By: Harn

Harn — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:47:57 +0000

Well I think Kash got a bit angry at the RCMP when this all blew up the Crown’s face last week and started talking tough about accountability and warning the RCMP to “shape up.” But he never added “…or ship out.” By Sunday evening he was stating he was confident that the new municipal policing contract with Ottawa would go ahead and was talking about his “change of heart” on a Metro Police Force for Greater Vancouver.
Policing is a provincial responsibility as outlined in the 1982 Constitution Act and 1867 BNA Act but the RCMP are a federal institition; governed by the RCMP Act, paid for the federal Treasury Board, and, ultimately, every RCMP officer is answerable to the Commissioner of the RCMP in Ottawa. And the Commissioner is a deputy minister answerable only to the Prime Minister.
Wally Oppal in his excellent report on policing in 1994 spent a lot of time on the RCMP. He pointed out that the issue of accountability needed to be addressed and that the province should renegotiate the contract to ensure that there was civilian oversight of the provincial and civilian RCMP in B.C. Oppal also said that the province had to have a contigency plan in case the RCMP and (more likely) the federal government proved unwilling to budge on that issue.
Oppal’s report was praised by both the government of the day (Mike Harcourt’s NDP) and the opposition (Gordon Campbell’s B.C. Liberals)but much of the report has never been enacted, particularly surrounding the issues of RCMP accountability and civilian oversight. Why not?
Because the federal government in Ottawa looks on the RCMP with a proprietary gaze; they may offer contracts to the provinces as a cost-sharing program but Canada’s “national police force” is Ottawa’s creation and the federal government alone oversees it. Also, it is hard to get anyone in the PMO to look at any problem west of the Ontario border, even if the PM in question has strong roots in the west (but was born and raised in Southern Ontario). B.C. governments from Harcourts in 1994 to Campbell’s today have known that and are unwilling to go down a path that leads to the revision of our disbanded provincial police force (the BCPP, axed for reasons of political expediency on August 15th 1950, almost 60 years ago!).
The Mounties are very fortunate that Campbell has a poor economy and a massive deficit on his hands. So Heed will blink and cave on the issue of RCMP accountability; he probably already has. How sad, how pathetic.

Comments on: BC solicitor general is fed up with RCMP’s mistakes.

By: Harn