U of O hires outside expert to look into carding incident

The University of Ottawa has hired an independent legal adviser to look into an incident in whicha black student skateboarding said campus security officers demanded he produce identification and then handcuffed him for two hours.

Lawyer Esi Codjoe, who currently works at a Toronto law firm and is a former vice chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, has been selected to investigate the incident.

Student Jamal Boyce posted about the incident online after it happened on June 12. He said he had been skateboarding on campus when officers approached him and demanded he produce identification.

Codjoe has been asked to complete the work as quickly as possible and her report will be made public, the university promised in a news release sent on Tuesday.

In addition to looking at the specific incident, she is being tasked to look at the university's policies and how university security officers apply provincial trespass laws.

She is also mandated to look at how those policies may impact racialized communities.