CMHA Ontario CEO Camille Quenneville appeared before the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s Standing Committee on Justice Policy at Queen’s Park on Nov. 5, 2015 to deliver remarks and make a written submission on Bill 113, the Police Records Check Reform Act. The committee met to receive public comments on the bill, which recently passed second reading in the provincial legislature. Bill 113 identifies what can be disclosed by police officers on police records and regulates how police record checks information can be requested, conducted and disclosed.
The release of information contained in police records can act as a barrier for people who have come into to contact with the law, particularly in cases where this contact is because of a mental health-related issue.
The release of information contained in police records can act as a barrier for people who have come into to contact with the law, particularly in cases where this contact is because of a mental health-related issue. CMHA Ontario has worked for the past 10 years to end this unfair practice.
Quenneville advised the committee that Bill 113 is a positive step towards reducing the discriminatory effects of police record checks. It also recommended that this legislation explicitly state that the disclosure by police of any records of mental-health related interactions or information be clearly prohibited.
For more information, please read Quenneville’s remarks and CMHA Ontario’s written submission on Bill 113 to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy.
Read Bill 113 on the Legislative Assembly’s website.