Dear OCLA Supporter,
This email is to provide you with an update of the Ontario Civil Liberties Association’s (OCLA) work over the spring/summer 2014 season.
Complaint about police union president’s actions to suppress a professor’s speech
On March 31, 2014, OCLA filed a complaint to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) about the actions of Matt Skof, President of the Ottawa Police Association, towards Carleton University criminology professor Darryl Davies.
Mr. Skof had written a letter to the president of Carleton University protesting Mr. Davies’s criticisms of policing in Ontario and demanding an apology from the professor. He later stated he would cut ties with programs at the university because of Mr. Davies’s expressed views.
Links to media interviews about this important freedom of expression and academic freedom case are included below. The complaint is still in process with the OIPRD.
- July 10 Ottawa Citizen article entitled “Watchdog to investigate complaint against Ottawa police union boss”
- April 1 Ottawa Citizen article entitled “Police union president calls civil libertarians’ complaint ‘pure hypocrisy’”
Interview on Ezra Levant’s show about St. Lewis v. Rancourt defamation trial
On May 20, Ezra Levant interviewed OCLA’s executive director on his TV show about the $1-million defamation lawsuit St. Lewis v. Rancourt, in which the plaintiff’s legal fees are funded entirely by the University of Ottawa.
Mr. Levant’s interview focused on the free speech and use-of-public money aspects of the litigation, and the role of university president Allan Rock in this case. The interview is online here.
Letter to Chief Reserves and Cadets (National Defence) re: searches at summer camps
Last spring, OCLA was contacted anonymously by current and former employees of National Defence’s cadets summer camps program. The sources raised concerns about unwarranted searches of youth participants at the summer camps.
OCLA wrote to Jennifer Bennet, Chief Reserves and Cadets requesting a review of the search practices within the cadet summer camps. OCLA’s letter and Rear-Admiral Bennet’s responses are available here.
Media coverage of OCLA’s letter is online here.
OCLA at the Libertarian Party annual caucus meeting in Kingston, Ontario
The Ontario branch of the Libertarian Party of Canada has invited OCLA’s executive director to speak at its annual caucus meeting at the Ambassador Hotel in Kingston, Ontario on October 4th. You are most welcome to attend this open event.
Volunteering with OCLA
There are all kinds of ways you can collaborate with OCLA to help the organization grow and take part in the push-back for a freer and more democratic society. Everyone who works with OCLA is a volunteer. Please contact us to discuss your volunteering interests, no matter how large or how small!
How to stay connected and donate to OCLA
Twitter: @oncivlib
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/110883345731728/
OCLA is a non-profit organization. Donations help cover operating costs such as booking rooms for public events, printing promotional material for campaigns and events, and paying for court filing fees and court document production costs (copies and binding) regarding court and tribunal interventions on civil liberties issues.
Donations can be made in two ways:
1) through Paypal, by clicking the “Donate” button in the top-right corner ofhttps://ocla.ca; or
2) by sending a cheque to “Ontario Civil Liberties Association” to our mailing address:
Ontario Civil Liberties Association
180 Metcalfe Street, Suite 20
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K2P 1P5
Yours truly,
Joseph Hickey
Executive Director
Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA) https://ocla.ca
