In early August, six community organizations and local individuals filed a small claims lawsuit against the Ottawa Police Services Board. The lawsuit alleges the board violated the coalition’s freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Following the board’s adoption of contentious bylaws earlier this year, the complainants are seeking $27,500 in damages. The plaintiffs say the changes restrict public participation and censor criticism in delegations.
The new bylaws, which were enacted in February, require speakers to send their comments in for approval. Delegations now need to be reviewed by the police board in advance of each meeting, meaning speakers can only comment on pre-approved topics.
Browne is the co-lead of 613-819 Black Hub, an advocacy group that focuses on addressing systemic, anti-Black racism. Browne said he co-founded the organization after working as a federal employee and witnessing anti-Black racism taking place within the government and community.
In one of his denied delegations, Browne said he fairly criticized Dr. Gail Beck, the chair of the police board. He said he wanted to share his sentiments regarding Beck’s comments on a CBC Ottawa Morning interview segment that aired on April 27.
Browne explained that on the show, Beck said the police she had dealt with who responded to people in mental health crises were all “compassionate.” Browne said he wanted to dispute her account by citing a report from 2022 by the Ottawa Guiding Council for Mental Health and Addictions (GCMHA).
He said he wanted to use the report since the GCMHA was created by the Ottawa Police to demonstrate that negative experiences with police were recurring sentiments amongst the BIPOC community.
Browne said he was initially approved to present this delegation, only for the decision to be overturned after the beginning of the meeting. He explained the board’s reasoning for the ban was because his delegation supposedly mischaracterized Beck.
“There wasn’t one question at all. Everyone voted immediately and unanimously to ban me from speaking,” Browne said. “I’m one of the only Black people who comes in to delegate regularly. So, the fact that this is happening, not only to anybody, but to me as a Black male. Since Black men are the ones who are overrepresented in the justice system the most.”
Beck said in an email to the Charlatan that she has been meeting with community stakeholders to receive feedback on behalf of the board to help inform the strategic planning process.
“The board very much appreciates receiving input from members of the public that can help inform and assist the board in fulfilling its oversight and governance responsibilities–including criticisms,” she said.
“While the changes to the procedure bylaw pre-date my time on the board, I understand the board was looking to ensure the procedures around delegations were assisting the board in performing its governance and oversight responsibilities,” Beck said.
“The procedures now require members of the public to submit their comments in writing in advance of the meeting, which helps to ensure the topic of the delegation is appropriate for the mandate of the Board.”
Sam Hersh, a co-ordinator at Horizon Ottawa and an individual plaintiff in the case, advocates for the reallocation of funding from the police services into community services. He started attending board meetings in 2020.
Hersh said he witnessed a steady increase in the number of people attending the meetings between 2020 and 2021. He attributes the increase to policing shortcomings during the convoy occupation and the increase in police budget despite no decrease in crime levels.
“Right before there was this huge influx of people, the board had no issue with the rules as they were,” he said.
Jeffrey Bradley, a PhD candidate in legal studies at Carleton University, community organizer with the criminalization and punishment education project and an individual plaintiff in the case, said local residents should care about how their institutions are functioning.
“The meetings themselves wouldn’t be so heated if they would just do their job, answer questions, engage the public and actually have more transparency and ethics around what they’re doing,” Bradley said.
Beck said legal counsel will be filing a defence in “due course,” adding the board will not be commenting on the specifics of the lawsuit.
“[The board’s] making it seem as if these are run-of-the-mill [bylaw] changes that they need to streamline their meetings, but really, they’re just ways to limit people’s speech,” Hersh said.
“At the end of the day, if they were doing their job better, there would be less people speaking at these meetings,” Hersh added. “I mean, it’s really their fault.”
Featured photo by Emmanuella Onyeme.
Updated Sep. 12, 2023, at 8:28 p.m.
