Solicitor General to Review Toronto Police Request to Withhold Pay From Suspended Officers

Ontario’s solicitor general says he will be examining a proposal from Toronto’s police chief to expand the circumstances under which officers can be suspended without pay after three were charged in connection with the alleged assault of a sex worker while vacationing in Spain.

Two Toronto officers were arrested in Barcelona and face charges in connection with an incident that occurred in a taxi with a sex worker on May 13 while the third was located and arrested two days later in Palma de Mallorca and is accused of attacking an agent of authority.

The three officers have since returned to Canada and are on paid leave while the investigation continues in Spain.

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said in a media interview this week that provincial law does not currently allow him to suspend the officers without pay because the alleged offences did not take place on Canadian soil.

That is an issue that Solicitor General Michael Kerzner says he will be examining.

Kerzner told reporters at Queen’s Park on May 27 that he has spoken to Demkiw and he is expecting to receive a formal request to enact changes to current policies.

“I’m going to consider the requests, and we’ll continue to engage the chief. All options are on the table,” he said. “Almost everyone who puts on the uniform anywhere in Ontario upholds a high standard. But let’s face it, when you don’t, there has to be consequences.”

Kerzner said he was not yet sure how he will address the matter and asked reporters to hold further questions until he receives the chief’s letter and can decide on his future course of action.

The Doug Ford government passed a new policing law two years ago that governs the policies departments must follow, including with suspensions.

Known as the Community Safety and Policing Act it replaced the decades-old Police Services Act and introduced the provision for police chiefs to suspend officers without pay, but only under very specific circumstances.

The current legislation stipulates that officers may only be suspended without pay if they are convicted of a crime and sentenced to imprisonment, if they are in custody, or under other legal circumstances that hinder their ability to perform policing duties, or if they are charged with a serious offence as defined by Canadian law.

The three arrests and subsequent charges come at a time when the Toronto Police Service is grappling with the fallout from Project South, a York Regional Police-led investigation into organized crime and corruption that culminated in charges against seven current officers and one retired officer from the Toronto force.

Toronto Police Services Board chair Shelley Carroll issued a media statement shortly after the arrest of the three officers in Spain warning Demkiw that the police service must take the appropriate steps to regain public trust.

“At a time when public confidence must be continually reinforced, people also need to see visible leadership and a clear commitment to strengthening the culture and standards of the Service,” said Carroll, who is also a city councillor. “I expect the Chief and Service leadership to demonstrate the actions necessary to maintain the trust the public places in the Service.”

The Epoch Times contacted Demkiw for comment on his next steps but did not hear back before publication.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.