The Canadian Press
An Ontario judge has found some of the enforcement powers held by the province’s animal welfare agency to be unconstitutional and says the government must re-write related laws to remedy the situation.
Justice Timothy Minnema said the provincial government was wrong to grant police powers to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals without also imposing reasonable standards of transparency and accountability.
The OSPCA has had police powers since the OSPCA Act became law in 1919, with the responsibility to enforce both provincial and Criminal Code animal cruelty laws.
Minnema said the OSPCA appears to be an organization that fulfills public functions without being accountable like other police organizations that have to comply with the Police Services Act, the Ombudsman Act, and freedom-of-information laws.
