Should Ontario public transportation application or campus security agents be allowed to wear firearms?
This is a question raised by a change the Ford government Considering silent in its last proposed element of the law on Omnibus justice.
Buried in the middle of Protect Ontario by the safer law of streets and stronger communities is a change that would allow the general solicitor Michael Kerzner to select groups of special constables that would be allowed to use firearms.
Special agents are a category of civil servants adjacent to the police who work in areas such as campus safety or the application of public transport. The vast majority carry spray to pepper and batons but cannot use firearms.
This could change if the Omnibus bill, which is still debated by Queen’s Park, is adopted.
“If it is adopted, Bill 10 would allow the general request, through regulations, to allow special constable groups to transport and use firearms,” Kerzner’s office spokesperson.
Currently, in Ontario, only special agents working for the Niagara parks commission or for an existing police in another jurisdiction can carry firearms. Other special constables do not do so.
“All special agents must comply with compulsory training standards and comply with a provincial conduct code,” continued the spokesperson.
The Solicitor General’s office did not say which special agents he was considering allowing to carry firearms, and he did not explain why he was moving now.
Ken Price, a member of Danforth Families for Safe Communities, who defends control of firearms and reform, said that this decision was curious – and asked why the government was planning to extend the number of officials who can carry firearms.
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“Admittedly, we would never disagree – like Danform’s families, any of us could disturb the police the type of resources they need to do their job, that’s not what it is about,” he said.
“But I think that when you are in the field of which special agents (do) and, most of them, it appears today, does not need weapons to do their work, so what has changed? Why should it be an element? When more firearms is not a good idea.”
Danform’s families for safe communities were formed as a result of the 2018 mass shooting on Danforth Avenue in Toronto, who killed two and left 13 injured.
The proposed change has been quietly deployed by the province. It was not announced at a press conference, or included in A detailed background briefing released when the legislation has been filed.
Sarah Strban, a criminal defense lawyer who read the proposed legislation, said the way in which the decision would be received depended entirely on the person to whom the general solicitor gave firearms.
“The important thing to remember is that a special agent is a very closely controlled category of the police, and it applies to a very wide range of pipes,” she said.
Strban suggested that it would be “completely reasonable” for special agents working with police forces to carry firearms.
“They are involved in surveys and perhaps helping things like arrest and detention, interviews subjects, carrying out research,” she said.
“On the other hand, you get special agents who deal with more community working roles, so special constables work in an university environment, in transit, in community housing – sometimes with very vulnerable populations. And there, I have a certain concern where you add more firearms to these situations. ”
Special agents who receive firearms will be decided through regulations published by the general request if the proposed law adopts and will not be debated by the Legislative Assembly.
Ontario’s liberal deputy Karen Mcrimmon said that, given the potentially seismic change, there should be deliberate consultations.
“The transport of a firearm comes with the authority to use it, and we must keep this high threshold,” she said in a statement. “The rigorous training that our officers receive protects both us and them.
The Solicitor General’s office said that he “worked closely with the community police and security partners to propose the proposed changes” in the legislation.
McCrimmon suggested that it was a short -term dangerous measure.
“We need investment in a funded and experienced police sector, not a dressing solution,” she said.
“Arming special agents with less training than police officers is not an appropriate solution. This government must ensure that anyone authorized to carry a firearm is properly formed, which minimizes the risks for the public and the police. ”
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