John Tory: Board and Province Code

john tory: Given that Leitch campaign is centred around a Trump-like proposal to screen potential immigrants for their compatibility with "Canadian values," a number of past board chairs and lawyers are raising more questions as to whether Pringle activities might run afoul of the province code of conduct for police board members, penalties for which can range from a formal reprimand to removal, according to NOW Magazine. Asked to respond to allegations of possible violations, Pringle simply tells NOW that prior to fundraising for John Tory 2014 mayoral campaign, "I checked with the then-chair of the board, Alok Mukherjee, and with the lawyers, as to if there was any conflict, and the answer was no."The Code The Code of Conduct for members of police services boards sets out standards of behaviour for board members across Ontario. Last week, NOW reported that Andy Pringle, chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, is raising funds for Conservative party leadership candidate Kellie Leitch. Section 8 of the code says that "board members shall uphold the letter and spirit of the Code" and "discharge their duties in a manner that will inspire public confidence in the abilities and integrity of the board." Section 13 says that "board members shall refrain from engaging in conduct that would discredit or compromise the integrity of the board or the police force."Pringle predecessor, the aforementioned Mukherjee, who was chair from 2005 to 2015, says in a phone interview that "in light of the very sensitive policy matters the board is dealing with concerning our very diverse communities, it a question consistent with Section 8 of the board members' code of conduct whether the chair involvement in partisan politics might in any way compromise the board ability to inspire or retain public trust." He later follows up in an email to point out that Section 13 could also apply. But Morton rejects that reading, observing that the code authors "would've used much stronger terminology if they were after that sort of egregious, almost criminal behaviour."The two lawyers have separately defended board members alleged to have violated the code in recent years. What is the legal gauge The Law Union of Ontario Howard Morton sees it as akin to the test for conflict of interest on the part of a judge."What the case law has always said, going way back, is that if somebody alleging bias on the part of the judge, you don't have to show real bias," he says. "All you have to show is a public perception of bias, because that public perception, whether right or wrong, could lead people to feel that justice isn't what it should be."For Morton, a former Crown and head of the province Special Investigations Unit from 1992 to 95 who has frequently appeared at the board to speak against carding, Pringle fundraising for Leitch shows "he has terrible judgment" and "clearly impairs the public confidence in the integrity of the board going forward" on issues relating to the policing of marginalized and criminal lawyer Clayton Ruby agrees that Pringle conduct "makes the work of the board with minorities more difficult" but disagrees that that in itself might constitute a breach of the code."It a political statement, which I think is retrograde and unfortunate and denigrative of a large portion of our population… but it purely political," he says. "There no legal conflict of interest."Ruby believes in a narrow interpretation of discreditable conduct, arguing it limited to relatively concrete behaviours such as sexual impropriety or dishonesty. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.