TORONTO — The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is criticizing the Ontario government’s decision to grant expanded enforcement powers to transit special constables under new provincial regulations tied to the Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act.The organization said the regulations will allow transit enforcement officers to arrest, detain, request identification and seize or destroy property in transit spaces across the province.In a statement, Canadian Civil Liberties Association said the move represents “a significant and troubling expansion of coercive state power into essential public spaces.”“Ontario has made a deliberate choice to respond to a public health crisis with coercion instead of care,” said Howard Sapers, executive director of the association. “We need solutions that are effective and rights-respecting — not measures that push vulnerable people further to the margins.”.The association said it has opposed the Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act since it was introduced through Bill 6, the Safer Municipalities Act. It argued that transit special constables do not receive the same level of training as police officers and are subject to different oversight and accountability mechanisms.Harini Sivalingam, director of the CCLA’s Equality Program, said public transit should remain “safe, accessible and inclusive to all.”“Giving transit special constables police-equivalent powers to arrest, detain, and seize property will not make riders safer — it will make vulnerable people less safe,” Sivalingam said..The organization also raised concerns about the potential impact of the regulations on black and indigenous people, racialized communities, unhoused individuals and people living with mental health conditions, citing what it described as longstanding evidence of disproportionate enforcement in transit systems.The CCLA further criticized the province’s decision to close and defund supervised consumption sites, which it described as evidence-based programs that help reduce overdose deaths and connect people with treatment and support services.The group said the timing of the new regulations alongside the closure of supervised consumption sites reflects a broader shift from health-based responses to enforcement measures.“This government is not solving a problem. It is punishing people for being poor, for being unhoused, for living with addiction — and it is doing so while dismantling the very services that could actually help them,” Sivalingam said.The association called on the Ontario government to reverse the designation of transit special constables as enforcement officers under the legislation, restore funding for supervised consumption sites and invest in harm reduction programs, mobile crisis response teams and outreach services.The organization said it will continue monitoring the implementation and enforcement of the regulations.
