For the past 24 years, Shaun Ramlackhan has been a tow truck driver, a job he loved.
“I built my life around my career and that’s how I supported my family.”
But that career has been put on hold after Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation — now tasked with certifying tow truck drivers across the province — uncovered a piece of his past that Ramlackhan thought was long gone.
“In 2018 I was convicted of confinement,” he told us. “I had to hold my daughter from tearing up my house. She was breaking things, and I got charged with confinement because I held her against her will.”
Ramlackhan did not serve jail time and was given a conditional discharge which required him to stay out of trouble for three years.
“Which I did,” he said. “I was told once the three years had passed, that charge would disappear from my records.”
According to an RCMP criminal background check that Ramlackhan completed this year, the charge does not appear.
“So why is the MTO not recognizing that?” he asked.
Ramlackhan was denied certification by the province under the new Towing and Storage Safety and Enforcement Act (TSSEA), which was introduced to address concerns with violence and criminal activity in the towing and vehicle storage sector. It requires all tow truck drivers to undergo background screening.
“When I pointed out that my RCMP criminal background check was clean, they said, ‘Yeah, that’s fine. We understand you have no criminal record, but it’s still in our court records search.’ “
According to attorney Carmine Iacono a lot of people like Ramlackhan, who are given a conditional discharge, wrongly believe all records of their past crime disappear once the requirements of a discharge are met.
“Lo and behold, up pops up this thing that they thought was long gone,” he said. “Yes, It would come up clear in the sense that it’s not an active conviction.”
But a more in-depth search — including court records — could reveal it indefinitely.
“This means it could bar people from employment or even crossing the U.S. border.”
Which is why Iacono instructs clients who’ve satisfied the requirements of their discharge to request a records destruction from the arresting police agency.
“In most municipalities you can apply to make this request online. Once approved, they will notify the RCMP, who will remove that completely. They will go ahead and destroy any records which include fingerprints, mugshots, and in many cases, will strike that conviction from your records.”
Ramlackhan never requested a records destruction which may be the reason the MTO was able to discover his court file. While they could not comment on Ramlackhan’s case citing privacy concerns, a spokesperson said certain convictions disqualify applicants from being certified under the new rules even if they were given a conditional discharge.
“The regulation applies to a person who pled guilty or was found guilty of an offence referred to in this regulation and was granted a discharge under the Criminal Code in the same manner as if the person had been convicted of the offence.”
An MTO Spokesperson told Speakers Corner “this means that in situations where a person is disqualified from holding a tow driver certificate because of a criminal offence, a conditional discharge does not alleviate that disqualification.”
Ramlackhan says he plans to appeal, claiming the decision disregards the fact that he met the requirements set by the courts.
“They told me if after my three years, I’m good and on my best behavior, it falls off my record. Well, clearly it doesn’t,” he said. “This is my livelihood. This is how I support my children. I’ve had to let go of my condo because I can no longer afford it. I’m struggling to make ends meet now.”
“Disqualified applicants are welcome to re-apply for a certificate once their disqualifying timeframe has elapsed,” the MTO spokesperson said in response, pointing to a list of disqualifying convictions or charges on its website.
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