November 04, 2009
Police oversight effort stalls
Prince George Citizen
A northern B.C. MP who’s spearheading a drive to create an independent national agency to investigate the police said he fears the Tory government is soft-pedalling on its commitment to reforming the RCMP.
Nathan Cullen, the NDP MP for Skeena Bulkley Valley, this week proposed creating a Canadawide civilian-only body that will examine cases of death or serious injury involving people in the custody of the RCMP. His call comes in the wake of public outcry over two high-profile shooting deaths involving police officers in the region — Ian Bush in Houston in 2005 and Kevin St. Arnaud in Vanderhoof in 2004 — as well as a surprise September statement by the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police calling for more independent oversight.
Cullen said he’s garnered interest from law enforcement and government on his proposal to end the practice of officers investigating officers, but the Tories want to wait for reports from the inquiry into the 1985 Air India bombing and the Braidwood inquiry into the Taser death of Robert Dziekanski in 2007.
“I understand that reforming an over 100-year-old organization is not going to happen overnight, but I’m worried about government stalling,” said Cullen. “If we all accept the principle, let’s get to work on the details.”
At the moment, Cullen’s proposal is in the form of a private member’s bill (C-472). While such legislation rarely becomes law, if passed it would create a Civilian Investigation Service (CIS) that would answer to the attorney general and be staffed by both a director and investigators who could not be members or former members of the RCMP.
If a person was seriously hurt or killed while in the charge of the RCMP, a senior police officer would be mandated by law to inform the CIS and an investigation would commence. It’s a model based on Ontario’s Special Investigative Unit and, said Cullen, would help restore public trust in the RCMP that’s been damaged by concerns over how impartial members can be in investigating their peers. However, it’s a proposal that runs counter to views of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police – which includes members of the RCMP – which is advocating for civilians to lead any oversight agency, but would still have active officers doing the investigating.
Cullen acknowledged there were concerns such a national civilian service would face practical challenges in terms of being able to access remote rural locations, such as small towns in northern B.C. like Houston and potential higher costs. But he pointed out that internal investigations are currently funded by the same pot of public money and divert RCMP members from their regular duties for sometimes months at a time.
