Conference Programme:

Friday, March 11, 2011
Moot Court Room (8:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.)
Faculty of Law, University of Windsor

8:45 AM

Opening Remarks: What are the mechanisms available to measure access to justice in the realm of police accountability?

• Bruce Elman, Dean (Faculty of Law, University of Windsor)
• David M. Tanovich (Academic Director, LEAP)

9:00  - 10: 15 AM

Panel 1: Collecting Data

• What role does data collection play in ensuring that police agencies are fulfilling their human rights obligations?

Moderator:    Reem Bahdi (Faculty of Law, University of Windsor)

Panel:

• Scot Wortley (Department of Criminology, University of Toronto)
• Bill Closs (Former Chief of Police, Kingston Police Service)
• Jim Rankin (Investigative Reporter, Toronto Star)
• Selwyn Pieters, Selwyn Pieters Barrister & Solicitor

10: 15  - 11:30 AM

Panel 2: Civil/Charter Litigation

• Can civil/Charter litigation effect policy and systemic changes?
• What is the legacy of Doe v. Metropolitan Toronto (Municipality) Commissioners of Police, [1998] 160 D.L.R. (4th) 697 (Ont. Gen. Div.); and, Hill v. Hamilton Wentworth Police, [2007] 3 S.C.R. 129 as it relates to the tort of negligent investigation?
• What impact will R. v. Grant, [2009] 2 S.C.R. 353 and Vancouver (City) v. Ward, 2010 SCC 27 have in deterring police misconduct?
• What role can litigation play in preventing/addressing police abuses at large scale events like the G-20 summit in Toronto?
• Is there a place for section 15(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in police misconduct litigation?

Moderator:     Larry Wilson (University of Windsor)

Panel:

• Sean Dewart, Dewart, Gleason LLP
• Nathalie Des Rosiers (General Counsel, Canadian Civil Liberties Association)
• Sonia Lawrence (Faculty of Law, Osgoode Hall)
• Don Stuart (Faculty of Law, Queens University)

11:30  - 11:45 AM

HEALTH BREAK

11:45 – 1:00 PM

Panel 3: Listening to Voices at the Margins

• What limits should there be on the ability of the police to release confidential information such as Mental Health Act apprehensions?
• What impact has Forrester v. Peel Regional Police Services Board, 2006 HRTO 13 had on policing in the transgendered/transsexual community?
• What are the challenges for LGBTIQQ2S officers?
• How is gendered and racialized violence against women manifested in policing?
• What impact does the dehumanization of Aboriginal people have in policing?

Moderator:    Kate Sellar (Human Rights Legal Support Centre)

Panel:

• Ryan Fritsch (Legal Counsel to PPAO and Co-Chair, Police Records Check Coalition)
• Jillian Rogin (Duty Counsel, Toronto)
• Constable Christine Schulz (Ottawa Police Service)
• Kelly Jackson (Windsor Law III, Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Nation) 

1:00 – 2:15 PM

Keynote Address and Lunch

The Institutional Obstruction of Civil Rights Enforcement

Fo Niemi (Executive Director, Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations [CRARR])

2:15 – 3:15 PM

Panel 4: Partnership with Human Rights Commissions: The Toronto Experiment

• What role can human rights organizations play in ensuring fairness in employment and delivery of services?

Moderator:       Laverne Jacobs (Faculty of Law, University of Windsor)

Panel:

• Shaheen Azmi (Ontario Human Rights Commission)
• Chief Gary Smith (Windsor Police Service)
• David Pepper (Ottawa Police Service)

3:15  - 3:25 PM

HEALTH BREAK

3:25 – 4:30 PM

Panel 5: The Chicago and Windsor experiments: law school clinics/institutes and furthering police accountability

Moderator:      Gemma Smyth (Faculty of Law, University of Windsor) (Academic Clinical Director)

Panel:

• Craig B. Futterman (Faculty of Law, University of Chicago) (Director of Civil Rights Police Accountability Project of the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic)
• David M. Tanovich (Faculty of Law, University of Windsor) (Academic Director of LEAP)
• Nicole Myers (Windsor Law II) (2010/11 LEAP Student Director)

4:30 – 5:00 PM

Closing Remarks