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Manitoba's Police Board Regulation sets out requirements for Board members. Section 2(3) of the reg says you must consent to inquiries... into your background, including the child abuse registry, whether the person has been convicted or has any outstanding charges. 1/6 #mbpoli
Nowhere does the regulation require non-criminal charges be a bar to membership. Nowhere does it say the police authority is the arbiter, let alone the final arbiter, as to whether someone is of good character. This is a perverse reversal of oversight. 2/6 #mbpoli
Such an interpretation is arguably a breach of the Charter of Rights presumption of innocence; a denial of natural justice /procedural rights, including the right to notice, the right to a hearing, and the right to make submissions; and ultra vires the WPS. 3/6 #mbpoli
Not to mention that in the absence of a Provincial law, the WPS don't have authority to make decisions like this. Inferior authorities like police forces uphold the law, they cannot make it, or act without it or outside it. Legislatures make the law. 4/6 #mbpoli
Not to mention that decisions such as this are arguably a breach of FIPPA. They are making decisions that are outside the scope of the requirements of the legislation. Criminal record disclosures are a Canada-wide issues affecting people from all walks of life. 5/6 #mbpoli
I hope Councillor Santos would reconsider stepping back, and instead take the matter to Court so there could be a proper hearing on the matter and a decision as to what powers the WPS actually has, and how the regulation should be interpreted. 6/6 #mbpoli
