Welcome to RCC

June 6, 2007

Cheryl Mahyr
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
25 Grosvenor Street, 13th Floor
Toronto ON M7A 1Y6
VIA E-MAIL (jus.g.sgcs.webmaster@ontario.ca)

Dear Ms. Mahyr:
On behalf of Retail Council of Canada (RCC) and its members operating in Ontario, I am writing in response to the recent invitation to comment on five new draft regulations posted under Bill 159, Private Security and Investigative Services Act (the Act).

As a member of the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Advisory Committee on the Act, RCC has enjoyed the opportunity to work together with other key stakeholders to provide expertise and advice to the government towards the development of these regulations. Indeed, this is very important work and we are deeply committed to providing the government with our responsible and credible expertise and advice on a broad range of areas.

We look forward to continuing the dialogue with the Ministry over the coming months on the development of future regulations and towards smooth implementation of the rules to ensure that they support the needs of the community as well as retailers.

Equipment
The regulation proposes the conditions under which equipment such as firearms, batons, handcuffs and restraints may be used. In no instance would a security guard working in a retail establishment require the use of firearms, batons, or restraints.

With respect to handcuffs, RCC has no concerns with the proposed requirement that such equipment be issued by the registered business entity.

The regulation also proposes that:

5. A licensed business entity shall ensure that the individual licensees employed by it comply with this Regulation.

RCC respectfully requests clarification regarding responsibility for oversight by registered business entities. Retailers employ a mix of both in-house and third party security services. While it is appropriate that licensed business entities retain responsibility for their licensees while contracted out, it is unclear who retains responsibility for in-house licensees. It would be appropriate for registered business entities to ensure that the individual licenses employed by it — who are not otherwise employed by a licensed business entity — ensure compliance with the proposed regulation.

Exemptions from the Act
To our understanding, the regulation proposes that a private investigator that is authorized by another Act to perform their duties is exempt from Bill 159, the Private Security and Investigative Services Act. RCC respectfully requests further clarification regarding the rationale for this regulation, which is unclear. Unlike other regulations, the proposed exemption regulation was never discussed at the Minister's Advisory Committee and thus should not be seen as having the endorsement of stakeholders serving on it.

RCC and its members are concerned with the government's approach of proclaiming the Act before the training and testing regulations are in place. From our perspective, this new approach to implementation is not consistent with the intent of the Act to raise standards within the industry and set a minimum standard to which all licensees must abide. We understand that the training standards and testing infrastructure may not be in place for up to eighteen months after the Act is proclaimed on August 23, 2007.

Under the proposed implementation plan, the only substantial difference for retailers upon proclamation will be that they will be required to register as business entities and pay a fee and have their staff apply for a license and pay a fee. RCC has supported the principles of the Act throughout this process — from introduction to passage and now through implementation. However, licensing individuals not captured under the previous Act, such as loss prevention officers, without the training and testing regulations in place does absolutely nothing towards improving public safety in and of itself. Our preferred approach would have been to simply not proclaim the Act until the training and testing details are known. However, as the proclamation date has now been set we respectfully request that retail loss prevention officers (and other industries not previously captured) be exempt from the licensing requirement until such time as the training and testing regulations are in place.

Terms of Licenses
RCC has no concerns with licenses expiring annually. However, as noted above, we do not believe that classes who were exempt from the previous Act should come under the licensing scheme until the training standards and testing infrastructure are finalized.

Registration Requirements for Business Entities under section 5 of the Act
The regulation proposes that upon registration and renewal, registered business entities provide the Registrar with a list of all employees engaged in the provision of private security or investigative services. On behalf of its members, RCC respectfully requests clarification as to whether contract licensees, who are considered employees of licensed business entities for other purposes, are considered employees of the registered business entity for these purposes. That is, are retailers who employ a mix of both in-house and third party security services required to provide a list of only in-house licensees for which they are considered the employer or both in-house and third party licensees? It should be noted that retailers may use third party security services on a temporary basis — in some cases for a single day or event — and may not be in a position to provide this information to the Registrar on the date of their organization's registration.

RCC has no concerns with business entity registrations expiring annually. On behalf of our members, explanation is requested as to the proposed fee associated with such registration.

Recordkeeping Requirements for Licensed Business Entities
This proposed regulation does not apply to the members of RCC as retailers are not in the business of selling security guard or private investigator services. Retailers are considered regulated business entities and not licensed business entities. As such, we have no comment.

Once again, thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed regulations under Bill 159, Private Security and Investigative Services Act. If you require further information or clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at (416) 922-0553, extension 225.

Yours truly,

Ashley McClinton
Director, Government Relations (Ontario)

cc: Mr. Jon Herberman, Registrar/Director, Private Investigators and Security Guards Branch, Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services