ABOVE: An up-close look at Ontario’s hidden sex offender map – and what it could mean for your community
After fighting in court for six years only to get shot down by three unanimous decisions involving a total of 13 judges, Ontario’s corrections ministry gave Global News a database of sex offenders by postal code last week, shortly after a Supreme Court ruling ordered them to do so.
The province claims it doesn’t know, or can’t say, how much that legal fight cost taxpayers.
The ministry initially refused to release the information under an access-to-information request. Over the course of several years, it tried and failed at all possible levels of appeal. Ontario’s information commissioner ruled that the information should be released. So did Ontario’s Superior Court and Court of Appeal.
At each Ontario court hearing the judges ended proceedings after listening to arguments from the government’s lawyer, saying they didn’t need to hear from the other side.
“Three different courts have now sided with my office on this issue, which is a good indicator that we were on the right side of this matter,” Ann Cavoukian, Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner, said in a press release. “It is truly unfortunate how many years and resources have been wasted on this pursuit.”
“It is unbelievable to me,” Cavoukian told Global News. “Why would they then waste taxpayer dollars to appeal it to the Supreme Court of Canada, knowing that the likelihood of success was very limited, given the previous two decisions, and the fact that we’ve been given deference by the lower courts?
“There was no risk to personal privacy, so privacy was not an issue. There was no public safety issue here.”
Ontario privacy commissioner: “It’s information that the public has a right to know”
Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General used in-house lawyers and says it can’t break out what the six-year case cost taxpayers, said spokesperson Brendan Crawley.
The province argued that publishing the data could lead to identification of registered sex offenders in the community but was never able to show how this was possible. One Woodbridge postal area, for example, has more than 55,000 residents and 20 sex offenders. (In the United States, sex offenders identified by address have sometimes been subject to violent attacks.)
“The Ministry respects the Supreme Court of Canada and is focused on keeping our communities safe as we work to comply with the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s order,” ministry spokesperson Greg Flood said in an e-mailed statement.
“As long as it doesn’t identify individuals, it’s good,” says Catherine Latimer, executive director of the John Howard Society. “Information, generally, is good. I don’t think you gain anything by not having adequate access to information. “
Ontario’s registry requires people convicted of various sexual offences to register their home address with police for either 10 years or life. Offenders who are pardoned can be taken off the registry. They don’t register while in prison.
In 2009, Ontario’s correctional ministry claimed a 97% compliance rate among offenders required to register.
Post a Comment