HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO
B E T W E E N:
Greg Goodridge
Complainant
-and-
Ontario Human Rights Commission
Commission
-and-
Toronto Police Services Board, Anthony Piazza and Maria Perry
Respondents
interim DECISION
Adjudicator: David A. Wright
Date: May 29, 2009
Citation: 2009 HRTO 723
Indexed as: Goodridge v. Toronto Police Services Board
[1] In a letter to the Tribunal dated May 27, 2009, Mr. Goodridge asks that I recuse myself on the basis of a reasonable apprehension of bias.
[2] Mr. Goodridge alleges that I disclosed to the other parties information he provided to the Tribunal “in confidence”. Mr. Goodridge wrote the Tribunal a letter dated April 1, 2009 in which he asked for adjournment of a pre-hearing conference call, made a request for information from the Tribunal, and requested production from the respondent Toronto Police Services Board. Nothing in the letter suggested that it was provided to the Tribunal “in confidence”. As the letter was not copied to the other parties as required by the Tribunal’s rules, the Registrar-Transition provided the other parties with a copy. The Registrar-Transition also provided the other parties with the letter of May 27, 2009.
[3] Rule 21 of the Rules of Practice for Commission-referred complaints reads as follows:
- All communications with the Tribunal outside a hearing must take place through the Registrar and all parties must be aware of the content of any such communication, except for general enquiries.
Rule 33 requires that all documents filed with the Tribunal be delivered to the other parties before being filed with the Tribunal.
[4] Under the Rules and the Tribunal’s process, communications with the Tribunal must occur with the knowledge of all parties and all parties must have a chance to make submissions on any requests. It was necessary and appropriate for the Registrar-Transition to send Mr. Goodridge’s letter to the other parties and for me to raise Mr. Goodridge’s requests with them. The Tribunal’s process does not permit requests or communications to be made “in confidence”. There is no basis for recusal as a result of these events.
[5] Mr. Goodridge also raises my prior professional relationship with the Toronto Police Association, which was fully addressed in a previous decision: 2009 HRTO 94. Mr. Goodridge has provided no valid basis for questioning that decision.
[6] The request that I recuse myself is denied.
Dated at Toronto, this 29th day of May, 2009.
“Signed By”
David A. Wright
Vice-chair