Ontario’s civilian police watchdog has failed to release an annual report in nearly 20 months — a document that outlines information about its operations, including the number of investigations completed, financial expenditures and statistics on police-involved death and injuries.
The stalled report comes despite the Special Investigations Unit’s pledge in 2000 to publish a detailed report annually to “move towards greater transparency,” and amid high public demand for more transparency from the watchdog.
The delay also comes during an ongoing independent provincial review of the SIU, the civilian agency that probes deaths, serious injuries or allegations of sexual assault by police — though the SIU and a spokesperson for the review say the stalled report has had no effect on the review.
“I find it very troubling,” said André Marin, a former Ontario ombudsman and past SIU director. “The SIU was created to enhance transparency and accountability and you would expect that they would publish the annual report on time and be a demonstration of openness.”
The last annual report, for 2014/2015, was published in July 2015. Jason Gennaro, a spokesperson for the SIU, said the latest report has been delayed by “a number of resource and production-related factors” but is in its final stages and will be released in “the upcoming weeks.”
Gennaro said there is no set timeline or deadline for when the SIU must publish its annual report “as there is no requirement under legislation for the SIU to provide an annual report.”
“Nevertheless, the unit endeavours to produce and publish its reports within a reasonable amount of time from the reporting period in question,” Gennaro said, adding that “most” of the information contained in the annual report is already public or available upon request.
Clare Graham, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General, confirmed that although there is no legislated requirement for an annual SIU report, since 2009 there has been a “memorandum of understanding” that such a report would be produced.
“It is our intention to make the SIU more open, transparent and accountable. We recognize the importance of providing the media and the public with annual reports in a timely way,” Graham said in an email.
Graham said the ministry does not review or approve SIU annual reports before their becoming public, but “we do check in with the SIU on the status of production of its annual reports.”
The SIU report’s delay coincides with the ongoing review of the SIU and two other Ontario police oversight agencies by Court of Appeal Justice Michael Tulloch.
That review, initiated by the Ontario government last spring, came in response to growing public outcry over a lack of transparency by the SIU in the high-profile death of Andrew Loku, a mentally ill man killed by Toronto police in 2015. The SIU cleared the unnamed officer who fatally shot Loku last year.
Asked if the absence of a recent SIU annual report adversely affected Tulloch’s review of the watchdog, a spokesperson for the review said there were “extensive meetings with the SIU and the SIU shared a lot of information.”
“The sessions were helpful to the (Tulloch) review and were relevant to the review’s mandate. The review has no information about the delay in the SIU’s annual report,” the spokesperson said.
Gennaro said the Tulloch review team received all the information requested from the SIU “as well as information that the (SIU) believes could assist the review in making its recommendations.”
“There is nothing contained in the annual report which had not already been made available to Justice Tulloch’s team. Co-operation and participation in the review led by Justice Tulloch has required additional significant work from staff,” Gennaro said.
The SIU annual reports are among the few sources of statistics on police-involved incidents, such as the number of fatalities, serious injuries or allegations of sexual assault over the previous year. In the annual report, those figures are then broken down by region and police service and compared to previous years.
Data about SIU complainants are also provided in the reports, including age and gender information, though the watchdog does not collect race-based statistics, something experts and human rights groups have been calling for.
Annual SIU reports also detail the number of investigations initiated and completed by the watchdog. The previous annual report revealed that although the SIU was opening fewer cases than previous years, the closure rate had declined.
An annual report from Ontario’s other civilian police watchdog, the Office of the Independent Police Review Director is also delayed despite having been submitted to the Ministry of the Attorney General in June.
(The OIPRD hears complaints about police that don’t meet the SIU’s threshold to probe serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault. This includes complaints about unfair or discriminatory treatment by police).
Rosemary Parker, a spokesperson for the OIPRD, says the 2015/2016 annual report was sent to the minister on June 30. “The OIPRD is waiting for the annual report to be tabled (in the legislature). When it is tabled we will post the report to our website.”
Graham said it is “our priority to table this report as soon as possible.”
Tulloch’s review is examining pressing questions involving police oversight in Ontario, including whether officers involved in investigations should be identified even if they are not criminally charged, and if SIU reports detailing the circumstances of each investigation should be public.
In addition to the SIU, the ongoing review is examining the OIPRD and the Ontario Civilian Police Commission, an oversight body that hears appeals of police tribunal decisions and complaints about police services boards.
Tulloch and his team spent the fall conducting public consultations around the province. Their final report is expected in March.
In the government’s announcement outlining the police oversight review, Tulloch was given discretion to prepare an interim report with recommendations on key issues, such as the release of past SIU director’s reports.
However, he opted to write only the final report.
“Because of the relatively tight timeline and the extensive province-wide consultation that he had undertaken, Justice Tulloch decided that his mandate would be best fulfilled by providing only one report,” said a review spokesperson.
Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca
Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca
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