Public Question Period: Why is Open Use of Drugs Allowed in Owen Sound?

Ian Boddy, Mayor of Owen Sound, explains that being "inebriated in any manner" in public is protected right by the Canadian Charter of Rights.

Dianne MacIntosh, an Owen Sound resident, submitted a question to Owen Sound Council via email for the Public Question Period portion of their Monday, September 9, meeting.

MacIntosh questioned why illegal behaviours such as openly using drugs and loitering are being allowed without arrest or charges in Owen Sound.

Mayor Ian Boddy said it’s a police issue, so he reached out to Chief Ambrose to “try and get an answer.”

Boddy, reading what is presumed to be Ambrose’s response from a screen, said that although drug possession is illegal, “the direction of the federal government through the Public Prosecution Services is that only in some specific circumstances will they prosecute those charges.”

If a charge is laid knowing it will not be prosecuted, it could be an abuse of process to arrest that person, he said. Using illegal drugs is not an offense; only possession.

Boddy also noted that the response he was reading from made reference to vagrancy still being “on the books,” but not loitering.

He said Chief Ambrose advised that unless a person is causing a disturbance, there is no charge available.

After completing the response from Chief Ambrose, Boddy said Council often gets questions like this and typically, it is business owners asking why police aren’t arresting people.

“Whether you’re stone-cold sober or inebriated in any manner, under the Charter of Rights, you have a right not to be arbitrarily detained, arrested, put in jail, moved, pushed, etc. That’s in the Charter of Rights,” Bodd said.

Boddy recommended a legal opinion available on Sarnia.ca on “some of the issues around trying to move encampments and things like that.”

Owen Sound Police reach out to other police forces to ensure they understand the law and can enforce it “as they’re able to,” Boddy said.

In closing, he said, “Owen Sound Police force are enforcing laws the same as other police forces in Ontario.”