The Ontario Provincial Police Association, representing uniformed police officers employed by the provincial government, is breaking the law in urging people not to support Tim Hudak and the Conservative Party of Ontario.
Section 77 of the Public Service of Ontario Act states that “a public servant shall not (a) engage in political activity in the workplace; (b) engage in political activity while wearing a uniform associated with a position in the public service of Ontario;” or “(d) associate his or her position with political activity.”
An exemption to this restriction is set out in Section 79, if “a public servant has been granted an unpaid leave of absence.”
Those on the executive of the OPPA may be on an unpaid leave of absence as they serve the OPPA, but they are representing officers who are covered by the restriction. The law does not permit the agent of someone to do something that the person represented is prohibited from doing.
Our society works on the basis that police and politics must be kept separate. There is no other way to ensure that police carry out their duties independently and objectively. It is the mark of a police state that police officers tell people how they should vote and how they should not vote, which is why the law prevents police and others from engaging in political activity at the provincial level (through the Public Service of Ontario Act) and the municipal level (through regulations under the Police Services Act).
Senior provincial police officials must take immediate action to stop this political activity by the OPPA.
John Sewell, Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, Toronto
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