Ontario Premier Doug Ford is engaging in a bit of creative communications with his announcement that special constables will soon be able to arrest those using illicit drugs on public transit.
The reality is that special constables, who patrol transit systems including the TTC in Toronto and OC Transpo in Ottawa, are already authorized to perform arrests for Criminal Code violations based on the way their roles are defined by their specific employers (in Ottawa, for example, as peace officers appointed by the Ottawa Police Services Board). What the Ford government is proposing is to allow these special constables new, simplified provincial authority to make arrests and lay charges via an amendment to the Restructuring Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act, which was passed last year. It’s just complicated enough to distract everyone from Mr. Ford’s private-jet purchase.
I don’t see anything getting better.
