The trespass order firewall (snakes and ladders)

Timeline:

Feb.12: Three police officers came to my house and gave me a verbal trespass order for assaulting a rink staff member and making all the staff uncomfortable. City Councillor Bravo wrote that because police were involved and there was a workplace harassment investigation underway, she could not legally speak with me or any constituents about this incident at that point.

Feb.19: I asked Parks and Rec Management Services Director Aydin Sarrafzadeh: “Please send me the written text of the trespass order, since I only got it verbally from police.”

Feb. 25: Mr.Sarrafzadeh wrote:

“We are not aware of such order; we do understand that TPS advised you not to attend Dufferin Grove, following the incident on February 12, 2025, which is not a trespass order.”

Feb.26: Jane Price and I went to Fourteen Division to ask about the police report. We were told that they have a trespass order against me on record. Even if the order is verbal, it is a lifetime order if police choose. We were also told that I could see the report only at the College St police headquarters and only if I paid $67.50. I posted the visit on my blog, here.

March 18: Erella Gagnon ran into TPS Fourteen Division Sgt.Bernardo at Councillor Bravo’s meeting and asked him about the situation. Both of them thought I had been charged with assault. So they said that I would have to seek help from duty counsel at court.

March 22: Jane Price wrote that since the police had not charged me, there was no basis for seeking help from the court or the duty counsel.

March 26, a community letter from City Councillor Bravo: "Regarding the involvement of Toronto Police in this matter, City of Toronto staff, including Parks and Recreation staff, and City Councillors and their offices, do not have any authority to request or order Toronto Police to issue a trespass order, or take other actions.

A firewall against political interference is in place. If there is an incident that is reported to Toronto Police by any party involved, the Police alone determine their investigation and response."

March 31: I sent a letter to City Clerk John Elvidge. I quoted the city ombudsman’s position on trespass letters, requiring city staff to approve the issuing of the letter and to follow up with written documentation. I asked the city clerk – does the ombud’s position about trespass orders still apply?

March 31: from Kate ___ at the city clerk’s office, suggesting that I should contact the parks and rec general mailbox and they would tell me.

March 31: I forwarded my police story to Erella Gagnon and Sgt.Bernardo, asking for clarity

April 1: Erella forwarded an email from Sgt.Bernardo to Councillor Bravo, at his request, and cc’d me: "City Staff can through the proper channels within City Departments including the Director of City Parks through corporate security can obtain a trespass notices that once served can be enforced by the TPS with their consent."

April 1 Councillor Bravo's chief of staff Wyndham Bettencourt Mccarthy to Erella Gagnon, cc to lots of people incl me:
"I can confirm that our office asked senior staff at the Parks & Recreation Division the following question, both verbally and in writing, asking specifically if staff can request or order Toronto Police to issue a trespass order.
Here is the response we received (response in red from senior staff):
Can you provide confirmation that City staff, including P&R staff, do not have any authority to request or order Toronto Police to issues a trespass order
Correct and confirmed. City staff do not direct police nor do we have the authority to do so.

This is the information we were provided with. As the information from Sergeant Bernardo below suggests this may not always be the case (particularly if the City’s Corporate Security is involved), Councillor Bravo will be convening a meeting with the head of the Parks & Recreation Division and the head of 14 Division to better understand exactly what the process is."

April 1, Sgt.Bernardo wrote to the same list again: "To be clear, the TPS does NOT issue the trespass notice, we are available to support Corporate Security when they serve a notice. After notice is given written and or verbally, the Toronto Police can enforce the order.
We retain a copy of the notice for our files that can be revoked at any time by the Serving Agent."

April 1: I sent my ombudsman question to the general parks number. No response to date.

April 2: Sgt.Bernardo contacted me and we spoke on the phone. He was reading from the Feb.12 police record and shared several details: on Feb.12, police had been contacted by city staff at Dufferin Rink and came to the rink building. They spoke to two staff: Jordan (rink guard) and Adam (the rink guard's onsite supervisor) and got their statements. These were the main points:

1. Jordan said I had assaulted him inside the rink building by shoving him and then hitting him with my cane.

2. Jordan said he didn’t want police to charge me criminally for assaulting him.

3. Jordan and Adam both asked police to ban (“trespass”) me from the building, specifying that the ban should be permanent.

Sgt.Bernardo explained that if staff were having trouble with a park user outdoors, they would go through the city’s corporate security office to get a letter of trespass and then police would deliver that and enforce it. But since the alleged assault was said to have occurred indoors, police dealt with it differently. The trespass order still had to come from staff, but it is Toronto Police’s understanding that any city employee is authorized to act as an agent of the corporation of the City of Toronto. So police assumed that Jordan and Adam were acting as the city’s agents, and came to my house to let me know of the order.

Sgt.Bernardo told me that I would have to file a freedom of information request to be allowed to read the record that he was looking at. But he also said that if the head of parks and rec were to contact him and say, no trespass order, it would be gone right away.

April 2: I sent an email to Howie Dayton, the general manager of Parks and Rec, letting him know about the new information I had got from, police, and asking him to contact Sgt.Bernardo.

But there was an autoreply -- the general manager was away and wouldn't be back until next week.

April 3: I tried to find out from the TPS website where to send my freedom of information request. But the website is confusing, so I sent an email to Officer Jung, who had been one of the three police at my house and wrote the report. I asked him to me know who to contact for getting the report.

But there was never an answer.