Complaints of the OPP that discriminates against migrant workers in the 2013 investigation now before a human rights court | The Canadian News

Proceedings are ongoing as the Human Rights Court of Ontario (HRTO) works to determine whether dozens of migrant workers were racially described by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) during a sexual assault investigation in 2013.

The allegation stems from a DNA analysis that the OPP had performed on nearly 100 migrant workers in connection with a sexual assault in mid-October 2013 in Bayham, Ontario.

Henry Cooper, a migrant worker from Trinidiad, was eventually arrested after refusing to provide a DNA sample. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault with a weapon, forced confinement and death threats and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Of the nearly 100 workers who had DNA samples taken, 54 are now filing indictments with the HRTO, alleging they were targeted because of their race, country of origin and their status as migrant workers.

On Monday, HTRO opened its hearing on the matter.

The lead applicant in the case is Leon Logan, one of 54 migrant workers whose DNA was collected during the 2013 investigation.

The outcome of your case against the defendant, the OPP, will have an impact on the remaining 53 applications, and the findings or appeals ordered as a result will have the potential to apply to the applications of the other migrant workers.

In his initial filings, Logan’s attorney, Shane Martinez, argued that the OPP had ignored the description of the suspect provided by the victim of the sexual assault.

He added that the migrant workers who were asked to provide DNA samples ranged in ages, heights and weights. Facial hair and other identifying features were also ignored, Martinez added.

Matthew Horner, acting as counsel on behalf of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), added that the OHRC supports Martinez’s statement.

“The evidence you will hear in this application will show a clear and systematic process, adopted by law enforcement, to identify and target a large group of vulnerable people for adverse treatment,” Horner said.

“The evidence will show that race, color and place of origin were clearly factors, if not factors, in the adverse treatment.”

Christopher Diana, who is serving as the defendant’s attorney, said in his opening presentations that “OPP investigators followed the evidence.”

“And by doing so, the OPP was able to arrest and convict the perpetrator of this violent crime just days before he returned to the Caribbean. As you will see and hear from the evidence, voluntary DNA screening was absolutely crucial to this result, ”added Diana.

Then Martinez called his first witness, Dr. Jenna Hennebry, associate dean, program coordinator, and associate professor at Wilfred Laurier University with a background in migrant worker rights.

Hennebry’s testimony surrounded “systemic inequalities” and “vulnerabilities faced by racialized workers” in the Seasonal Farm Worker Program (SAWP), which allows employers to hire migrant workers

He added that an “imbalance of power” between employers and migrant workers makes the latter group feel that they cannot reject a request to comply with law enforcement, linked to fear of losing their job.

“Under the current SAWP, it is very challenging to create conditions that allow free and informed consent,” Hennebry said.

This sentiment was shared by Logan, the lead applicant in the case and one of 54 migrant workers who had DNA samples taken.

In his testimony, Logan said that he did not want to provide a sample, but that he consented because he was concerned about what his employer might do if he did not.

“The whole process made me feel very bad. It made me feel sad, it made me feel defeated, it made me feel humiliated, ”Logan said in the audience.

He later added that he felt he was being treated as a suspect “because of the color of my skin and where I am from.”

The last witness of the day was Det. Supt. Karen Gonneau, who was involved in OPP’s 2013 sexual assault investigation.

Gonneau made notes of the victim’s initial interview with investigators, who had provided officers with a description of the suspect.

She notes that the victim had provided descriptions of the suspect’s height, age, “very muscular” build, along with descriptions of his face, and Gonneau quoted the victim as saying that the suspect had a “typical black nose.”

The victim also told police that the suspect was a migrant worker.

In his interrogation with Gonneau, Martínez said that the officer did not take note of any doubts or misgivings about the accuracy of the description of the victim.

Regarding the DNA sweep of nearly 100 workers, Gonneau said this was influenced by a threat to public safety and time constraints, and police are concerned that migrant workers may leave Canada in a few days as they their seasonal contracts come to an end.

“By understanding the circumstances under which the description was obtained, I think it would have been a misstep to remain so dedicated to that description when we really had nothing else to help us,” Gonneau said.

Martinez is expected to continue questioning Gonneau when the hearing enters its second day on Tuesday.

The HRTO has set aside seven days for the trial, all of which will take place practically in the midst of health protocols triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The incident was previously explored by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD).

In its 2016 report, Gerry McNeilly, who was the bureau chief at the time, found that the OPP was not conducting racial profiling during the 2013 investigation.

He also said the incident exemplifies why the police force should create a policy on DNA testing.