Item - 2019.CC9.2

City Council on July 16, 17 and 18, 2019 adopted the following:

1.  City Council adopt the Ombudsman Toronto Report and request the Toronto Transit Commission to implement all of the recommendations in the Enquiry Report (July 9, 2019) from the Ombudsman.

Ombudsman Recommendations:

Ensure that Unit Complaints Coordinator Investigations are Independent and Impartial

1.  The TTC should develop a plan to structurally strengthen the independence of its internal investigations of the Transit Enforcement Unit. This plan should include moving the Unit Complaints Coordinator away from the unit's physical location and reducing or eliminating personal and professional ties between the Unit Complaints Coordinator and support staff on one hand and the unit on the other.

2.  The TTC should strengthen its documentation of the Unit Complaints Coordinator's terms of reference and their role and mandate. It should include what kind of information, if any, the Unit Complaints Coordinator will exchange with TTC management and/or the TTC legal department and for what purpose(s).

3.  The TTC should also consider creating a protocol for retaining external investigators in appropriate cases, for example where there is intense public interest or where senior staff members are involved in the incident(s) under investigation.

Clarify the Standard of Proof

4.  All relevant TTC policies and training should clearly state that the standard of proof that applies in investigations of complaints about Transit Fare Inspectors is proof on a balance of probabilities.

Use Expert Opinions Appropriately

5.  The TTC should document in its investigation policies and procedures that: 

a.  As a best practice, when the TTC engages an expert to provide an opinion in an investigation, it should select someone without ties to the TTC.

b.  The TTC should also require any expert witness to provide written confirmation that they understand they are being asked for a fair, objective and non-partisan opinion.

c.  The TTC should provide all relevant evidence to the expert witness for their review and should have the witness prepare the opinion without assistance from investigators. The opinion itself should reflect that these steps were taken.

Investigator Training

6. The TTC should develop a plan to provide additional training to its internal investigators, in particular with respect to:

a.  identifying the issues and the facts in dispute

b.  procedural fairness

c.  preventing unconscious confirmation bias

d.  investigating unconscious bias/racial profiling

e.  making and explaining factual findings by considering and weighing all relevant evidence

f.  the standard of proof

g.  effectively communicating the results of an investigation in a report

2. City Council forward the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism to the Toronto Transit Commission Board for adoption.

 
3. City Council request the Toronto Transit Commission Board to direct the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission and appropriate Toronto Transit Commission staff to work with the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit; specifically, to work with the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit to address anti-black racism through ongoing learning and development initiatives for all staff, and to review transit enforcement policies and practices using the City of Toronto's Anti-Black Racism Analysis Tool.

4. City Council request the Toronto Transit Commission Board to direct the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission to report back to the Executive Committee during the first quarter of 2020 on the status of the Toronto Transit Commission's adoption of the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism and an update of the progress of their work with the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit.

 
5. City Council request the Toronto Transit Commission Board to direct the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission to report to the Executive Committee during the first quarter of 2020 on the steps taken to address the recommendations outlined in the report (July 9, 2019) from the Ombudsman.