Law of Policing Conference, Eastern Edition

This session will unpack how policing services are adapting to the needs of their community, what the community is asking of their police officer, and how the service is responding to the demand. Are community demands clear, fair and within the prescribed role of the officer? What does the modern police officer look like? And, how is the modern officer affecting their community for better or worse? Join us as we delve into the evolving realities of policing services.   

Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA) came into effect April 1, 2024, bringing many changes including the ability for a chief to suspend an officer without pay. The circumstances for suspension without pay include when a police officer is convicted of an offence and sentenced to a term of imprisonment; and when a police officer is in custody or is subject to conditions of judicial interim release, or conditions imposed under section 499 of the Criminal Code (Canada), that substantially interfere with the officer’s ability to perform the duties of a police officer.  

During this session, topics will include: 

• Exploring the threshold for suspension without pay and the chief’s discretion   
• Factors that are taken into account and how they are applied in practice
• Determining the threshold for invoking a suspension without pay, and what are the cases that would warrant this measure
• Mitigating the risk of wrongful dismissal liability
• Examining what legal counsel can (and cannot) do under the new law
• Balancing the cost of a forced resolution: a guilty plea versus getting fired  

• Determining jurisdiction: Who is responsible for maintaining the peace on park land and city property
• Examining the public’s Right to Assembly and to use public spaces versus the municipality’s duty to provide space for public use  
• The role of police, and police resistance to be involved in clearing encampments  
• Analyzing when to use the Trespass Act and when to file an injunction 

• Clarifying the expectation of privacy attached to a person’s cellphone text messages with a look at the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R. v. Campbell (2024) 
• The scope of solicitor-client privilege as it pertains to searching personal mobile devices a   
• Determining what additional steps police need to take to obtain a search warrant  
• Updates on the reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to IP addresses, with a look at the SCC decision in R. v. Bykovets (2024) 
• Ensuring the data can be searched, and dissecting R. v. Cuffie (2020): A look at whether the Crown’s disclosure of non-searchable PDF constitutes meaningful disclosure  

Following the Covid Pandemic, there continues to be a backlog of coroner’s inquests.   

During this panel, speakers will cover key topics, including: 

• Exploring the process and impact of in-person versus virtual inquests   
• Determining when and how partner agencies should participate, including the role of the police service, the police board and civilian oversight    
• Dissecting decisions and recommendations, and how they can be interpreted    
• Addressing sensitivities for witnesses, including police officers who have to testify 
  

• What is a Police Act issue and what is a Human Resources issue, and how to consider civilian employees versus sworn members,   
• Contrasting the Police Act with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)  
• Responding to complaints: Techniques and methods  
• Comparing a discreditable conduct charge to other sanctions under Section 7.1 of the RCMP Code of Conduct, and how specific charges affect the process 
• Conducting an effect investigation  
• The scope of the legal obligation to investigate  
• The finer points of assessing credibility   
• Active appeals amid a McNeil disclosure  
• Case law review including, Metrolinx v. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587 (2024)  

• Analyzing disability and family status
• New, emerging case law trends
• Applying the Moore test for disability management   
• Determining what satisfies the duty to accommodate – and what doesn’t  
• Providing adequate support during internal investigations 
• Appropriate actions for employee dismissals and transfers  

• Examining how police departments face increased legal exposure
• What is (and isn’t) needed for policing education and when and how to update training  
• Determining what is needed for policing education and when and how to update training   
• Addressing resistance to training and fostering engagement  
• Connecting police education to statistics and offender recidivism 
• Responding to conduct issues: How long does it take to get a candidate to respond to discipline and performance training 
   

• Part One: Codes of Conduct Changes
   
• Determining what is now classified as misconduct   
• Safeguarding the health and safety of a person in custody  
• Encompassing peace officers in Codes of Conduct  
• Satisfying the duty to report misconduct  
  
• Part Two: Growing Pains of Addressing Public Complaints under the New Act   
• Handling legacy cases under the old Act and transitioning to the new process  
• Examining the new disclosure requirements, and what is now covered by statutory privilege  
• Determining who has jurisdiction over the complaint investigation and hearing 
  
• Part Three: Confidentiality Surrounding Unit-Level Discipline 
 
• What can now be made public and is open for cross-examination during trial  
• Addressing an officer’s reputational risk 

Hear how Vancouver Police Department responded to a 260% increase in retail thefts involving weapons in 2021, with the initiative Project Barcode. This session will explore why there has been a national increase in retail thefts, why they have become more violent, and what police are doing to combat them. 

• Examining the Project Barcode initiative, and how it was planned to address retail theft  
• The outcome and impact of Project Barcode  
• Coordinating with business partners about financial loss and employee safety  
• Identifying the scope of retail theft, and how and why there has been an increase 
• Coordinating with all levels of government  

This session will examine how an officer’s testimony, and a subsequent, unfavourable court judgement can impact the officer’s career, reverberate through the police department and impact police culture. Discussion topics will include the legal and operational ways forward, including: 

• Unpacking the broad effect of an unfavourable judgement     
• Determining what action the police department takes, whether there is an investigation, disciplinary action, and the ramifications on the department when action is not taken   
• Analyzing when there has been prior discreditable conduct, and whether it can be raised in a different judicial proceeding  

Hear how military and civilian police are coordinating in advance of the 51st G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, in June 2025. Civilian agencies regularly face significant operational challenges brought by severe natural catastrophes, complex national security and critical law enforcement imperatives – with requests for assistance submitted on a regular basis and increasingly frequent severe forest fires and floods.  

Topics will include: 

• What legal framework governs requests for military assistance?  
• Authorities relied on by the Canadian Armed Forces to conduct military operations within Canada 
• Which process applies to requests for military assistance? 
• Which legal tests apply to these requests?  
• Which forms of assistance can and cannot be provided by the Armed Forces? 
 

Protests across Canada continue with increased frequency and violence, with more charges being laid following violent anti-NATO protests in Montreal in January 2023, violence at a Brampton Hindu temple and more. 

• Protecting the right to peaceful demonstrations, protests and assembly
• Warning signs to flag: Anticipating when peaceful demonstrations will turn violent, and responding appropriately  
• Balancing the freedom of self-expression vs. upholding requirements governing hate speech, and responding appropriately 
• Evaluating what is and isn’t safe Planning in advance of protests and issuing safety parameters  
• Determining who has jurisdiction and what actions can be taken under what authority  
• Identifying situations that could escalate to judicial proceedings  

• Identifying what constitutes “discreditable conduct” and how this is changing under the new Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act (2019)   
• Defining when an officer is a “police officer” with authority versus when they are a private citizen   
• Debating whether Charter Rights extend to police officers: Does an officer have Freedom of Self-Expression, etc.?
• What constitutes an unpermitted secondary activity 
• Examining the Federal Court ruling, RCMP Cst. Michael Muller, Kamloops   
• Lessons from the case of the Peel police officer suspended over Brampton protest