Ottawa's Long Wait for Police Accountability
Ottawa residents frustrated by stories of police officers collecting full pay while suspended for months — or even years — aren't imagining things. The problem is real, it's systemic, and according to at least one Carleton University expert, it's baked into how Canada's judicial and police disciplinary processes are structured.
A professor at Carleton has weighed in on why it's so difficult to terminate Ottawa police officers even when they're facing serious allegations. The short answer: two slow-moving systems — the criminal courts and the internal police disciplinary process — often run on parallel tracks, and neither moves quickly.
Two Systems, One Big Bottleneck
When an Ottawa police officer is accused of misconduct or a criminal offence, they typically end up in legal limbo. The criminal justice system can take years to reach a verdict, and police services boards generally won't — or legally can't — finalize disciplinary action until those proceedings wrap up.
Meanwhile, the officer remains on the payroll. That's not a loophole; it's the default. Ontario's Police Services Act has historically protected officers from being dismissed before their day in court, a provision rooted in principles of due process. The result, critics argue, is a system that prioritizes procedural fairness for officers over accountability to the public.
Carleton's research community has long studied public institutions in Ottawa, and this case is a clear example of how well-intentioned legal protections can have unintended consequences at the municipal level.
Why Firing Is So Hard
Even after criminal proceedings conclude, the internal police disciplinary process kicks in — and it has its own timeline. Hearings must be scheduled, evidence reviewed, and decisions rendered through a formal tribunal process. Appeals can extend things further.
The cumulative effect is that an officer flagged for serious misconduct in, say, 2022 might not face a final employment decision until 2025 or 2026 — all while receiving a salary funded by Ottawa taxpayers.
For a police service already under scrutiny over use-of-force incidents and public trust, these drawn-out suspensions add another layer of tension between the Ottawa Police Service and the communities it serves.
What Would Fix It?
Reformers have floated a few options: faster dedicated tribunals for police misconduct, clearer legislative timelines, and allowing suspension without pay in more circumstances while legal matters are pending. Some provinces have moved in this direction, though changes to police legislation in Ontario remain politically contentious.
The Ottawa Police Services Board has faced public pressure to be more transparent about the number of officers on paid leave and the reasons why — a modest step that would at least let residents understand the scope of the issue.
The Bigger Picture
This isn't unique to Ottawa. Police services across Canada grapple with the same tension between officers' legal rights and the public's expectation of a swift and accountable disciplinary system. But in a city where trust in local institutions matters enormously, the perception that bad actors can coast on a taxpayer-funded salary for years does real damage.
Until legislative reform catches up with public expectations, Ottawa residents may need to get comfortable with a frustrating status quo — even as calls for change grow louder.
Source: Ottawa Citizen. Original article
