HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2017-04-19, Page 5Wednesday, April 19, 2017 • Huron Expositor 5
Report on right track
for policing police
Onto
Justice Michael
Tulloch has produced a
thoughtful, well -
researched report for the Ontario
government on how to improve
civilian oversight of the police.
The issue is whether his 129
recommendations will be taken
seriously, or put on the shelf as
so many previous reports have.
Tulloch reviewed the three
civilian agencies that oversee
police conduct, but the key
one is Ontario's Special Inves-
tigations Unit, which investi-
gates when a civilian is killed
by police.
Tulloch wisely rejected calls
to have the SIU name police
officers while they are investi-
gating them, unless they are
charged with a criminal
offence, the same procedure
as applies to civilians.
But he also called for the SIU
to release the results of all future
(and past) investigations in
cases where it doesn't lay
charges, including the evidence
that led to that decision, within
120 days, with the names of
subject officers removed.
Tulloch recommends
inquests be held in all cases
where police use of force results
in the death of a civilian, a non-
criminal inquiry to determine
how the death occurred and
how such deaths can be pre-
vented in future, where officers
can be called as witnesses.
This is a sensible idea,
although the weakness of
inquests is that their recom-
mendations aren't binding
and are often ignored.
In recommendations sure to
be opposed by police unions,
Tulloch says the SIU should
have the power to charge wit-
ness police officers who refuse
to co-operate with its investiga-
tions with a provincial offence
and subject officers must hand
over their notes to the SIU.
Tulloch wisely resisted calls
from police critics that SIU
investigators shouldn't be for-
mer police officers but rea-
sonably suggested it should
hire more investigators with
non -police backgrounds.
We support Tulloch's rec-
ommendation that all civilian
police oversight agencies
gather so called "race -crime"
statistics (along with data on
age, gender, religion, ethnicity
and the mental health status)
of people who come into con-
tact with the police.
This is common practice in
the US.
The issue is how the data is
used.
The wrong way, for example,
is to use it only to "prove" the
police are racist, without look-
ing at why the police interact
with the people they do and
how policing can be improved
as a result.
United Airlines abuse underlines need for passenger bill of rights
nited Airlines parent
company CEO Oscar
Munoz should have been
mortified by the video of a pas-
senger being bloodied and -
dragged off one of his flights sim-
ply for not voluntarily giving up
his seat on an over -booked flight
But Munoz's first response
was not to apologize to Dr.
David Dao, a 69 -year-old man
who simply wanted to get
home to see his patients the
next morning. Rather, it was to
express regrets for having had
to "re -accommodate" him.
When, unsurprisingly, that did
not put an end to the controversy,
Munoz shifted to blaming the
passenger for becoming "disrup-
tive" and "belligerent" and
praised his staff for going "above
and beyond:'
This tone-deaf response
received the appropriate
social -media drubbing. "Con-
grats United," wrote one Twit-
ter user, "you now have all the
volunteers you could ever
want giving up their seats on
your flights #BoycottUnited."
But the incident has impli-
cations beyond the commer-
cial consequences for United.
It's yet another reminder of
the need for legal protections
for airline passengers.
This is particularly true here
in Canada, where a lack of air-
line competition has produced
high airfares and, too often,
poor service. Meanwhile, the
absence of robust consumer
protections of the sort we see in
many of our peer countries has
left fliers vulnerable to abuse.
It was encouraging, then, in
the aftermath of the United
debacle, to hear Transport
Minister Marc Garneau reiter-
ate his government's commit-
ment to introduce a passenger
bill of rights this spring.
Garneau promises his bill will
finally establish clear, minimum
requirements for compensation
when flights are oversold or lug-
gage is lost. At the moment, when
a plane is overbooked most air-
lines simply increase the value of
compensation vouchers they
offer until someone accepts. But
travelers who are victims of air-
line incompetence or greed are
entitled only to whatever justice
the company sees fit.
That's not good enough, as
Garneau seems to recognize.
"When a passenger books a
ticket, they are entitled to cer-
tain rights," he said. Presuma-
bly, that includes the right not
to be dragged down the aisle
of a plane like Dao.
United is now paying the
price for its misstep: as it faces
the threat of a boycott and the
mockery of every late-night
talk -show host, its stock has
taken a significant hit.
But in Canada, where con-
sumers have fewer choices
and fewer protections, the
need for government inter-
vention is particularly pro-
nounced. No one should be
bumped from an overbooked
flight without just compensa-
tion, and certainly never by
force. Ottawa should make
sure that what happened to
Dao never happens here.
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