In a statement of claim filed in July 2017, Philip Alafe has sued the Brantford police over his treatment while he was held overnight in a police cell in July 2015.   Kelley Bryan and Alex Procope are representing Mr. Alafe in the claim. In April 2017, Justice Lenz of the Ontario Court of Justice stayed Mr. Alafe’s charges […]

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An Ontario judge has found that psychiatric patients at the Oak Ridge division of the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre (today the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care) endured gross violations of their human dignity and human rights and were tortured both mentally and physically while detained. The case was a multi-plaintiff proceeding commenced in 2000 […]

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The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled on April 21, 2017 that the Peel police discriminated against Staff Sergeant BJ Sandhu when they failed to recommend him for promotion to the rank of Inspector.  The Tribunal found that Staff Sergeant Sandhu is a decorated officer whose excellent policing skills, combined with his cultural and linguistic […]

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Mercedes Perez was interviewed by the Lawyered podcast on three recent and important developments in mental health law:  a constitutional challenge to Ontario’s community treatment order regime;  the Charter jurisdiction of the Ontario Review Board; and long-term psychiatric detention under Ontario’s Mental Health Act following the Court of Appeal’s decision in P.S. v. Ontario. Lawyered […]

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The Law Commission Of Ontario released its largest law reform report yet yesterday, as a part of its Capacity, Decision-Making and Guardianships project.  PBP Lawyers participated, as members of the Mental Health Legal Committee, in several consultations over the four years that this project has been ongoing. Alex Procope co-authored both of the Mental Health Legal […]

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Mercedes Perez co-authored a paper with lawyers Tess Sheldon and Karen Spector analyzing the Charter’s liberty and equality protections for persons detained in psychiatric facilities.  The paper is titled “Re-Centering Equality:  The Interplay Between Sections 7 and 15 of the Charter in Challenges to Psychiatric Detention” and was published in the March 2016 issue of […]

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Kelley presents closing submissions to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in support of her client’s allegations of racial discrimination within the Peel Regional Police Service.  Although the force is responsible for policing one of the largest South Asian communities in Canada, Kelley’s client claimed that no South Asian police officer had ever been promoted […]

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