officer” in s. 42, including, for example, preserving the peace, laying charges and participating in prosecutions, and performing the lawful duties that the chief of police assigns.
[63]                          Although it is common ground among the parties that the duties of a police officer include a duty to make notes on the events that transpire during the officer’s tour of duty, I recognize that neither side points to a definitive statement of this Court holding as much.[3] 
[64]                          However, reports by experienced jurists have concluded that such a duty exists.  For example, in their 1993 report to the Attorney General of Ontario on charge screening, disclosure, and resolution discussions, a committee made up of experienced counsel and police officers and led by the Honourable G. A. Martin, observed that:
[T]he duty to make careful notes pertaining to an investigation is an important part of the investigator’s broader duty to ensure that those who commit crimes are held accountable for them.

. . .

[I]nadequate note-taking, while it can hamper the conduct of the defence, also risks hampering an investigation and/or a prosecution.  In short, inadequate note-taking does a disservice to both an accused and the community, [which] is entitled to expect that innocent people will be acquitted and guilty people properly convicted.  [Emphasis added.]
(Report of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on Charge Screening, Disclosure, and Resolution Discussions (1993) (“Martin Committee”), at pp. 151 and 153)
[65]                          In another instance, the Honourable R. E. Salhany considered the significance of police notes in the course of a public inquiry into a death caused by an off-duty officer.  He explained the importance of notes in this way:
[Note-making] is not a burdensome task that police officers must reluctantly undertake because they were taught to do so at their police college. It is an integral part of a successful investigation and prosecution of an accused. It is as important as obtaining an incriminating statement, discovering incriminating exhibits or locating helpful witnesses. The preparation of accurate, detailed and comprehensive notes as soon as possible after an event has been investigated is the duty and responsibility of a competent investigator.  [Emphasis added.]
(Report of the Taman Inquiry (2008), at p. 133)
[66]                          These conclusions, in my view, stand on firm ground.  The importance of police notes to the criminal justice system is obvious.  As Mr. Martin observed of properly-made notes:
The notes of an investigator are often the most immediate source of the evidence relevant to the commission of a crime. The notes may be closest to what the witness actually saw or experienced. As the earliest record created, they may be the most accurate.  [p. 152]
[67]                          Against that background, I have little difficulty concluding that police officers do have a duty to prepare accurate, detailed, and comprehensive notes as soon as practicable after an investigation.  Drawing on the remarks of Mr. Martin, such a duty to prepare notes is, at a minimum, implicit in an officer’s duty to assist in the laying of charges and in prosecutions — a duty that is explicitly recognized in s. 42(1)(e) of the Act.
[68]                          None of this, of course, comes as news to police officers.  In this case, for example, OPP policy confirms the duty to make notes by requiring constables to record “concise, comprehensive particulars of each occurrence” during their tour of duty and to “make all original investigative notes . . . during an investigation or as soon as thereafter practicable” (OPP Order 2.50, Member Note Taking, SIU Record, at pp. 48-52).  More generally, police manuals have long emphasized the importance of accurate, detailed, and comprehensive notes; see, e.g., R. E. Salhany, The Police Manual of Arrest, Seizure & Interrogation (7th ed. 1997), at pp. 270-78. 

Even prior to the Supreme Court of Canada decision, caselaw exist to show that the importance of contemporaneous notes is no small matter. As observed in R. v. Tang, 2011 ONCJ 525 citing R. v. Odgers, [2009], O.J. No. 2592


[52] In my view, the lack of proper note-taking by Constable Monahar makes his
testimony before me of no value or reliability.

[53] I agree with my colleague Justice Robert N. Fournier, in his view of the importance of note-taking, at paragraph 16 of his recent judgement in R. v. Odgers [2009] O.J. No. 2592:
[16] Generally speaking in the matter of police officers' notes - the law has indeed evolved over time. No longer are the notes of an officer a simple aide-mémoire generated for the sole purpose of that officer to assist in refreshing his/her memory. While the notebook continues to be an important investigative tool, it has also evolved into a fairly significant evidentiary document of sorts. Their use as a source of reference in the course of a trial can play a significant role in a court's assessment of the evidence. The quality of such record keeping can indeed impart far reaching consequences on occasion. It cannot be said that the adequacy of an officer's notes is of little consequence. Accordingly the courts have recognized that there is an inherent duty placed on officers, to prepare complete and accurate notes. In the normal course of disclosure, officers' notes invariably find their way into the hands of defence counsel, who will of course rely on them. This has become an even more significant reality, since the advent of Stinchcombe. It can be of particular concern in instances, when events or observations of obvious relevance and importance, are omitted or not adequately documented in the notebooks of officers. In such instances, the courts have demonstrated a heightened awareness of the evidentiary dangers, such deficient notes present to a trier of fact. When serious inadequacies are demonstrated, the credibility of police officers can in fact be discounted. It goes without saying that the absence of notes on an important factor is relevant to an officer's credibility.(9) As a result the courts have on occasion, been reluctant to attribute much weight to evidence adduced viva voce by an officer, in the absence of corroborating written references in that officer's notebook. I am aware of a large body of case law(10) on the subject. Ultimately however, this is often a matter of common sense and as usual each case, must be determined on its merits.

[54] In this proceeding, I have concluded that Constable Monahar’s testimony was evasive and contrived. It is not supported by his own notes, and his testimony lacks both credibility and reliability on this key question of his use of force in arresting Mr. Tang.

[55] I therefore, in this proceeding have concluded that Mr. Tang’s evidence, and that of the other witnesses called by the defence, is more reliable than that of the arresting officer, Constable Monahar, as to the sequence of events during the “take down” and arrest.


Justice Nordheimer observed in R. v. Schertzer, (2007) 161 C.R.R. (2d) 367 at paras. 14, 16, 21 (Ont. S.C.J.); rev’d on other grounds (2009) 248 C.C.C. (3d) 270 (C.A.), that:

…the obligation to make notes arises from the individual's employment as a police officer. At the risk of stating the obvious, no one is compelled to become a police officer. Persons make a free decision to become police officers and they do so with full knowledge of what that decision entails. Persons deciding to become police officers surely know that their actions as police officers will be subject to scrutiny in a variety of ways including by their superiors, by their fellow officers, by the public, by the media and by the courts. The training that individuals go through in order to become police officers fully informs those persons regarding their duties and obligations as such.

The notes … assist in the proper prosecution of criminal and other offences because they are intended to provide a reliable and timely record of the events underlying those offences.

It remains the fact that the principal purpose of requiring notes to be made is not for the purpose of investigating the actions of police officers. It is an incidental effect of the requirement to make notes that possible misconduct by an officer may be revealed.


All levels of Court have now spoken on this issue including the highest court in the land.
Why exclude lawyers from the note-taking process


In overturning the Court of Appeal decision pursuant to a Cross-Appeal from the Director of the SIU on the point of whether or not police officers can consult legal counsel the Court made it clear that in the performance of their professional responsibilites as peace officers, allowing counsel to provide even basic legal advise whould be inconsistent with the duties as set out in section 42 of the Police Services Act.

[67]                          Against that background, I have little difficulty concluding that police officers do have a duty to prepare accurate, detailed, and comprehensive notes as soon as practicable after an investigation.  Drawing on the remarks of Mr. Martin, such a duty to prepare notes is, at a minimum, implicit in an officer’s duty to assist in the laying of charges and in prosecutions — a duty that is explicitly recognized in s. 42(1)(e) of the Act.
[82]                          The Court of Appeal concluded that, while s. 7(1) of the regulation does not entitle officers to the assistance of counsel in the preparation of their notes, it does entitle them to “basic legal advice” about the nature of their rights and obligations under the Act and the regulation before they complete their notes.  That basic advice could include informing officers that they are required to complete their notes prior to the end of their tour of duty unless excused by the police chief, and that their notes will be submitted to the Chief of Police (para. 81).
[83]                          With respect, I disagree with this aspect of the Court of Appeal’s reasons.  In my view, the legislative history shows that s. 7(1) was not meant to create an entitlement to counsel before an officer has completed his or her notes.  Without in any way impugning the integrity of counsel or police officers, even the perfunctory consultation contemplated by the Court of Appeal is liable to cause an “appearances problem” similar to the one I have already identified.  Because the initial consultation is privileged, the public will have no way of knowing what was discussed.  As a result, the same threat to public confidence exists, even if on a somewhat diminished scale.
[84]                          A loss of public trust would seem a high price to pay for an initial consultation that, in my view, achieves no tangible benefit.  Counsel cannot discuss the facts surrounding the incident in any meaningful sense, if at all; nor can there be any discussion about the legal issues that flow from the facts.  Under the Court of Appeal’s model, counsel is limited to providing officers with basic information about their rights and obligations under the legislative scheme.  This information can easily be conveyed in ways that do not generate any appearance problem.  It can and should be included as part of every officer’s training.  If there is some need to refresh officers as to their responsibilities after an event triggering an SIU investigation, this refresher can be provided by a ranking officer or a generic card kept in an officer’s notebook.
[85]                          In the end, the basic legal advice contemplated by the Court of Appeal is essentially meaningless — and anything that might be meaningful sends counsel into a minefield.  In this regard, I agree with the Officers that the court’s proposal is unhelpful:
The officer is unable to ascertain what questions can properly be addressed to counsel and counsel is required to navigate through an obstacle course and provide little, if any, practical assistance to his client.  The permissible advice is, in effect, no advice at all.  The Court of Appeal for Ontario has relegated the role of counsel to a recitation of the most basic legislative requirements rather than providing meaningful legal assistance.  [Emphasis added; A.F., at para. 72.]
[86]                          In reaching the conclusion that officers are not permitted to consult with counsel before they have completed their notes, I acknowledge the fact that officers who have been involved in a traumatic incident may well feel the need to speak to someone before they complete their notes.  While the regulation prevents such officers from consulting with counsel, it does not prevent them from speaking to doctors, mental health professionals, or uninvolved senior police officers before they write their notes.  Moreover, the regulation empowers the chief of police to allow such officers more time to complete their notes (see s. 9(5)).
[87]                          I should also be clear about the scope of my conclusion.  Once officers have completed their notes and filed them with the chief of police, they are free to consult with counsel.  This would include consultation both before and after the interview with the SIU.  Consulting with counsel at that stage is consistent with the plain wording of s. 7(1) of the regulation and does not derogate from an officer’s duty or from the purpose of the legislative scheme.
The Significance of this decision
Its a super big win for civilian oversight of policing and lawful law enforcement.
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Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A. (Toronto), LL.B. (Osgoode), L.E.C. (U.W.I). Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario). Attorney-at-Law (Republic of Guyana and Republic of Trinidad and Tobago). A significant portion of Selwyn's work involves representation of persons in human rights, civil and criminal litigation matters in the Federal and Provincial Courts and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

Selwyn is the successful litigant in the recent racial profiling case involving carding of three Black men: Peel Law Association v. Pieters2013 CarswellOnt 7881, 2013 ONCA 396, 228 A.C.W.S. (3d) 204, 116 O.R. (3d) 81, 306 O.A.C. 314, 9 C.C.E.L. (4th) 233, [2013] O.J. No. 2695.

Selwyn has appeared at all levels of courts, including the Ontario Court of Appeal in Freeman-Maloy v. Marsden 267 D.L.R. (4th) 37, 208 O.A.C. 307 (C.A.); Bangoura v. Washington Post (2005) 202 O.A.C. 76, (2005) 17 C.P.C. (6th) 30 (Ont.C.A.), the Federal Court of Appeal in The Honourable Sinclair Stevens v. The Conservative Party of Canada, [2005] F.C.J. No. 1890, 2005 FCA 383 and Supreme Court of Canada in Attorney General of Ontario v. Michael J. Fraser, et al., 2011 SCC 20. He represented Correctional Manager Mariann Taylor-Baptiste in the ground-breaking competing rights case of Taylor-Baptiste v. Ontario Public Service Employees Union, 2012 CarswellOnt 8965, 2012 HRTO 1393, 2012 C.L.L.C. 230-022 reconsideration denied in 2013 CarswellOnt 1033, 2013 HRTO 180, 2013 C.L.L.C. 230-019 at the HRTO; Civil Rights lawyer Charles Roach in the Oath cases of McAteer, Topey, Dror-Natan v. Canada (Attorney General) 2013 CarswellOnt 131652013 ONSC 5895 (ON S.C.) and Roach et al. v. Canada 2012 CarswellOnt 7799, 2012 ONSC 352 (ON S.C.) which is a constitutional challenge to the oath in the Citizenship Act.

Selwyn most recently litigated the racial profiling case of:
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 CarswellOnt 12134, 2013 HRTO 1472
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 CarswellOnt 11941
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 HRTO 1102
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 HRTO 73
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2012 CarswellOnt 11158
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, [2011] O.H.R.T.D. No. 618, 2011 HRTO 410
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2011 ONCJ 143, 2011 CarswellOnt 1980, 2011 ONCJ 143, 274 C.C.C. (3d) 272 (Ont. CJ.)
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2010 CarswellOnt 9121, 2010 HRTO 2349
M. (R.)v. Toronto Police Services Board was recently settled to the satisfaction of all parties and the terms of settlement reached remain confidential.

Selwyn also acted as co-counsel with C. Nigel Hughes for the families of three deceased persons killed during a civil demonstration in Linden, Guyana, at the Linden Commission of Inquiry.  






Sunday, November 17, 2013

Black Action Defence Committee v. Bill Blair and Toronto Police Services Board



By Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A., LL.B., L.E.C.
Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario, Canada)
Attorney-at-Law (Republic of Guyana, Island of Trinidad)
Posted on November 17, 2013
Updated June 20, 2014

This week marks the filing of a Statement of Claim that purports to launch a Class Proceeding against the Toronto Police Service Board and the Chief of Police pursuant to the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 6 and the Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194, R. 14.05(3)(g.1).

A civil action in the form of a class action lawsuit and/or Charter application is long overdue. 

In Toronto the crime rate is very low, particularly for violent crimes. In eleven months for 2013 we have less than 52 homicides. There is absolutely no justification that could be rationally sustained for Toronto Police carding and mapping entire communities of young men between the ages of 15 to 24 who are Black and Brown except that race, colour, class and privilege are operating. It is apparent that the majority of the people carded, or stopped and frisked (under the pretext of "Officer Safety") are not connected to any organized crime activities; not involved in any gang related activities; not connected to the drug and/or the gun trade and do not have a criminal record. How then can such a practice be endorsed by the powers that be including the Ontario Human Rights Commission? Such a practice makes the persons subject to it victims of racial profiling. Racial profiling offends against a person's equality right as it allows Toronto Police officers to deliberately subject him/her to differential and unequal treatment without sufficient evidentiary basis.

The factual matrix of the cases profiled by the Toronto Star goes to the core of racial profiling, racial stereotyping and racism. Toronto Police Service has failed to correct most police racial misconduct that requires training, supervision and accountability. The Toronto Police Services Board has failed to do what is necessary to prevent this type of misconduct from occurring in the future.

I am concerned about this practice that continues unabated but unfortunately there has not been much litigation on the issue and few positive decisions supporting victims of the practice: See, Maynard v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2012 HRTO 1220. The quantum in Maynard was the highest awarded by the HRTO in a substantiated racial profiling case: Nassiah v. Peel Police Services Board, 2007 HRTO 14 ($20,000), Phipps v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2009 HRTO 1604, 2009 HRTO 1604 ($10,000); Abbott v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2010 HRTO 1314 ($5,000); Pieters and Noble v. Peel Law Association, 2010 HRTO 2411($2000.00 each). And, without a lithany of litigation this carding issue will continue. In New York City a judge recently rule carding to be unconstitutional and awarded damages. I wonder when such litigation will be prosecuted with vigour here.


In the SOC issued on November 16, 2013, BADC seeks the following remedies:
1. The Plaintiff, THE BLACK ACTION DEFENSE COMMITTEE (BADC), claims as against the Defendants both jointly and severally:

a) General damages against the Defendants in the amount of $50 million for racial profiling (and carding), which is a violation of his constitutional rights of the class of persons represented by the Plaintiff pursuant to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”); and the Ontario Human Rights Code.
b) The Plaintiff and potential class members claim the following:
c) An Order certifying the proceeding as a class proceeding and appointing the Plaintiff BADC as Representative Plaintiff.
d) A Declaration that the Defendants have breached sections 7, 9 and 15 of the Charter, which are the constitutional rights of the Plaintiff and any class members and all African-Canadians and other “colourful” minorities.
e) An Order requiring the Defendants to comply with their obligations under sections 7, 9 and 15 of the Charter; the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Police Services Act as well as relevant provisions of numerous international human rights conventions and instruments and declarations.
f) An Order requiring the Defendants to desist from engaging in and condoning racial profiling against the Plaintiff and all class members and against all African-Canadians and other “colourful” minorities.
g) An Order requiring the Defendant Bill Blair and all Toronto Police officers, to read the following books: David Tanovich, The Colour of Justice: Policing Race in Canada; Carol Tator and Frances Henry, Racial Profiling in Canada: Challenging the Myth of ‘A Few Bad Apples’; Meekes, Driving While Black; Ontario Human Rights Commission, Paying the Price: The Human Cost of Racial Profiling and the Ontario Commission on Systemic Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice Report and the Toronto Star articles dealing with carding and racial profiling published in 2002, 2010 and 2013.
h) An Order requiring the Defendants to discipline all their officers who engage in racial profiling and carding.
i) A Declaration that racial profiling is a criminal offence.
j) Punitive damages in the amount of $10 million dollars.
k) Exemplary damages in the amount of $5 million dollars.
l) An Order requiring the Defendants to implement systemic remedies responsive to the needs of the entire class that has been profiled or are prone to be racially profiled.
m) Pre-judgment and post-judgment interest on the above amounts in accordance with the Court of Justice Act;
n) A clear and unequivocal written apology from the Defendants to the Plaintiff and all African-Canadians for their being targets and victims of racial profiling and carding; and
o) Such further and other relief as this Honourable Court deems just.

Counsel for the Black Action Defence Committee is Dr. Munyonzwe Hamalengwa.

Unfortunately, the statement of claim appear to be hastily drafted, not properly constructed and some of the remedies sought here would more likely to be able to be asserted in the context of an Application. It is unlikely that it will be certified as a significant portion of the pleadings appears to be a knock off of the unsuccessful claim in Hamalengwa v. Bentley, 2011 ONSC 4145. 

In Hamalengwa, Mr. Hamalengwa sought the following remedies:


1. The plaintiff Munyonzwe Hamalengwa claims: 

a) General damages against all defendants in the amount of $1.00 (One Dollar) for racial profiling, which is a violation of his constitutional rights pursuant to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; 
b) The Plaintiff and potential class members claim the following:
c) An Order certifying the proceeding as a class proceeding and appointing the Plaintiff Munyonzwe Hamalengwa as representative Plaintiff.
d) A declaration that the defendants have breached sections 7 and 15 of the Charter Rights of the Plaintiff and any prospective class members and all African-Canadians and other “colourful” minorities.
e) An Order requiring the defendants to comply with their obligations under sections 7 and 15 of the Charter.
f) An Order requiring the defendants to desist from engaging in  and condoning racial profiling against the Plaintiff and any prospective class members and against all African-Canadians and other “colourful” minorities.
g) An Order requiring defendants Bentley, Thompson, Fairburn, Blair, Fantino and Marin to read the following books: David Tanovich, The Colour of Justice: Policing Race in Canada ; Carol Tator and Frances Henry, Racial Profiling in Canada: Challenging the Myth of ‘A Few Bad Apples’  Meekes, Driving While Black, Ontario Human Rights Commission, Paying the Price: The Human Cost of Racial Profiling
h) An Order requiring the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario to enact legislation prohibiting racial profiling.
i) A declaration that racial profiling is a criminal offence.
j) An Order that defendants Chris Bentley, The Ministry of the Attorney General, Thompson and Fairburn pay the Plaintiff all the monies in the amount of $100,000.00 he is owed as a result of representing Richard Wills and as previously billed plus applicable taxes.
k) An order requiring the defendants Chris Bentley, The Ministry of the Attorney General, Thompson, Fairburn and Marin to provide reasons why white lawyers Borenstein (as he then was before he became Justice Borenstein) and Wasser and an amicus were not recommended for assessment of their accounts in the Richard Wills case.
l) An Order requiring that in conformity with sections 15 and 24(1) of the Charter, Borenstein, Wasser and an amicus be assessed as has happened with the Plaintiff.
m) An Order postponing any assessment of the Plaintiff until the Statement of Claim and the constitutional issues and remedies proposed have been disposed of.
n) Punitive damages in the amount of $1.00 (One Dollar); 
o) Exemplary damages in the amount of $1.00 (One Dollar; 
p) An Order that there be no costs given the importance of the case and the severe negative impact of racial profiling on the Plaintiff  and all African-Canadians; 
q) Pre-judgment and post-judgment interest on the above amounts in accordance with the Court of Justice Act; 
r) A clear and unequivocal written apology from the defendants to the Plaintiff and all African-Canadians for their being targets and victims of racial profiling; 
s) Such further and other relief as this Honourable Court deems just.

The most blatant deficiency in the claim is the lack of individual plaintiffs who have been carded and/or racially profiled, have a common narrated story that is representative of the experience of those African Canadian youth whose story were most recently was profiled by the Toronto Star in September 2013, as it did in 2012 and 2010 and who can show he/she or they have suffered palpable damages or injuries. See the cases of  Hollick v. Toronto (City), 2001 SCC 68 (CanLII), [2001] 3 S.C.R. 158, Cloud v. Canada (Attorney General), (2004), 73 O.R. (3d) 401 at 411 (C.A.) and Abdool v. Anaheim Management Ltd.(1995), 31 C.P.C. (3d) 197. See also Ramdath v. George Brown College, 2012 ONSC 6173 - this case illustrates what is required to succeed in a class action.

In any event, and having regard to the large group of young men between the ages of 15 to 24 who are Black and are victims of racial profiling, there is enough of a critical mass to constitute a large enough group to qualify for certification in a class action. Why were there not directly affected young men sought out as potential plaintiffs?

It is unlikely that the Black Action Defence Committee would be found to be a representative of a class to proceed to certification: See, Magill v. Expedia, Inc., 2013 ONSC 683. It is also likely that the pleadings would be found to be too broad as it lacks any individual narratives. 

Litigating such cases against Toronto Police Service or any other police service is expensive, time consuming and unpredictable.  Given the import of commencing such an action, I would think it through and possibly amend it before the pleadings close. BADC could be at risk of significant costs: McCraken v. CNR, 2012 ONSC 6838. 

In other developments the human rights application before the Human Rights Tribunal for Ontario was dismissed. See, Black Action Defense Committee v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2014 HRTO 907. The Tribunal wrote in its decision that Counsel for the BADC made the following submissions in response to a Notice of Intent to Dismiss (NOID):
[4]           The applicant responded with very brief submissions, advising: “BADC is withdrawing as an organization from participating in a class action law suit in other forums as individual human representative plaintiffs are replacing BADC. Thus BADC will only now be involved in the claim at the HRTO and nowhere else.” The applicant also filed a revised Application form, which somewhat confusingly continued to refer to the existence of an ongoing civil action based on the same facts of the Application. The narrative describing the allegedly discriminatory events stated only, “A general practice complained of against the respondents is attached. This is a class action law suit that will [be] comprise[d] of many individuals and their individual stories will be filed later.” However, no attachment was included.

The Tribunal also reiterated that it usually dismiss human rights applications where there exist concurrent civil actions:
[11]        In the present case there can be no dispute that the applicant has commenced a civil suit in which it is seeking damages for the identical violations of the Code which are raised in this Application. Accordingly this Application must be dismissed pursuant to section 34(11) of the Code. In light of my finding, it is unnecessary to deal with the additional issues raised in the Case Assessment Direction.
See also, Toronto Star story on this civil action.

********

Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A. (Toronto), LL.B. (Osgoode), L.E.C. (U.W.I). Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario). Attorney-at-Law (Republic of Guyana and Republic of Trinidad and Tobago). A significant portion of Selwyn's work involves representation of persons in human rights, civil and criminal litigation matters in the Federal and Provincial Courts and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

Selwyn is the successful litigant in the recent racial profiling case involving carding of three Black men: Peel Law Association v. Pieters2013 CarswellOnt 7881, 2013 ONCA 396, 228 A.C.W.S. (3d) 204, 116 O.R. (3d) 81, 306 O.A.C. 314, 9 C.C.E.L. (4th) 233, [2013] O.J. No. 2695.

Selwyn has appeared at all levels of courts, including the Ontario Court of Appeal in Freeman-Maloy v. Marsden 267 D.L.R. (4th) 37, 208 O.A.C. 307 (C.A.); Bangoura v. Washington Post (2005) 202 O.A.C. 76, (2005) 17 C.P.C. (6th) 30 (Ont.C.A.), the Federal Court of Appeal in The Honourable Sinclair Stevens v. The Conservative Party of Canada, [2005] F.C.J. No. 1890, 2005 FCA 383 and Supreme Court of Canada in Attorney General of Ontario v. Michael J. Fraser, et al., 2011 SCC 20. He represented Correctional Manager Mariann Taylor-Baptiste in the ground-breaking competing rights case of Taylor-Baptiste v. Ontario Public Service Employees Union, 2012 CarswellOnt 8965, 2012 HRTO 1393, 2012 C.L.L.C. 230-022 reconsideration denied in 2013 CarswellOnt 1033, 2013 HRTO 180, 2013 C.L.L.C. 230-019 at the HRTO; Civil Rights lawyer Charles Roach in the Oath cases of McAteer, Topey, Dror-Natan v. Canada (Attorney General) 2013 CarswellOnt 131652013 ONSC 5895 (ON S.C.) and Roach et al. v. Canada 2012 CarswellOnt 7799, 2012 ONSC 352 (ON S.C.) which is a constitutional challenge to the oath in the Citizenship Act.

Selwyn most recently litigated the racial profiling case of:
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 CarswellOnt 12134, 2013 HRTO 1472
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 CarswellOnt 11941
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 HRTO 1102
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 HRTO 73
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2012 CarswellOnt 11158
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, [2011] O.H.R.T.D. No. 618, 2011 HRTO 410
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2011 ONCJ 143, 2011 CarswellOnt 1980, 2011 ONCJ 143, 274 C.C.C. (3d) 272 (Ont. CJ.)
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2010 CarswellOnt 9121, 2010 HRTO 2349
M. (R.)v. Toronto Police Services Board was recently settled to the satisfaction of all parties and the terms of settlement reached remain confidential.

In the criminal law realm some of the cases Selwyn argued on racial profiling includes: R. v. Steele, 2010 ONSC 233 (ON S.C.) and R. v. Egonu, 2007 CanLII 30475 (ON SC) - Driving while black and R. v. Bramwell-Cole [2010] O.J. No. 5838 (ON S.C.) - walking while black.


Selwyn also acted as co-counsel with C. Nigel Hughes for the families of three deceased persons killed during a civil demonstration in Linden, Guyana, at the Linden Commission of Inquiry. Selwyn is currently co-counsel with Brian M. Clarke representing the Guyana Trades Union Congress in the Walter Anthony Rodney Commission of Inquiry in Georgetown, Guyana. 

Selwyn Pieters - Lawyer, Notary Public, Legal Commentator

Selwyn Pieters is a frequent guest Legal Analyst for print, radio and television media, locally, nationally and internationally on a wide range of matters touching on human rights, criminal law, civil litigation, defamation law, anti-bullying, gun, drugs and gang sweeps, racial profiling, to name just a few.





























Saturday, September 28, 2013

Policing Racial Profiling in Police Services in Toronto, Ontario


By Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A., LL.B., L.E.C.
Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario, Canada)
Attorney-at-Law (Republic of Guyana, Island of Trinidad)

The Toronto Police Services Board, Race and Ethno cultural Equity Policy, Board Authority: Min. No. P115/05 provides that:
It is the policy of the Toronto Police Services Board that:

1. Discriminatory treatment of members of the public or of the Service based on race, sex, place of origin, sexual orientation, age, disability and socio-economic status will not be tolerated;
2. Practices that may be racist, as well as behaviours that underlie and reinforce such practices, will not be tolerated; and


3. The Chief shall develop procedures to implement this policy. These procedures shall cover, but will not be limited to, the following areas:


September 27, 2013 marks the release by the Toronto Star of yet another series on the Toronto Police Service that shows the widespread practice of racial profiling by the Toronto police Officers entitled Known to Police. This series shows that precisely 500 officers mostly comprising the TAVIS Units and Community Response Units were responsible for "carding" or otherwise collecting data from thousands of citizens in a manner in most case which involves duress, coercion, discrimination and intimidation. A previous edition of the series of articles published in early February 2010 in the Toronto Star was called Race Matters

In Toronto the crime rate is very low, particularly for violent crimes. In nine months for 2013 we have less than 45 homicides. There is absolutely no justification that could be rationally sustained for Toronto Police carding and mapping entire communities of young men between the ages of 15 to 24 who are Black and Brown except that race, colour, class and privilege are operating. It is apparent that the majority of the people carded, or stopped and frisked (under the pretext of "Officer Safety") are not connected to any organized crime activities; not involved in any gang related activities; not connected to the drug and/or the gun trade and do not have a criminal record. How then can such a practice be endorsed by the powers that be including the Ontario Human Rights Commission? Such a practice makes the persons subject to it victims of racial profiling. Racial profiling offends against a person's equality right as it allows Toronto Police officers to deliberately subject him/her to differential and unequal treatment without sufficient evidentiary basis.

The factual matrix of the cases profiled by the Toronto Star goes to the core of racial profiling, racial stereotyping and racism. Toronto Police Service has failed to correct most police racial misconduct that requires training, supervision and accountability. The Toronto Police Services Board has failed to do what is necessary to prevent this type of misconduct from occurring in the future.

I am concerned about this practice that continues unabated but unfortunately there has not been much litigation on the issue and few positive decisions supporting victims of the practice: See, Maynard v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2012 HRTO 1220. The quantum in Maynard was the highest awarded by the HRTO in a substantiated racial profiling case: Nassiah v. Peel Police Services Board, 2007 HRTO 14 ($20,000), Phipps v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2009 HRTO 1604, 2009 HRTO 1604 ($10,000); Abbott v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2010 HRTO 1314 ($5,000); Pieters and Noble v. Peel Law Association, 2010 HRTO 2411($2000.00 each). And, without a lithany of litigation this carding issue will continue. In New York City a judge recently rule carding to be unconstitutional and awarded damages. I wonder when such litigation will be prosecuted with vigour here.

Litigating such cases against Toronto Police or any other police service is expensive, time consuming and unpredictable. It is likely that the person who wishes to challenge the practice is not able to fund the litigation whilst the Police respondents are ably defended. Thus, it is important to hire a lawyer with the requisite cultural competency and undersanding of how race and racial stereotyping infects certain decisions within the criminal justice system particularly and the system of law enforcement generally. Lawyers who have the lived experience of racial profiling is the best bet and value for money as such a lawyer is able to identify and deal with such issues experientially and not using an approach that is considered "boiler-plated" or "cookie-cutter" since that lawyer can actually put himself/herself in the client's shoes or position. 

In a recent case in which I was counsel the police were defended by at least three lawyers from the City and a private law firm. The lithany of reported decisions generated at the Ontario Court level and Tribunal speaks to the extent to which these cases are hotly contested:
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 CarswellOnt 12134, 2013 HRTO 1472
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 CarswellOnt 11941
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 HRTO 1102
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2013 HRTO 73
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2012 CarswellOnt 11158
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board[2011] O.H.R.T.D. No. 618, 2011 HRTO 410
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board2011 ONCJ 143, 2011 CarswellOnt 1980, 2011 ONCJ 143, 274 C.C.C. (3d) 272 (Ont. CJ.)
M. (R.) v. Toronto Police Services Board2010 CarswellOnt 9121, 2010 HRTO 2349

R.M. v. Toronto Police Services Board was recently settled to the satisfaction of all parties and the terms of settlement reached remain confidential.

Hiring the wrong counsel or representation could be detrimental to your case. It is therefore very important in hiring representation that you seek out a lawyer that is experienced, knowledgeable in human rights adjudication on all subjects including  established legal principles and jurisprudence on racial harassment and discrimination, racial profiling, police practice and procedure, criminal law and technical legal issues that are raised at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, by way of Request for Order During Proceedings or Requests for Summary Hearing, in order to wittle down or have the claim dismissed without a hearing on the merits.


The only carding decision that has been litigated thus far and all the way to the Court of Appeal is Peel Law Association v. Pieters, 2013 ONCA 396 (CanLII) in the context of two Black lawyers and an articling student being profiled in a Lawyers' Lounge. The Pieters in that case is the author of this article. That case was highly contested and litigated as well. Peel Law Association incurred over $200,00.00 costs for their legal representation and paying a Damage Award and Cost Award to us. I incurred as well a substantially cost burden in funding the litigation all the way to the Court of Appeal: See, Noble v. Peel Law Association, 2009 CarswellOnt 3496, 2009 HRTO 805 (CanLII)  (Vice Chair B. Eyolfson); Noble v. Peel Law Association2009 CarswellOnt 1758; 2009 HRTO 357 (CanLII)  (Vice Chair K. Joaquim); Pieters v. Peel Law Association2010 CarswellOnt 9354, [2010] O.H.R.T.D. No. 2398, 2010 HRTO 2411 (CanLII) (Vice Chair E. Whist); PeelLaw Association v. Pieters2012 CarswellOnt 2026, [2012] O.J. No. 684, (2012), 288 O.A.C. 185, 2012 ONSC 1048, 213 A.C.W.S. (3d) 729 (Div. Ct.) (Chapnik, Hockin and Hoy JJ); Peel Law Association v. Royal Insurance, 2013 ONSC 2312, [2013] 116 O.R. (3d) 312 (Donohue, J.); Peel Law Assn. v. Pieters, 2012 CarswellOnt 8616 (Gillese, Epstein, Feldman JJ.A.); Peel Law Association v. Pieters, 2013 ONCA 396, [2013] 116 O.R. (3d) 812013 CarswellOnt 7881, 2013 O.J. No. 2695, 228 A.C.W.S. (3d) 204  (Cronk, Juriansz and Pepall JJ.A.). The Court of Appeal decision in this case that upheld the Tribunal's findings and rationale for those findings has wider implications for the law on discrimination in Ontario since in cases of stop, search and carding without reasonable and/or probabe grounds it will be more difficult for police officers, security guards and other service providors  who would engage in profiling to shield themselves with official policies and procedures, whether or not they are aware of their own discriminating behaviour:


[72]      And so it is in discrimination cases. The question whether a prohibited ground is a factor in the adverse treatment is a difficult one for the applicant. Respondents are uniquely positioned to know why they refused an application for a job or asked a person for identification. In race cases especially, the outcome depends on the respondents’ state of mind, which cannot be directly observed and must almost always be inferred from circumstantial evidence. The respondents’ evidence is often essential to accurately determining what happened and what the reasons for a decision or action were.
[73]      In discrimination cases as in medical malpractice cases, the law, while maintaining the burden of proof on the applicant, provides respondents with good reason to call evidence. Relatively “little affirmative evidence” is required before the inference of discrimination is permitted. And the standard of proof requires only that the inference be more probable than not. Once there is evidence to support a prima facie case, the respondent faces the tactical choice: explain or risk losing.
[74]      If the respondent does call evidence providing an explanation, the burden of proof remains on the applicant to establish that the respondent’s evidence is false or a pretext.
[77]     The shifting of the evidential burden does not put the respondents in the position of having to prove a negative. Rather, it puts them in the position of having to call affirmative evidence on matters they know much better than anyone else – namely, why they made a particular decision or took a particular action. [Emphasis added.]

In racial profiling cases the first step, which is crucial is establishing liability, if a case is successful at that point then the next step is to argue for a variety of other legally appropriate remedies, financial and non-monetary.

If you have experienced racial harassment and discrimination, racial profiling, please feel free to contact my office to learn more about your rights and remedies: 4 1 6 -  7 8 7  - 5 9 2 8.


Copyright: Use of this article or its derivative content is to be cited as: Pieters, Selwyn  "Policing Racial Profiling in Police Services in Toronto, Ontario" Posted on September 28, 2013 online <http://selwynpieters.blogspot.ca/2013/09/policing-racial-profiling-in-police.html> (date accessed: )

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Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A. (Toronto), LL.B. (Osgoode), L.E.C. (U.W.I). Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario). Attorney-at-Law (Republic of Guyana and Republic of Trinidad and Tobago). A significant portion of Selwyn's work involves representation of persons in human rights, civil and criminal litigation matters in the Federal and Provincial Courts and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.


Selwyn has appeared at all levels of courts, including the Ontario Court of Appeal in Freeman-Maloy v. Marsden 267 D.L.R. (4th) 37, 208 O.A.C. 307 (C.A.); Bangoura v. Washington Post (2005) 202 O.A.C. 76, (2005) 17 C.P.C. (6th) 30 (Ont.C.A.), the Federal Court of Appeal in The Honourable Sinclair Stevens v. The Conservative Party of Canada, [2005] F.C.J. No. 1890, 2005 FCA 383 and Supreme Court of Canada in Attorney General of Ontario v. Michael J. Fraser, et al., 2011 SCC 20. He represented Correctional Manager Mariann Taylor-Baptiste in the ground-breaking competing rights case of Taylor-Baptiste v. Ontario Public Service Employees Union, 2012 HRTO 1393 at the HRTO; Civil Rights lawyer Charles Roach in the Oath case of Roach et al. v. Canada 2012 CarswellOnt 7799, 2012 ONSC 352 (ON S.C.) which is a constitutional challenge to the oath in the Citizenship Act.

Selwyn also acted as co-counsel with C. Nigel Hughes for the families of three deceased persons killed during a civil demonstration in Linden, Guyana, at the Linden Commission of Inquiry.  Selwyn is the litigant in the recent human rights case of Peel Law Association v. Pieters, 2013 CarswellOnt 7881, 2013 ONCA 396, [2013] O.J. No. 2695.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Litigating Racial Discrimination in the Legal Profession: Pieters and Noble v. Peel Law Association

By Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A., LL.B., L.E.C.
Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario, Canada)
Attorney-at-Law (Republic of Guyana, Island of Trinidad)

Prepared for 2013 OBA Constitutional and Human Rights Law September 10th Dinner Program

Thank you for inviting me to speak. I was asked to speak on the litigation before the Human Rights Tribunal in Pieters v. Peel Law Assn and Mellissa Firth 2010 CarswellOnt 9354, 2010 HRTO 2411, [2010] O.H.R.T.D. No. 239 (H.R.T.O)  so my remarks are mainly restricted to the first level decision of the adjudicator, which has subsequently been upheld by the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The Encounter at the Library

That a confrontation of sorts between myself, Mr. Noble, Mr. Walrond and Ms. Firth happened at the Lounge of the Peel Law Association at 7755 Hurontario Street, in Brampton, Ontario, on May 16, 2008, is without a doubt.

Myself, Mr. Noble and Mr. Waldron were at the Brampton Courthouse representing K.F., a Black youth who had filed a racial profiling complaint with the HRTO and was now before Mr. Justice Blacklock with an Application to access records to be used in the Human Rights Tribunal hearing [K.F. v. Peel (Regional Municipality) Police Services Board [2008] O.J. No. 3178, 2008 ONCJ 382 (Ont. CJ.)]. Also present at the hearing of the Application were Raj Dhir and Monmi Goswami representing the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Laurie Ann Reesor and Elizabeth McPhadden representing the Peel Regional Police, and Nicola Simons representing the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board. With the exception of Kate Sturdy, an OHRC legal Assistant, the participants to the hearing retreated to the lawyers’ lounge of the Courthouse to await recall by His Honour.

That myself, Mr. Noble and Mr. Waldron were entitled to be in the lawyers’ lounge is also without question. Both myself and Mr. Noble were lawyers at the material time and Mr. Walrond was a student-at-law whom I employed. Ms. Firth was the law librarian and stated that it was her duty to police the space and bar access to paralegals and members of the public.

Human rights complaints were filed by Mr. Noble and I and heard before the Tribunal in 2009, which in terms of processing time was extremely fast.

At issue before the Tribunal was what precisely occurred during the incident at the lounge and whether or not it amounted to impermissible racial profiling.

The Hearing at the HRTO

At the hearing I was represented by my articling student, Mary Auxi-Guio. The PLA was represented by Andrew Pinto. Mr. Noble self represented.

“4 The hearing took place over three days and involved 12 witnesses including ten who testified that they witnessed the May 16 incident between the applicants and the personal respondent. It is noteworthy that these ten witnesses (eight were eyewitnesses and two heard parts of what tran-spired) provided differing versions of the incident.”[1]

The Tribunal very early on considered the core functions of the administrator:
[20]           I had before me the PLA “Policies for Library and Lounge Use” passed at the July 5, 2005 Board of Directors’ meeting.  This one page policy states that the lounge is for the use of members in good standing of the Law Society of Upper Canada.  Of note, the Policy also specifically  states that:
The Librarian/Administrator retains the discretion, on a daily basis, to permit or deny access to the Lawyers’ Lounge within the spirit of the policy.
The Librarian/Administrator retains the discretion, on a daily basis, to permit or deny access to the Library.[2]
Peel Law Association policy provides that:
LAWYERS: DO NOT BRING CLIENTS OR OTHER MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC INTO THE LOUNGE, ROBING ROOMS OR LIBRARY

THIS SPACE IS FOR LAWYERS ONLY

Ms. Firth had the right to deny access to unauthorized persons. Lawyers and students, however, were authorized to be in that space. The manner in which Ms. Firth exercised her authority was the critical issue.

The Tribunal set the scene:

12     The lounge was not busy at the time of the incident with perhaps a total of twenty persons present. The applicants were seated in an area of the lounge just outside the doors to the library. Mr. Pieters was in a chair talking on the telephone to his assistant, Michael Roberts. Mr. Noble and Mr. Waldron were on a sofa perpendicular to where Mr. Pieters was sitting; Mr. Noble was closest to Mr. Pieters, Mr. Waldron closest to the library door. The sofa was against a frosted glass half-wall that divided the kitchenette from the lounge. Ms. Trotter was in the kitchenette. Mr. Dhir and Ms. Goswami were at a worktable approximately 15 feet away from the applicants. Ms. McFadden and Ms. Reesor were seated further away in the lounge.[3]

The Tribunal recognized that this was a difficult incident because the lawyers had the right to be there and the Librarian had a job to do.

 [62]           This was clearly an emotional and dramatic incident and one that quickly escalated into confrontation.  It was certainly an emotional experience for the applicants and the personal respondent, all of whom testified to how they were surprised, distressed and upset by what they felt occurred.   It was a dramatic event for those who witnessed it, most of whom spoke about the charged and confrontational nature of what they saw or heard and the resulting confusion when a number of the witnesses subsequently became involved.[4]

Findings of Fact and Credibility

On the issue of the initial encounter and Ms. Firth’s demand for identification from myself, Mr. Noble and Mr. Walrond, the Tribunal found that:

    1. Ms. Firth, without identifying who she was, first approached Pieters - who was on the telephone; Pieters verbally identified himself as a lawyer (at paras. 64, 67);
    2. Ms. Firth in an aggressive and demanding manner requested to see his identification (at paras. 77, 84); Pieters showed the identification (at para. 72);
    3. Pieters also told his assistant Roberts, to whom he was speaking on the telephone that he was being racially profiled (at paras. 65, 74);
    4. Ms. Firth then attempted to grab Pieters wallet; Pieters told her not to touch his wallet; (at para. 71)
    5. Ms. Firth despite the claim that she was intimidated by Pieters, frozen and considered it rude to leave him, did move on to check the identification of Noble and Walrond (at para. 67);
    6. Mr. Dhir and Ms. Goswani approached with their identification and she did not look at it (at para. 50);
    7. Ms. Reesor also had her identification ready and Ms. Firth did not look at it;
    8. Ms. Firth was demanding and aggressive in her approach (at para. 74);
    9. The evidence of Bonnie Racz and Mellissa Firth on the initial interaction were either vague or at odds with the evidence of the other witnesses on important points (at paras. 69 -72).
           
Ms. Firth had an opportunity to look at the identification of the other unknown persons in the lounge and chose to focus her attention on the three Black men, Pieters, Noble and Waldron,  precisely because she consciously or unconsciously believe that they were out of place.


The White non-lawyer female ("agent") in the Robing Room

Ms. Bonnie Racz, a lawyer and Director of the Peel Law Association, went into the library area shortly after leaving the female robbing room – she  had just asked “an attractive caucasian woman who was very nicely dressed” to leave the robing room. The woman was not a lawyer, she "said she was someone's agent. She would not say who she was acting as agent for" and “Ms. Racz explained that the robbing room was off limit to non-lawyers”.

The Tribunal considered the evidence that:
                                                              i.      Ms. Firth’s purpose for leaving the library was to head to the robing room at the behest of Ms. Racz; and
                                                            ii.      that she diverted her attention to myself and my group (at para. 84).


Ms. Firth's aggressive and demanding demeanour

The Tribunal found that Ms. Firth adopted an aggressive and demanding demeanour in dealing with myself and my party:

                                                          iii.      when Ms. Firth first approached me, she actually interrupted my telephone conversation to demand I identify myself;
                                                          iv.       she did not accept my word that I was a lawyer;
                                                            v.      she then demanded my identification, which I promptly produced; and
                                                          vi.      she attempted to grab my wallet.

The evidence as cited by the Tribunal in paragraphs 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, and 51 is ample to support the finding that:

[77] ....the manner in which the personal respondent asked her questions and interacted with the applicants was aggressive and demanding.  Mr. Dhir and Ms. Goswami both testified as to the aggressive and blunt way in which they felt the personal respondent interacted with the applicants.  It is clear that the applicants found the personal respondent’s questions and the way in which they were asked abrupt and offensive.  I accept the applicants’ evidence that they found their overall experience with the personal respondent to be demeaning.[5] 

The Evidence of Laurie Reesor – The “Announcement”

Partway through the hearing I was frightened by the evidence of one of my colleagues, which totally contradicted my memory of the events:

[61]           Ms. Reesor testified that she had not been in the lounge before.  She recalls two persons coming into the lounge and one of them announcing to the room (not to any particular group) that they would be checking identification.   She believed that it was these two persons who then approached the applicants with the one who had made the announcement interacting with Mr. Pieters  (emphasis added).[6]

The Tribunal disregarded this testimony.  In addressing Ms. Reesor's evidence, the Tribunal found that:

[79]           I find that the personal respondent did not intend to generally check identifications in the room.   It is true Ms. Reesor testified that she recalled a general announcement to that effect when the personal respondent and Ms. Racz first came into the lounge, but I heard no other evidence to support this contention.  The personal respondent did not state that this was her intention  (emphasis added).[7]


Findings of Racial Profiling based on reasonable inferences from the evidence


The Tribunal considered the explanation offered by Ms. Firth and found Ms. Firth failed to provide a credible non-discriminatory reason for stopping and questioning myself, Mr. Noble and Mr. Waldron. It also found her testimony on a significant point to be lacking in credibility, a finding it was entitled to make:

[86]           The respondents contended that the personal applicant spoke directly to Mr. Noble and Mr. Waldron and not Mr. Pieters because he was on the telephone and that the personal respondent recognized him from previous visits to the lounge.  The respondents submitted that by seeking to confirm the identity of only two of the three Black men in the lounge, the personal respondent could not have been racially stereotyping or profiling Black men by assuming that Black men present in the lounge were not lawyers.  This argument fails. I find, as noted earlier, that the personal respondent was questioning all three men as to their right to be in the lounge.   That the personal respondent disputed the fact that she challenged all three men as to their right to be in the lounge is a significant issue for me.  It undermines the general credibility of her explanations for why she chose to question the applicants.

The Tribunal also linked the robing room incident with the stop and carding at the door and found that:
88     … the respondents argued that the personal respondent routinely questioned unknown persons in the lounge and that such questioning fell within her regular job duties. I accept this to be true. However, the issue for me is why, on this particular occasion, the personal respondent stopped at all to question the applicants. The evidence was that the personal respondent was on her way with Ms. Racz to speak to a person in the robing room whom Ms. Racz did not recognize and was concerned enough to come and ask the personal respondent to confirm her identification. The personal respondent never did provide an explanation for why she chose to stop under these specific circumstances to question the applicants and Mr. Waldron. (emphasis added).[8]

The Tribunal was therefore entitled to, as it did, scrutinize the interaction in question and conclude that:

[92]            I have already found that the personal respondent questioned the applicants in an aggressive and challenging manner.   I further note that she interrupted Mr. Pieters while he was on the telephone and, it appears, did not introduce herself to the applicants and Mr. Waldron.  From all the evidence, including the personal respondent’s testimony of how she generally carried out this function, I conclude that the way in which the personal respondent approached the applicants and the blunt and demanding manner in which she asked her questions was not how she would approach and question persons that she imagined were lawyers and had a right to be in the lounge, and I am prepared to draw the inference that the way in which she interacted with the applicants was tainted by consideration of their race and colour.  That said, I accept that the personal respondent’s contention that her regular practice is to ask for identification from individuals even when they are identified by someone else as admissible and so her repeated requests for identification from Mr. Noble and Mr. Waldron does not suggest, in my view, a greater degree of scrutiny.[9]

In the Tribunal’s view, which had been my view and the view of the other Applicant all along, this was a clear case of racial profiling and discrimination.


The Award

The Tribunal awarded myself and Mr. Noble $2,000.00 respectively “for the injury to their dignity, feelings and self-respect arising out of the infringement of the Code”.[10] It must be noted that this award was at the very low end of the scale for awards in such cases. The Tribunal ruled that the discrimination in this case was at the less serious end of the spectrum due to, among other things, it being a single incident, the fact that the Applicants were ultimately not denied access to the lounge, and the fact that the incident did not affect our ability to practice law.[11]

Implications for the Legal Profession and the Law on Discrimination

Now that the Peel Law Association has determined that it will not seek leave to appeal the Court of Appeal decision which upheld the HRTO’s ruling, the positive findings in this case are significant to lawyers and their conduct in interactions with other lawyers.

The Law Society’s Rules of Professional Conduct governing the conduct of lawyers has both specific and general application.  Some of the rules are designed to address specific circumstances while others are designed to have a more general application as not every conceivable situation can be specifically stipulated in the rules. Rule 5.04 however is specific to advocating in a multicultural society.[12] Had the Rules of Professional Conduct been observed in this case, I may not have been standing before you today discussing this matter.

The lawyer also has a duty to society and in the public interest to respect the dignity and worth of every person and to operate their practice in a manner that complies with the OntarioHuman Rights Code.[13] This is important because of the many reports and cases supporting the view that there is systemic racial discrimination in the legal profession and the justice system more broadly.[14]

There are also, of course, wider implications for the law on discrimination in Ontario, especially in the wake of the recent Court of Appeal decision. While my colleagues on the panel will speak more about these developments, I will state broadly that it is clear that it is now easier to “call a spade a spade” when it comes to racial discrimination, and more difficult for those who would engage in discrimination and profiling to shield themselves with official policies and procedures, whether or not they are aware of their own discriminating behaviour.

Finally, this case speaks to the huge importance and relevance of the various Human Rights Tribunal regimes across Canada. Years ago, it would not have been possible for someone like me to air this grievance in a public forum, unless it was possible to frame it in terms of a tort. Now, however, incidents of racial discrimination like this one can be brought out into the open and dealt with. This leads to a more transparent and inclusive society. In Campbell v.Jones 2002 NSCA 128, Justice Roscoe of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruled that in situations where there are serious Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and human rights violations the victim has the right and an obligation "to cry out loud and long against their transgressors in the public forum and -- in the case of children and others less capable of articulation of the issues -- to have their advocates cry out on their behalf." Human Rights Tribunals provide an avenue more accessible than any other to do just that.

Decisions online

Noble v. Peel Law Association, 2009 CarswellOnt 3496, 2009 HRTO 805 (CanLII)  (Vice Chair B. Eyolfson); Noble v. Peel Law Association2009 CarswellOnt 1758; 2009 HRTO 357 (CanLII)  (Vice Chair K. Joaquim); Pieters v. Peel Law Association2010 CarswellOnt 9354, [2010] O.H.R.T.D. No. 2398, 2010 HRTO 2411 (CanLII) (Vice Chair E. Whist); PeelLaw Association v. Pieters2012 CarswellOnt 2026, [2012] O.J. No. 684, (2012), 288 O.A.C. 185, 2012 ONSC 1048, 213 A.C.W.S. (3d) 729 (Div. Ct.) (Chapnik, Hockin and Hoy JJ); Peel Law Association v. Royal Insurance, 2013 ONSC 2312, (2013), 306 O.A.C. 314, [2013] 116 O.R. (3d) 312 (CanLII) (Donohue, J.); Peel Law Assn. v. Pieters, 2012 CarswellOnt 8616 (Gillese, Epstein, Feldman JJ.A.); Peel Law Association v. Pieters, 2013 ONCA 396, [2013] 116 O.R. (3d) 812013 CarswellOnt 7881, 2013 O.J. No. 2695, 228 A.C.W.S. (3d) 204  (Cronk, Juriansz and Pepall JJ.A.)

Press Coverage

Canadian Underwriter, Court rules in favour of RSA and broker after liability client demands payment for defence costs; National Post "Dreadlock discrimination real: black lawyer’s human rights appeal told" November 19, 2012, Toronto Sun "Discrimination case tough to establish", Michele Mandel ,Toronto Sun, November 19, 2012 and Law Times, Lawyer’s racial profiling case argued at appeal court, by Yamri Taddese, December 31, 2012;



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Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A. (Toronto), LL.B. (Osgoode), L.E.C. (U.W.I). Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario). Attorney-at-Law (Republic of Guyana and Republic of Trinidad and Tobago). A significant portion of Selwyn's work involves representation of persons in human rights, civil and criminal litigation matters in the Federal and Provincial Courts and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.


Selwyn has appeared at all levels of courts, including the Ontario Court of Appeal in Freeman-Maloy v. Marsden 267 D.L.R. (4th) 37, 208 O.A.C. 307 (C.A.); Bangoura v. Washington Post (2005) 202 O.A.C. 76, (2005) 17 C.P.C. (6th) 30 (Ont.C.A.), the Federal Court of Appeal in The Honourable Sinclair Stevens v. The Conservative Party of Canada, [2005] F.C.J. No. 1890, 2005 FCA 383 and Supreme Court of Canada in Attorney General of Ontario v. Michael J. Fraser, et al., 2011 SCC 20. He represented Correctional Manager Mariann Taylor-Baptiste in the ground-breaking competing rights case of Taylor-Baptiste v. Ontario Public Service Employees Union, 2012 HRTO 1393 at the HRTO; Civil Rights lawyer Charles Roach in the Oath case of Roach et al. v. Canada 2012 CarswellOnt 7799, 2012 ONSC 352 (ON S.C.) which is a constitutional challenge to the oath in the Citizenship Act.

Selwyn also acted as co-counsel with C. Nigel Hughes for the families of three deceased persons killed during a civil demonstration in Linden, Guyana, at the Linden Commission of Inquiry.  Selwyn is the litigant in the recent human rights case of Peel Law Association v. Pieters, 2013 CarswellOnt 7881, 2013 ONCA 396, [2013] O.J. No. 2695.





[1] Pieters v. Peel Law Assn and Mellissa Firth, 2010 CarswellOnt 9354, 2010 HRTO 2411, [2010] O.H.R.T.D. No. 239 (H.R.T.O) at para. 4.
[2] Pieters at para. 20.
[3] Pieters at para. 12.
[4] Pieters at para. 62.
[5] Pieters at para. 77.
[6] Pieters at para. 61.
[7] Pieters at para. 79.
[8] Pieters at para. 88.
[9] Pieters at para. 92.
[10] Pieters at para. 102.
[11] Pieters at paras. 100-101.
[12] 5.04 (1) A lawyer has a special responsibility to respect the requirements of human rights  laws in force in Ontario and, specifically, to honour the obligation not to discriminate on the  grounds of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, record of offences (as defined in the Ontario Human Rights Code), marital status, family status, or disability with respect to professional employment of other lawyers, articled students, or any other person or in professional dealings with other licensees or any other person.
[13] LSUC Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 5.04(1).
[14] Canadian Bar Association, Racial Equality in the Canadian Legal Profession, (Ottawa: Canadian Bar Association, 1998); Canadian Bar Association, Touchstones for Change: Equality, Diversity and Accountability: Report of the Canadian Bar Association Task Force on Gender Equality in the Legal Profession (Ottawa: Canadian Bar Association, 1993); R. v. R.D.S. (1997), (1997) 118 C.C.C. (3d) 353.