Widow takes OPP to court over declaration misconduct in her husband’s death was 'not serious'
CTV
A grieving widow is taking the Ontario Provincial Police to court as she challenges its decision to call the misconduct of an officer that contributed to her husband’s death “not of a serious nature” – a decision that denied her access to a public hearing in the case.
A grieving widow is taking the Ontario Provincial Police to court as she challenges its decision to call the misconduct of an officer that contributed to her husband’s death “not of a serious nature” – a decision that denied her access to a public hearing in the case.
A CTV News investigation shows that the OPP has declared misconduct by its own officers not serious about 80 per cent of the time in the last five years, and sends identical paragraphs that don’t explain its reasoning in cases from neglect of duty to unlawful use of force.
Courtney D’Arthenay said she couldn’t believe she received a boilerplate letter informing her that the OPP would resolve her complaint without a hearing after an officer accidentally struck and killed her husband Tyler Dorzyk while speeding near Barrie in 2020.
“Going through life without Tyler is very difficult,” D'Arthenay said in an interview. “I’ve found it’s been getting worse with time and a huge part of that is due to the fact that I’m being told this isn’t serious. It’s not a big deal,” she said.
“I just don’t want someone else to be going through this when you’re already in a really horrible time. We can afford a little bit of respect and give people actual justification and reasons,” she said.
D’Arthenay launched a judicial review in Oshawa Superior Court last month, asking the court to declare the misconduct serious, which would allow her to participate in a disciplinary hearing, and widen the scope of possible disciplinary actions the officer, Const. Jaimee McBain, could receive.
It was only through the court application that they discovered the result of the disciplinary proceeding for McBain: non-disciplinary counselling, her application says.
