How a missing persons act helped a P.E.I. mother get news of her son in Ontario
Island act came into effect earlier due to Summer Kneebone case
P.E.I.'s newly proclaimed Missing Persons Act may have come into force too late to make a significant difference in the Summer Kneebone inquiry, says a mother whose family was helped by a similar act in Ontario.
Kneebone was last seen in Charlottetown on Aug. 7 and was reported missing a week later. Police and others involved have previously suggested a lack of data to help determine her location was a stumbling block in the ongoing search.
The Missing Persons Act allows officers to access a missing person's phone and internet records — information they previously could only get during a criminal investigation.
The act received royal assent in 2021, but it wasn't until last week that cabinet issued regulations, including its coming into force on Saturday.
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In another case last year, P.E.I. resident Marlene Bryenton became concerned after losing contact with her son in Toronto 10 months ago.
But Bryenton was relieved police in Ontario had the ability to locate him quickly, thanks largely to the fact that a missing persons act was already in effect in that province.
"I realized then the importance then of the Missing Persons Act in Ontario because it provided the police with many tools ... that helped," she said.
"They could check his bank records, video surveillance, GPS, ping his phone. They were allowed to talk to us as parents. That was a big, big thing that gave us peace of mind."
'Police have lost some of the momentum'
P.E.I.'s Missing Persons Act gives officers the ability to obtain judicial orders requiring cellphone and social media companies to share information like GPS data, text messages and internet browsing histories without proof of any wrongdoing.
Because Kneebone is a missing person case and not a criminal investigation, officers had no power to compel corporations to release personal information about her.
Bryenton believes earlier access to those records could have made a difference.
"This investigation would have some traction right now," she said.
"The police have lost some of the momentum, I guess, in the early leads that would have helped them to solve this case by now."
Waiting for other legislation
When the act was passed in the legislature in the spring of 2021, the government said it wanted to have the new law come into effect that summer.
But the province says now the proclamation was delayed because it referenced a category of justice of the peace that did not exist.
That new category, judicial justice of the peace, requires more training to deal with complicated requests such as court orders for the release of a missing person's private information, said Blair Barbour, a legislative specialist with the province's Department of Justice and Public Safety.
Part of that process is for the judicial justice of the peace to determine that the person is truly missing, "That this isn't someone who by choice decided to leave," Barbour said.
"They would look for different pieces of evidence to decide that would suggest this is something unusual."
The Justice of the Peace Act was proclaimed Aug. 1. The plan had been for the Missing Persons Act to follow in September, but the Summer Kneebone case moved up that proclamation a couple of weeks, Barbour said.
Bryenton's experience, he said, is a good example of why the act is needed.
"It shows that the act can be a very valuable tool for law enforcement and for families," he said.
Charlottetown police have already obtained a court order for the release of Kneebone's phone records. Two companies involved have seven days to comply.
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With files from Island Morning