2015: Canadians Have the Right to Film Police Officers?

2015: Canadians Have the Right to Film Police Officers (and child protection social workers)?

Canadians have the right, under law, to film or photograph police officers.

https://pencanada.ca/blog/canadians-have-the-right-to-film-police-officers/

On September 14, 2015, in the parking lot of a plaza at Jane St. and Lawrence Ave. W., Mike Miller, a private citizen, attempted to document the arrest of two youths by Toronto Police. When two more officers showed up, the arresting officer requested that they approach Miller, saying “Can you turn the camera on this guy here?” and gestured in Miller’s direction. What happened next is documented in the video that Miller shot and posted on YouTube on Oct. 27: In 2013, PEN Canada published a blog post about the right of the public to photograph police officers. The post can be found here, but the most relevant passage is this:

https://youtu.be/LNJFQ5w7kfg

PEN Canada calls upon law enforcement officials to recognize that photographing and filming in public places is in the public interest, and to ensure that their personnel are familiar with the laws concerning public photography/filming and photography/filming of police officers. We encourage people to continue to exercise their right to take photographs and make films in public, to photograph or film actions committed by law enforcement that may be worthy of concern, and to publish these images, secure in the knowledge that they are within their rights to do so.

Many police officers understand this. In 2010, Deputy Chief Peter Sloly told Miller that “If there is something like that going on, just whip out your camera and shoot it. Because you have the right.”

However, it seems that not all police officers have gotten this message. PEN Canada wishes to reiterate:

It is not a crime in Canada for anyone to photograph a uniformed police officer, as long as the photographer does not obstruct or interfere with the execution of their duties; and it is a violation of their Charter rights to prevent anyone from doing so.

A few more police recordings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8qW5M70rxE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZWgCVWGdxU&t=23s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CYeqAXR-w8&t=10s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssK0m90SJxk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsc4pSvvk54

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CAS workers offend claim it's illegal to record or document them as it violates their right to personal privacy as they force their way into our homes looking in closets, cupboards and under furniture without warrants - with police officers looking over their shoulders for anything in plain sight. A person employed by another person or agency for financial remuneration is not on their own personal time anymore than an on duty police officer or a cashier at Walmart is...

Regulation of child protection workers by Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers: CUPE responds:

Please send or adapt any of the following letters to the Unregistered Executive Director of your CAS.

DRAFT Letter 6 – Privacy and discipline

The move toward a regulated child protection workforce in Ontario gives me cause for serious concern about my privacy as a child protection worker.

One of the rationalizations for registration and regulation with the College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers is the restoration of public confidence in Ontario’s child protection system. But violating my rights to privacy and confidentiality will do nothing to achieve this goal.

Currently, workplace disciplines, complaints and other personnel matters at [CAS] are treated confidentially. But if child protection workers become subject to regulation by the College, previously confidential workplace matters will become matters of public record.

My membership in the College would mean that anyone can see information about my status or complaints made against me – and under the College’s rules, there is no time limit in which to make a complaint. Disciplinary hearings are open to the public and once a complaint is made, it is on file forever.

There is no process for appeal. (YES THERE IS)

Employers must also file a written report with the College if one of its registered members is terminated. This requirement conflicts with an employee’s right to grieve a termination under the collective agreement or appeal it through arbitration, where a termination may be overturned.

I also have concerns for my personal safety and that of my family, since college registration is open to public scrutiny and provides no protection from potentially violent clients.

None of the ways that the College deals with personal information, complaints, and discipline allow for a fair or safe process for child protection workers.

There are any number of measures that can be and ought to be taken to restore public confidence in child protection and keep at-risk children and youth safer. Regulation by the college is not one of them.

Sincerely,

http://cupe2190.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SSWCC_CAS-letters-re-college-regulation_Nov.-2016.pdf

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CONSENT TO INTERCEPTION - CANADA.

Documenting the facts is not a crime...

Broadly speaking, Canadians can legally record their own conversations with other people, but not other peoples' conversations that they are not involved in.

183.1 Where a private communication is originated by more than one person or is intended by the originator thereof to be received by more than one person, a consent to the interception thereof by any one of those persons is sufficient consent for the purposes of any provision of this Part. [1993, c.40, s.2.]

The Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 [Criminal Code] imposes a general prohibition on interception (recording) of private communications, but then provides an exception where one of the parties to the private communication consents to the interception of that communication. Thus, broadly speaking, Canadians can legally record their own conversations with other people, but not other people's conversations that they are not involved in.

Other legislation in Canada protects various privacy rights, but does not prevent Canadians from recording their own conversations with others overtly or covertly.

http://www.legaltree.ca/node/908

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2017: Is It Time for Civilians to Start Wearing Their Own Body Cameras? (Everything you say can and will be used against you -should apply to everyone equally.)

These days, it's become increasingly common for police officers to record interactions with the public using cameras they wear on their bodies. While current numbers are difficult to come by, a 2015 survey found that 19 percent of police departments across the United States were using body cameras, and another 77 percent had plans to do so.

There's growing evidence that wearing body cams benefits both police and the people they deal with in the street, in part because research suggests that sides tend to behave with more restraint when they know they're being recorded. A 2015 study in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, for example, found that after police in the city of Rialto, California, started wearing body cams, incidents in which officers used force dropped by around 60 percent, and the number of citizen complaints against them dropped by 88 percent. (A more recent study, though, suggests that the cams reduce use of force by both sides only when individual officer can't turn them on and off at their discretion.) Proponents say body cams can help protect police against false accusations of abuses — though in some instances, the footage also sometimes can lead to allegations of misconduct.

But would civilians themselves benefit from wearing cams, capturing whatever happens from their perspective as well? Wolfcom, a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of body cams worn by law enforcement officers, recently announced that it's developed a similarly sophisticated gadget that it plans to market to ordinary folks.

The new Venture cam, which weighs just 2.2 ounces, features a rotatable camera head and a multi-functional, clippable design so it can be used as a body cam, a mountable car cam, a flashlight cam with four bright LEDs, and even a livestream camera. What sets the Venture cam apart from many existing wearable personal cameras — GoPro actions cameras have been available for more than a decade, for instance — and other body camera systems is that Wolfcom started as a supplier for law enforcement, and is modifying those cameras and systems for the general public.

"The concept of a consumer camera has been in our minds for a while," says Wolfcom founder and president Peter Austin Onruang, via email. Over the years, he says, the company received hundreds of requests from the public to buy the cameras that Wolfcom sells to law enforcement, but was unable to sell directly to the public because the police cams could only be used with special software designed for police departments, making them unsuitable for consumers.

The company envisions the cams as a way for people to record and livestream what Onruang called "the best moments of his or her life," such as exciting mountain-biking or snowboarding adventures. But the same technology also could capture an encounter with police.

https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/civilian-body-camera-police-venture.htm

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"Shonin isn’t just a wearable, it’s a body cam for civilians."

The team behind Shonin says the camera is designed to capture “your side of the story,” citing possible uses like documenting road rage, abuses of power, events and protests, threats, and assault. Shonin also notes several everyday situations where it could be used, like walking alone at night, or at home alone with a child protection social worker where the visible design of the camera itself might act as a deterrent.

A new palm-sized body cam called Shonin has launched on Kickstarter, positioning itself as a security device (as opposed to other wearable cameras like FrontRow meant for capturing “experiences”).

The camera, which can be attached either by a clip or magnetic backing, begins recording with a tap to the body, and uses either cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity to instantly allow you to share video to destinations like Facebook Live or YouTube. It also securely stores videos on the Shonin cloud, lets you view videos on your phone via the Shonin app, and perform simple edits. If no connectivity is available, the camera can also store encrypted captured footage to its internal 8GB SD card. The camera is also IP67 waterproof, is GPS enabled, and has a single charge that delivers 2.5 hours of battery life, which can be doubled with an additional magnetic battery the company promises to also add image stabilization.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/8/16/16156336/shonin-wearable-body-cam-civilians

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In the psychology of human behavior, denialism is a person's choice to deny reality, as a way to avoid a psychologically uncomfortable truth like child protection in Ontario is a rogue agency gone mad with power.

There are those who engage in denialist tactics because they are protecting some "overvalued idea" which is critical to their identity. Since legitimate dialogue is not a valid option for those who are interested in protecting bigoted or unreasonable ideas from facts, their only recourse is to use these types of rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of argument and legitimate debate, when there is none.

Regulation of child protection workers by Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers: CUPE responds: (continued)

DRAFT Letter 4 (the slippery slope) – Accountability: "Mandatory registration and regulation by the College is not in The Best Interest of Child Protection Workers and ultimately , not in the best interest of vulnerable children, youth and families."

A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid. It is also called a fallacy, an informal logical fallacy, and an informal fallacy. All logical fallacies are nonsequiturs—arguments in which a conclusion doesn't follow logically from what preceded it.

Here are some facts and figures I think point to significant problems for the child welfare sector and for underprivileged families in particular:

• There are over 5,000 child protection workers in Ontario (5160)

• The College regulates about 17,000 social workers and social service workers

• In Ontario, only 7% of College-registered social workers are employed by a CAS

• Only 4% of members of the Ontario Association of Social Workers work for a CAS

• Between 30% and 50% of Ontario’s child welfare workers do NOT hold a BSW

• Only 63% of direct service staff in CASs have a BSW or MSW (in 2012, it was 57%)

• Only 78% of direct service supervisors have a BSW or MSW (in 2012, it was 75.5%)

• The 2013 OACAS Human Resources survey estimates that 70% of relevant CAS job classifications would qualify for registration with the College (so about 1500 CAS currently employed workers would be unable to register with the College)

• From 2002 to 2014, 41 child welfare employees who did not hold a BSW or MSW submitted equivalency applications to register as social workers; only 16 were successful and 25 were refused.

http://cupe2190.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SSWCC_CAS-letters-re-college-regulation_Nov.-2016.pdf

https://mydefence.ca/ontario-college-of-social-workers-and-social-services-defence-lawyer/

A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning. Logical fallacies are like tricks or illusions of thought, and they're often very sneakily used by child protection social workers and the ministry to fool people. Don't be fooled!

This post has been designed to help you identify and call out dodgy child poaching funding predator logic wherever it may raise its ugly, incoherent head.

Follow the link and rollover the icons to click for examples. If you see a child protection social worker committing a fallacy, link them to it ...

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-logical-fallacy-1691259

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/common-logical-fallacies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

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You can hear former MPP Frank Klees say in a video linked below the very reason the social worker act was introduced and became law in 1998 was to regulate the "children's aid societies" and they ignored that..

FORMER ONTARIO MPP FRANK KLEES EXPLAINS "A DISTINCTION WITHOUT A DIFFERENCE."

I'M NOT A SOCIAL WORKER, I'M A CHILD PROTECTION WORKER!

https://youtu.be/SA1YyWO0RTQ?list=PLsYhw09i3If44rMBDuZQ0ztayzSQU35Fy

Two decades later...

Without the deterrents professional regulation provides what prevents child protection social workers from being or becoming a danger to children and their families?

The union representing child protection social workers is firmly opposed to oversight from a professional college and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, which regulates and funds child protection, is so far staying out of it.

The report Towards Regulation notes that the “clearest path forward” would be for the provincial government to -again- legislate the necessity of professional regulation, which would be an appallingly heavy-handed move according to OACAS/Cupe.

http://joincupe2190.ca/files/2015/10/Professional-regulation-at-childrens-aid-societies.pdf

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2020: TORONTO -- Ontario's child welfare system will be redesigned to focus on prevention and early intervention, the provincial government said Wednesday.

"Child welfare should not be the system that is feared," Dunlop said in a news conference. "No one should be scared to lose their children for speaking to a children's aid society."

Associate Minister of Children and Women's Issues Jill Dunlop said the new strategy will also work to address the over-representation of Black and Indigenous families in the children's aid system.

She said children and youth in care experience worse outcomes than those in a family setting, including lower graduation rates, a higher risk of homelessness and more involvement with the justice system.

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-plans-to-redesign-child-welfare-system-to-focus-on-prevention-1.5044299

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NOT ALL SOCIAL WORKERS ARE CREATED EQUAL.

2009: Ontario CAS caseworkers come armed with vaster powers than any police officer investigating crime and shrouded in secrecy. It is an immense authority easily abused, without vigilant restraint.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/diploma-mills-marketplace-fake-degrees-1.4279513

Whether we wanted it or not, knew it or not, over time, the work of child-welfare organizations has become “parenting by the state and the imposition of their value system on other people,” says Marty McKay, a clinical psychologist who has worked on abuse cases in the U.S and Canada. Provincial agencies have the power to intervene when children are considered “at risk” of abuse or neglect — even if none has actually occurred.

http://www.nationalpost.com/children+society+workers+should+reined+critics/1690967/story.html

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2004: Child Welfare Reform: Protecting Children or Policing the Poor?

It was in the context of dramatic media coverage of tragic child welfare outcomes and a rapidly shrinking welfare state that Ontario's child welfare reform was introduced in 1997. The reform involves a series of changes to both law and policy that have transformed child welfare in this province within a very short time. The initiatives to support this new and much more focused direction, as we will show, have produced a high level of surveillance and intrusion into the lives of clients and suspected client of the system.

https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=jlsp

https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/jlsp/vol19/iss1/1/

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OACAS TODAY: The duty to report.

“Reasonable grounds” refers to the information that an average person, using normal and honest judgment, would need in order to decide to report. This standard has been recognized by courts in Ontario as establishing a lower threshold for reasonable grounds.

Can there really be two thresholds for reasonable grounds and still be reasonable?

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2003: Children's Aid in Ontario facing serious cash crunch.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/childrens-aid-in-ontario-facing-serious-cash-crunch/article1010103/

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2013: In leaked memo, Peel CAS staff asked to keep cases open to retain funding.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/03/14/in_leaked_memo_peel_cas_staff_asked_to_keep_cases_open_to_retain_funding.html

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Harassment is a form of discrimination. It includes any unwanted behaviour that offends, humiliates, degrades or marginalizes you. Generally, harassment is a behaviour that persists over time. Serious one-time incidents can also sometimes be considered harassment.

CRIMINAL HARASSMENT

Are you worried about your family's security because a child poaching funding predator is:

■ using a lower corporate standard for reasonable grounds for continually launching or reopening investigations into your personal life hoping for a different result …

■ refuses to let you review your file for inaccurate information…

■ ignores or suppresses any information or documentation that indicates happy healthy children…

■ refuses you an opportunity to address concerns…

■ threatens to arbitrary remove your children if you don't allow them to search your home without a warrant or threatens court action to remove your children if you fail sign consent forms and service agreements…

■ interviews your children in school without recording the interview...

■ is contacting you over and over by phone, email and knocking at your door multiple times every day…

■ is watching your home or workplace…

■ is making you or your family feel threatened...

■ is peeking through your windows…

■ or attempts to talk your very young children into unlocking the door for them when they don't think your in the immediate vicinity...

You are experiencing criminal harassment unless it's a CAS worker it’s a crime and you can get help...

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2016: Report shines light on poverty’s role on kids in CAS system.

The effect of provincial policies on struggling families was especially apparent in the late 1990s, when the Conservative government slashed welfare payments and social service funding while at the same time, it introduced in child protection the notion of maltreatment by “omission,” including not having enough food in the home and this after giving the society what amounted to an unlimited funding scheme. The number of children taken into care spiked as did their funding.

https://youtu.be/CG6PT3Hw568

“The ministry has been pretty clear with us that advocacy is not part of our mandate,” Goodman said speaking for the society. “It’s not like they’re asking for the (poverty) data. They’re not.” Goodman then when on to suggest the silence suited the government more than the silence suited the society's funding goals.

https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/08/15/report-shines-light-on-povertys-role-on-kids-in-cas-system.html

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2019: There’s no rule on who can write assessments that ‘effectively decide’ if an Ontario parent loses their child. Experts say that must change.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/08/02/theres-no-rule-on-who-can-write-assessments-that-effectively-decide-if-an-ontario-parent-loses-their-child-experts-say-that-must-change.html

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9552213-ontario-psychologist-used-obsolete-tests-in-expert-opinion-calling-for-parents-to-lose-their-kids-judge-says/

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2019: Executive director Elaina Groves does say it's important for the public to know that child protection workers investigate differently than police.

Decisions are made on a "balance of probabilities" which often means there's not enough evidence for criminal charges let alone a conviction which is probably why child protection social workers in Ontario refused to comply with the social worker registration act claiming there are no practical benefits for them agreeing to register with a college of social work that also uses a "balance of probabilities" to determine the "facts.."

The College of Social Work takes reports about concerns from the public and applies their own standard for investigating complaints as does the society and the same "balance of probabilities" making a ruling.

Groves says some may think that sounds "subjective" but she says rulings on abuse are based on the "impressions" of the unqualified unregistered social worker, the opinions of questionable medical professionals, as well as other evidence like the fraudulent Motherisk Test.

Balance of Probabilities Definition: Burden of proof in civil trials.

The common distinction is made with the burden of truth in a criminal trial, which is beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil trial, one party's case need only be more probable than the other.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/cas-daycare-operator-dowling-sudbury-child-abuse-1.4826325

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/home-daycare-lawsuit-cas-police-investigation-1.4537023

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Expert Evidence and Assessments in Child Welfare Cases. Queen's University Legal Research Paper No. 063. Nicholas Bala Queen's University - Faculty of Law. 33 Pages Posted: 23 Dec 2015.

Jane Thomson University of New Brunswick, Faculty of Law; Queen's University, Faculty of Law Date Written: December 8, 2015.

Abstract:

Expert evidence from mental health professionals and medical doctors can play a central role in child welfare cases, and this evidence needs to be carefully scrutinized before it is relied upon in making critical decisions about the future of parent-child relationships. In Ontario, concern about the reliability of expert evidence in child abuse and neglect cases was heightened by the 2014 decision of the Court of Appeal in R v. Broomfield, where a mother’s conviction on criminal charges related to giving her infant child cocaine based on testimony by an expert from the Motherisk Drug Testing Lab at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children. In overturning the conviction, the Court of Appeal noted that “the trial judge made her decision unaware of the genuine controversy among the experts about the use of the testing methods relied upon by the Crown expert at trial to found a conclusion of chronic cocaine ingestion.” In the months following the Court of Appeal decision in Broomfield, the Attorney General of Ontario appointed a former justice of the Court of Appeal, Susan Lang, to undertake a Review to assess the adequacy and reliability of hair analysis evidence used in child protection and criminal proceedings (report to be released Dec. 15, 2015).

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2700906

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2010: Psychologist got degree from U.S. 'diploma mill'

A psychologist with the Durham Children’s Aid Society has pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for misrepresenting himself and for making multiple unqualified diagnoses of mental illness.

Gregory Carter, 63, appeared before the College of Psychologists of Ontario’s disciplinary committee on Tuesday. He and the college agreed on the terms of the penalty, which includes a three-month suspension, a recorded reprimand and one year of supervised practice under an approved practitioner.

In his practice with the Children’s Aid Society, Mr. Carter’s expertise was used to determine child custody cases.

https://nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/psychologist-got-degree-from-u-s-diploma-mill

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2016: Nov 24, 2016 - Although the Ontario Risk Assessment was a “state of the art” clinical tool at the...

The purpose of the Child Protection Standards in Ontario (dated February 2007) is to promote consistently high quality service delivery to children, youth and their families receiving child protection services from Children’s Aid Societies across the province.

http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/professionals/childwelfare/protection-standards-2007/childprotectionstandards.aspx

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2019: Expert who gave more than 100 assessments in Ontario child protection cases lied about credentials for years, judge finds.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/07/31/expert-who-gave-more-than-100-assessments-in-ontario-child-protection-cases-lied-about-credentials-for-years-judge-finds.html

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2019: Ontario psychologist used ‘obsolete’ tests in expert opinion calling for parents to lose their kids, judge says. ( if it was good enough once upon a time to remove children with what's wrong with it now that wasn't wrong then?)

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/08/15/ontario-psychologist-used-obsolete-tests-in-expert-opinion-calling-for-parents-to-lose-their-kids-judge-says.html

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2019: Province orders children’s aid societies to review credentials of experts used in child welfare cases

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/08/23/province-orders-childrens-aid-societies-to-review-credentials-of-experts-used-in-child-welfare-cases.html

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