November 03, 2009
MP proposes RCMP watchdog
Canwest News Service
A New Democrat MP introduced a private member’s bill on Monday that proposes the appointment of an independent watchdog to investigate any cases of people dying while in RCMP custody.
Nathan Cullen said the bill would create a “civilian investigation service” modelled after Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, a civilian agency that looks into all of the Ontario Provincial Police’s in-custody deaths.
“The trust that the RCMP has lost over the last number of years has been tragic. It’s a proud and long-serving force that does a very difficult job. This could help reverse that trend,” said Cullen, who represents the northwestern B.C. riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley.
Currently, RCMP officers helm investigations into all of the national force’s in-custody deaths.
A number of other high-profile in-custody deaths, such as the death of Polish citizen Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport in 2007, have brought the practice of “cop-on-cop” investigations into question.
Cullen said the bill was inspired by the death of Ian Bush, a 22-year-old who succumbed to a gunshot wound to the back of the head following a struggle with Const. Paul Koester at the Houston, B.C., RCMP detachment in July 2005.
Bush had been arrested for having an open container of alcohol at an outdoor hockey game and for giving Koester a false name. The RCMP investigated the incident in 2007 and cleared Koester of all wrongdoing.
