09-23-2019, 08:46 PM
(09-23-2019, 08:08 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: Related question about identification: how can it be that identification does not need to be provided if a ticket is being issued? Without a requirement to show ID, any ticket could be trivially avoided by giving a false identity. Or have I misunderstood, and the point is that right now identification can only be required if a ticket is to be issued, and now the City wants to change it to allow demanding identification without a ticket being issued?
No, your original understanding is correct. Bylaw enforcement officers do not have the authority to compel people to produce identification, which is a source of significant frustration for the city with respect to the Ezra street party. Rather than asking the province to change the law, the city unilaterally decided to give themselves this authority, though it's unclear how they would actually enforce it. Will police be called to arrest anyone who breaks a bylaw if they refuse to identify themselves? I'm also unclear on whether police themselves can compel identification and arrest people for breaking bylaws in Ontario.
This is a huge overreach by the city, especially considering the extraordinary powers of warantless property searches and seizures bylaw enforcement officers already have in Ontario. I have major safety concerns about Ezra, but draconian bylaws and probably illegal policing powers are not the way to solve it.