Kranz v. Ottawa Police Service, 2009 HRTO 787

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Jason Kranz Applicant

-and-

Ottawa Police Service and Tracy Turpin Respondents

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Sherry Liang Date: June 8, 2009 Citation: 2009 HRTO 787 Indexed as: Kranz v. Ottawa Police Service

1This is an Application filed on March 10, 2009 under section 34 of Part IV of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 as amended (the "Code"). The Application alleges discrimination by the respondents on the grounds of race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, ethnic origin and creed, and arises out the circumstances of the applicant's arrest on November 6, 2007.

2All parties have filed Requests for Orders During Proceedings. They have also indicated consent to mediation of the Application. Given the consent to mediation, the Tribunal finds it unnecessary to deal with some of the Requests at this stage.

3The Tribunal finds it appropriate, however, to deal with certain of the Requests made by the applicant. The applicant filed a Request for Interim Remedy on April 30, 2009, in which he asks "to come to an agreement that would resolve the legal issue before the Tribunal". He also asks for compensation for loss of income. Apart from the fact that the applicant has not complied with the Rules governing a Request for Interim Remedy, which require the filing of declarations (see Rule 23), the Tribunal finds no basis for the interim remedy requested. If the applicant is asking for an opportunity to come to an agreement with the respondents, this does not require a Tribunal order. If the applicant is requesting an order for compensation before any finding of liability has been made, this is an extraordinary measure which, from the materials before me, I do not find justified.

4The applicant has filed several Requests for the purpose of submitting cases that he believes support his position on aspects of the Application or other Requests. It is not necessary to seek an order from the Tribunal to submit case law.

5The applicant has filed a Request for a Tribunal Ordered Inquiry, in which he seeks production of documents. It is not necessary to request an inquiry under section 44 of the Code to obtain documents arguably relevant to the Application. The Tribunal will deal with this Request as a request for production. In addition to this Request, the applicant filed another Request for Order in which also seeks production of documents. The applicant's production requests are premature. Under Rule 16 of the Tribunal's Rules of Procedure, each party must deliver to the other all arguably relevant documents in its possession within 21 days after the Tribunal sends a Confirmation of Hearing to the parties. No Confirmation of Hearing has been issued in this case and there are no special circumstances that justify a production order at this stage of the process. The requests for production are dismissed. The applicant may file a new Request if he seeks further documents following the production process.

6One of the applicant's Requests relates to disclosure of information about the respondents' Confidential List of Witnesses. Again, the Tribunal's Rules set a deadline for the parties to deliver their lists of witnesses and witness statements. This deadline, which is 45 days prior to the first scheduled day of hearing, has not passed. The Request is denied.

7The applicant has also filed a Request to amend the name of the individual respondent. It is not clear why an amendment is required. There is no confusion about the identity of the person named, and this individual respondent has responded to the Application through counsel. Although the name of this individual respondent is spelled with minor differences in some of the material before the Tribunal, this is a matter that can be clarified by the parties at mediation or at the hearing. The Request is denied.

8The respondents' request to dismiss the Application, the respondents' request to remove the individual respondent as a party, and the applicant's request to add an additional individual respondent as a party, will all be dealt with following mediation, if necessary.

9This matter will be scheduled for mediation.