November 19, 2009
Police-shooting victim’s mother urges civilian probes
Matthew Pearson and Rob Shaw
Victoria Times Colonist
B.C. should follow Ontario’s lead, Linda Bush tells solicitor general
The mother of a man shot and killed by an RCMP officer in northern B.C. pushed provincial lawmakers yesterday to create an independent civilian unit for investigating deaths involving police.
Linda Bush, whose son Ian died Oct. 30, 2005, following an altercation with a Mountie in Houston, wants B.C. to adopt a model similar to the one used in Ontario.
Complaints against municipal police forces in B.C. are currently heard by Stan Lowe, the province’s Police Complaint Commissioner, while issues with the RCMP — which polices more than 70 per cent of the province, including Houston — are handled by a federal complaint process. In Bush’s case, the complaint was investigated by the Prince George-based North District Major Crime Unit, which includes officers from northwestern B.C.
Bush believes it’s unreasonable to expect police officers to adequately investigate each other, even if they are from different forces.
“There’s an affinity there because they’re still police,” she said yesterday.
a half-hour meeting with Solicitor General Kash Heed, Bush said she urged him to follow Ontario’s lead.
In that province, an independent law-enforcement agency called the Special Investigations Unit examines cases involving police and civilians that have resulted in serious injury or death.
Last year, the SIU led 246 investigations and laid charges against 10 police officers.
After the meeting, Heed said he told Bush he was proud of recent amendments to the province’s Police Act that boost the power of the independent Police Complaint Commissioner.
That legislation would allow Lowe’s office to continue disciplinary proceedings against police officers or police chiefs — even if they resign — force officers to co-operate with internal investigations and launch investigations where no complaint has been filed.
Heed has said that he wants to see the RCMP in B.C. fall under provincial police rules when it comes to investigating complaints. While the suggestion has been publicly backed by senior RCMP commanders in B.C., the idea has yet to become a reality.
Heed said he understands public criticism of cops investigating cops, but he feels the province has moved to improve the complaint process in recent months.
Earlier this month, New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen — whose riding includes Houston — introduced a private member’s bill calling for the creation of a civilian investigation service to look into cases of death or injury allegedly caused by RCMP officers.
Bush travelled to Ottawa to witness the introduction of the bill and has plans to launch a letter-writing campaign this fall.
“I think there’s change coming,” she said.
