Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government is drafting legislation to publicize parts of the sex offender registry and that he will use the notwithstanding clause if the courts try to block it.
The government’s preliminary consultations are beginning on changes that Ford said will ensure children are protected from sex offenders by making sex offender registry information public. Ford’s announcement comes after an Oct. 31 Supreme Court of Canada decision that ruled mandatory minimum one-year sentences for child exploitation convictions are “unconstitutional.”
“(If) you have a sex offender and he’s living next door down the street, and you have a bunch of kids, you want to know about it,” Ford said Nov. 17 in Toronto. “So we’re going to make sure the sex offender registry is out there, public.”…