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Video-taped Fights at Schools in Orangeville
McGuinty Can and
Must Act to Curtail Teen Fights
Echoes of Caledonia Stand-off:
McGuinty and Tory Falsely Deny that Province Has No Power to Intervene
September 22,
2006, Toronto - The government of Ontario, and the police, can and
must act to curtail "consensual" teen fights says Paul McKeever, leader of
the Freedom Party of Ontario. Yesterday, a Canadian
Press (CP) report published in the Toronto Star ran with the
headline: "Up
to parents to stop fighting: McGuinty...In rare show of unanimity, Tory
leader says premier is right".
"Once again, Mr.
McGuinty and Mr. Tory are spreading the false notion that the
provincial government is powerless and that it's someone else's problem",
said McKeever. "First they told us, falsely, that the Premier's
office has no power to direct the police to enforce the law at
Caledonia. Now they are holding hands and telling us that the
government has no power to interfere with videotaped fights among teens
in Orangeville.
"In Caledonia,
they said 'we're powerless to do anything, so it's up to the
police'. In Orangeville, they are saying "we are powerless to do
anything, so it's up to parents". In both instances, it's a
falsehood and a cop-out.
"I find it
particularly disgraceful that John Tory is, again, aiding McGuinty to
spread a falsehood. This is an international phenomenon but, in
Ontario it is happening right in John Tory's own riding. Yet
Tory's turning his back on this and saying it's the parents'
problem!
"In my opinion,
both Mr. McGuinty and Mr. Tory are shirking their responsibilities
to maintain
order in the province, to protect minors from violence, and to promote
safe, peaceful places in which to live and learn."
At Least Two Solutions Available
Already
"There are
at least two ways of handling this" says McKeever, "and I think parents
in Orangeville have a right to demand that the Premier adopt at least one
of
these approaches.
"The
first is to use and enforce Ontario's Trespass
to Property Act. In these fight videos, teens can be seen to be
conducting these fights in public parks, on public sidewalks and
boulevards, in school yards etc.. The Trespass to Property
Act could be used to impose fines of up to $2,000.00 on those
who use pubic property for these fights. You don't have to arrest
someone for fighting: you can arrest them for trespassing. The idea
that the fighters consent to the fight is irrelevant in the
tresspass context. Under this approach, you deal with it as a matter
of property rights.
"The second
approach recognizes a simple fact: even consensual fighting is a crime in
Canada. An officer cannot lay a charge of "assault" when the fight
is consensual, but he or she most certainly can lay a charge of "prize
fighting" under section 83 of the Canadian Criminal
Code.
Legislation Could be Introduced
"The McGuinty government could also introduce legislation
that deems the owner of private land personally liable for the costs of
bodily harm that result from a fight among minors that occurs on that
person's land. Host a fight: re-imburse everyone for the costs, and
that includes OHIP. We have to keep in mind that those who are
under 18 years of age arguably lack capacity to "consent" to a fist fight:
parents, however, have the capacity to say 'your not going to fight on
my
property'."
A backgrounder on yesterday's CP report,
and copies of the legislation referred to in this media release, follow
below.
The CP Story of September 21, 2006
The report stated that teens in Orangeville are
the most recent to join the phenomenon of staging and videotaping
bare-knuckled fist-fights which are later uploaded to video-sharing
sites
like www.youtube.com.
The CP report said:
"And while police in Orangeville say they can’t lay charges
because the fights were consensual, McGuinty made it clear he believes
it would be wrong to outlaw consensual fighting in order to stop
the
teens."
The report quoted the
Premier as saying:
“Rather than resort to
the Criminal Code at the outset, I think parents ought to understand
what it
is their children are doing, and ought to provide them with the
appropriate guidance and direction,”
It reported, also
quoted opposition leader John Tory, saying that he agrees with the
Premier:
“There are some things that government just
can’t legislate,” said Tory. “I think if it gets out of hand and
trespasses over the existing Criminal Code line, then police will deal
with it.”
According to the report, "Tory said police
should be keeping an eye on the videos being posted to youtube.com to make
sure the situation doesn’t get any worse."
Statutory Provisions (Excerpts)
Trespass to
Property Act R.S.O. 1990, Chapter T.21
Trespass an
offence
2.
(1) Every person who is not acting under a right or authority
conferred by law and who,
(a) without
the express permission of the occupier, the proof of which rests
on the
defendant,
(i) enters
on premises when entry is prohibited under this Act, or
(ii) engages
in an activity on premises when the activity is prohibited under
this Act;
or
(b) does
not leave the premises immediately after he or she is directed to
do so by
the occupier of the premises or a person authorized by the
occupier,
is guilty of an offence
and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $2,000. R.S.O.
1990, c. T.21, s. 2 (1).
Arrest without warrant on
premises
9.
(1) A police officer, or the occupier of premises, or a person
authorized by the occupier may arrest without warrant any person he or
she believes on reasonable and probable grounds to be on the premises in
contravention of section 2. R.S.O. 1990, c. T.21, s. 9
(1).
Delivery to police
officer
(2) Where the person
who makes an arrest under subsection (1) is not a police officer, he or
she shall promptly call for the assistance of a police officer and give
the person arrested into the custody of the police officer. R.S.O.
1990, c. T.21, s. 9 (2).
Deemed
arrest
(3) A police officer to
whom the custody of a person is given under subsection (2) shall be
deemed to have arrested the person for the purposes of the provisions of
the Provincial Offences Act applying to his or her release or continued
detention and bail. R.S.O. 1990, c. T.21, s. 9 (3).
Arrest without warrant off
premises
10. Where a police officer believes on
reasonable and probable grounds that a person has been in contravention
of section 2 and has made fresh departure from the premises, and the
person refuses to give his or her name and address, or there are
reasonable and probable grounds to believe that the name or address
given is false, the police officer may arrest the person without
warrant. R.S.O. 1990, c. T.21, s. 10.
Criminal
Code R.S. 1985, c.
C-46
83. (1) Every one who
(a)
engages as a principal in a prize fight,
(b)
advises, encourages or promotes a prize fight, or
(c) is
present at a prize fight as an aid, second, surgeon, umpire, backer or
reporter,
is guilty
of an offence punishable on summary
conviction.
Definition of “prize
fight”
(2) In this section, “prize fight” means an encounter
or fight with fists or hands between two persons who have met for that
purpose by previous arrangement made by or for them, but a boxing
contest between amateur sportsmen, where the contestants wear boxing
gloves of not less than one hundred and forty grams each in mass,
or any
boxing contest held with the permission or under the authority of an
athletic board or commission or similar body established by or under
the
authority of the legislature of a province for the control of sport
within the province, shall be deemed not to be a prize
fight.
R.S.,
1985, c. C-46, s. 83; R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s.
186.
Assault
265(1) A person commits an
assault when
(a) Without the consent of
another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person,
directly or indirectly;
For further details
concerning this media release, contact Paul McKeever:
Cell: ***-***-****
Office:
905-721-9772
e-mail: e-mail
This media release
distributed to all major news media, and the Ontario's MPPs.
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