Mayor John Tory has officially responded to a complaint filed against him by the Law Union of Ontario with the Ontario Civilian Police Commission.
The mayor told NOW through a spokesperson last week that he was only “expressing his personal opinion as an elected official on serious public matters” when he criticized a judge for releasing Umar Zameer on bail back in September. The 31-year-old Thornhill accountant has been charged with first-degree murder in the July 2 death of Toronto police constable Jeffrey Northrup.
Tory described the decision to grant Zameer bail as “questionable” among other things, in a series of tweets. He went further in quotes attributed to him in articles that followed in the Toronto Sun, offering the view that current bail rules are too lenient, especially for those charged with gun-related crimes.
The numbers tell a different story. But lawyer Howard Morton, who brought the complaint against Tory on behalf of the Law Union, says the mayor’s explanation doesn’t pass legal muster.
The problem for Tory is that as an elected official and a member of the Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB), he is not supposed to offer any opinions publicly on matters before the courts, says Morton.
“He cannot morally or legally take that hat off,” argues Morton in an interview with NOW.
“Unless he said, ‘I’m speaking as a private citizen,’ but even then that’s not good enough. He speaks in all of his various capacities [as an elected official],” says Morton.
There are very good reasons elected officials are restricted from publicly offering opinions on matters before the courts. It’s because elected officials should not be seen as trying to prejudice or influence a trial. In Tory’s case, the Law Union complaint charges that he breached his code of conduct as not only an elected member of Toronto city council but as a member of the TPSB.
Ordinarily, elected officials are wary of offering any opinions publicly on matters before the courts. That’s because of something called the sub judice rule, which prohibits elected officials from making public statements that may influence a court proceeding. Public officials usually cite the rule to avoid having to comment on controversial matters. Tory, Morton argues, clearly overstepped that boundary in Zameer’s case.
The result is that Zameer’s lawyer, Nader Hasan, believes his client’s right to a fair trial has been compromised by Tory’s comments. Hasan has cited the negative backlash toward his client online following Tory’s comments as evidence. Zameer was reportedly referred to as a “cop killer” and “terrorist” in online comments on the case.
As a result, Hasan has recently taken the unusual legal step of asking a judge to partially lift the publication ban on evidence heard at the bail hearing so that the public can have some confidence that the decision to release his client was based on sound legal reasoning.
“Publication bans like this one are intended to protect the rights of the accused and the administration of justice,” says Hasan in a statement to NOW. “But in this case, maintaining the publication ban would stymie fair trial rights.”
Hasan says that “There is a need to disabuse the public of false and misleading information circulating about this case. Comments from… Mayor Tory have only worsened the situation. Bringing this application is not something we do lightly, but we feel that it is necessary to ensure a fair trial.”
The Crown is fighting the move arguing against the release of any information related to the case. A judge is scheduled to release a decision on that in mid-January.
But Tory wasn’t the only high-profile politician to weigh in on the case.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford tweeted his dissatisfaction with the bail ruling, as did Brampton mayor Patrick Brown. Ford later edited his tweet. Morton says the Law Union is considering filing separate complaints against Ford and Brown. Both would be covered by codes of conduct as elected officials, but unlike Tory neither sits on a police board.
Just as alarming, says Morton, is the fact that no one from the Attorney General’s office did anything to disavow the comments of Tory et al.
Morton says that their comments leave the false impression that bail laws are stacked in favour of the accused. But statistics suggest the opposite. Morton offers that some 66 per cent of those currently behind bars in Ontario jails are individuals awaiting trial who were denied bail. The numbers are more pronounced for people of colour.
Tory is right about one thing: it is highly unusual for an accused in a murder trial to be granted bail. That it was granted in Zameer’s case (he was released on a $335,000 surety) suggests there is more to the police version of events in Northrup’s death.
What the public knows so far is that Northrup was in plainclothes and responding to a report of a knifing in the underground parking lot at city hall when he was allegedly run down by a van. Television news footage of the scene showed a van with its front bumper completely torn off and cracks on the passenger side windshield.
Toronto police chief James Ramer initially described the alleged murder of Northrup as “deliberate and intentional” but said in a statement released following Zameer’s release in September that the decision “is one step in what will be a long judicial process.” And that Toronto police “will continue to participate fully and we will continue to offer support to Jeff’s family, friends and colleagues.”
