You have the right to remain silent in the face of any complaint made against you to the College – you cannot be forced to respond to any complaint against you or to participate in a hearing at the College. However, the College has the power to end your career in education in Ontario; therefore, it is usually advisable to participate, at least to some extent, in defending your conduct. We highly recommend that you seek legal advice and representation from the OPC before making a statement of any kind to the College. Whatever you do say will be recorded, and could be used against you in the investigation and/or hearing into your conduct.
The College has acceptable processes in place to ensure that its investigations are carried out by impartial investigators on staff at the College. You have the right to be provided with reasonable information about the complaint against you to enable you to make a meaningful response. In some cases, the question of what amount of information is “reasonable” is controversial and the subject of some argument between the investigator and legal counsel for the member. Certain information, including witness statements, will not be disclosed by the College unless or until the matter is referred by the Investigation Committee to either the Discipline or Fitness to Practice Committee for a hearing.
Another matter of controversy is the composition of the panels of the Investigation, Fitness to Practice and Discipline Committees. Currently, there is only one practicing principal on the College Council, and the College Council has refused to exercise its authority under the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 to pass a regulation that would ensure that panels considering the conduct of principals or vice-principals would include a fellow administrator. The OPC has advocated both with the Minister of Education and with the College Council for peer review for principals and viceprincipals, and feels strongly that fairness can only be achieved if panels considering the conduct of administrators include at least one person with the same education, training and – most importantly – experience.
Finally, members of the College have a right to timely disposition of complaints against them – this is a matter of procedural fairness. The Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, directs the Investigation Committee to use its best efforts to dispose of a complaint within 120 days of it being filed with the Registrar. Unfortunately, this goal is rarely met; however, we have not had cause to doubt that investigators use their best efforts to dispose of matters as quickly as possible, while conducting thorough investigations.
The College does not comment on complaints or investigations unless they are referred for a public hearing. The College does this to protect the complainant, the member in question and to avoid possible prejudice to the process.
(Source: Ontario College of Teachers, www.oct.ca and Protective Services Team, OPC.)