Name: Groups launch legal action against Ontario for sharing COVID-19 data with police
Brand: ctvnews.ca
SKU: ctvnews-ca-299
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Groups launch legal action against Ontario for sharing COVID-19 data with police

preview

AdvertisementTORONTO --Civil liberties groups are launching legal action against an Ontario law that lets the government provide police with personal information about people who tested positive for COVID-19.The &nbsp;in April that it would provide first responders with a database detailing the name, date of birth and address of all patients who tested positive for the virus.The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and its partners have now served a notice of application to begin a legal challenge at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in an effort to stop the provincial government from disclosing the information to police.“Individual Ontarians’ health information is among the most sensitive personal information the government holds,” Abby Deshman, the director of the criminal justice program at CCLA, said in a statement.Deshman said that given "patchy nature of COVID testing and the risk of asymptomatic spread," police should not rely on test results to keep safe from the disease. Instead, she said, police should practice the same public health advice the rest of the province is following.&nbsp;Deshman added that sharing COVID-19 test results with police is “not necessary, and in fact undermines an effective public health approach to this pandemic.”A spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General confirmed with CTV News Toronto on Friday that the government was served with a notice.“On July 7, 2020, Ontario was served with the Notice of Application for Judicial Review,” the spokesperson stated. “As this matter is subject to litigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”In a previous statement, the province said that the measures were taken under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act to protect first responders by allowing access to the information of people they come into contact with amid the pandemic.“Once the declaration of emergency is lifted, this data will be made inaccessible to first responders,” the province said in a statement in April.But the groups involved in the legal action, including the Aboriginal Legal Services, the Black Legal Action Centre and the HIV and AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario, say the measure violates their constitutional rights to privacy and equality.The groups, including the CCLA, argue that the measure also breaches provincial health privacy protections and is not authorized by Ontario’s emergency legislation.“Police involvement in public health matters impedes effective public health responses,” said Khalid Janmohamed, a lawyer with the HIV and AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario.“People are less likely to get tested or seek treatment because they are afraid of being targeted by police. We have seen this happen in relation to the criminalization of people living with HIV and people who use drugs.”The groups say they wrote and sent a letter to Ontario’s Solicitor General on April 22 about their concerns, but have yet to receive a response.&nbsp;&nbsp;Advertisement

AdvertisementTORONTO --Civil liberties groups are launching legal action against an Ontario law that lets the government provide police with personal information about people who tested positive for COVID-19.The &nbsp;in April that it would provide first responders with a database detailing the name, date of birth and address of all patients who tested positive for the virus.The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and its partners have now served a notice of application to begin a legal challenge at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in an effort to stop the provincial government...

public

CTVToronto

Tweeting breaking news from CTVNews.ca in the CTV National newsroom. RTs do not constitute endorsement of views.

ctvnews.ca

Credible

Speculation

Anecdotal Evidence

Generalization

Stacking the Deck

Appeal to Authority

Straw Man

Slippery Slope

Emotional Appeal

Red Herring

False Dilemma

Illogical

Moral Equivalency

Ad Hominem

Correlation w/o Causation

Semantics

Begging the Question

Faulty Analogy

Non Sequitur

Bandwagon

Dogmatism

Failing Occam's Razor

Biased

Pure Opinion

Hit Piece

Racial Bias

National Bias

Religious Bias

Financial Incentive

Political Agenda

Gender Bias

Misused Image/Video

Study Misinterpreted

Mistake

Misused Term

Science Misrepresented

Factual Error

Satire

Surface Level

Lack of Reliable Sources

Sensational

Not Credible

Investigative

Balanced

Well Sourced

Great Context

sports

entertainment

U.S.

international

business

technology

science

culture

politics

media

health

Groups launch legal action against Ontario for sharing COVID-19 data with police

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS