Police on Guard has received information regarding a municipal police services training program.

Officers are required to attend yearly training and requalification as per the Police Services Act.

It has recently come to our attention that officers are being required to provide their preferred pronouns in a training scenario under threat of negative documentation by their unit commanders.

This policy is both unlawful and unethical under the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Police on Guard supports the rights of all citizens to be referred to by their preferred pronouns. However, no individual, including a police officer, can be coerced under duress to provide their pronouns involuntarily. If this information proves to be true it is yet another example of an egregious overreach by police command for a political and social issue, that has no basis in the laws that we are sworn to uphold.

This issue has been brought to the attention of the applicable police association. We will provide updates as they become available.