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BLACK-SHEEP COMMENTARIES OPPAL MUST DRIVE PROVINCIAL POLICING REFORM IN her magnificent book, Policing a Pioneer Province – The Provincial Police 1858-1950, historian Lynne Stonier-Newman characterized the demise of the force. “At one minute after midnight on August 15, 1950, the British Columbia Police ceased to exist. Ninety-two years had passed since James Douglas, Matthew Begbie and Chartres Brew had participated in its origin. There was no formal goodbye, no fanfare, no ceremony.” Even though our provincial government claimed rising costs necessitated the axing of the provincial police, in Stonier-Newman’s opinion “it is entirely possible that the BCPP got torpedoed for reasons of political expediency.” On the same day, under the terms of a contract between our provincial government and the federal government, and with lightning speed, the RCMP took over all the duties of our legendary provincial police force. Though shocked and bitter, the vast majority of 502 provincial officers accepted employment with the RCMP and, to their credit, went out of their way to educate their new comrades in the nuances of municipal policing. Notwithstanding the fact that our Police Act and successive policing contracts between BC and the federal government deem RCMP officers to be provincial police, the federal solicitor general and Commissioner of the RCMP have never permitted the force to be directed by and be accountable to our law ministers and municipal police boards, or to be subjected to our provincial complaint process. Yet to this day Section 5 of the Police Act states that ‘the provincial police force is continued. It is make-believe. Since 1950, our attorneys general (or solicitors general) have had to endure the embarrassing fact that their actual authority over policing under the magisterial Police Act is confined to municipal police departments in Abbotsford, Central Saanich, Delta, Nelson, New Westminster, Port Moody, Saanich, Vancouver, Victoria and West Vancouver. Beyond reach of our law ministers is “E” Division, a burgeoning paramilitary force of over 5,000 officers stationed in 126 detachments spread across our province. It is the largest division in Canada and makes up approximately one-third of the RCMP. Here’s a historical sketch of how it all came to pass. British Columbia’s gold rush in the late 1850s brought with it increasing lawlessness and stirred Governor Sir James Douglas to establish a civilian constabulary. With the appointment in 1858 of Chartres Brew as its first chief inspector, a provincial constabulary came into being. Supported by men of the Royal Engineers and a few officers appointed earlier by Douglas, Brew was immediately thrust into a cauldron of gold rush lawlessness. American miners were subjected to British justice, and law and order was restored. The early success of this small force marked the beginning of 98 years of dedicated and legendary policing by the British Columbia Constabulary and its successor the British Columbia Provincial Police Force. In 1923, the force was reorganized and, on being assured that he would be free from political interference, John H. McMullin accepted the post of chief superintendent. According to Stonier-Newsman, McMullin “exuded calm and was known as a perceptive listener and a man who did not tolerate fools or laziness gladly. . . (He) was proud of the comradeship within the force, and of the BCPP’s good reputation with the public, and let his men know it.” During the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s the BCPP continued to grow and change with the times. It remained a highly effective civilian constabulary until the axe fell in 1950. The senseless dismantling of our provincial constabulary was an abject surrender of the provincial government’s constitutional obligation under section 92 of the British North America Act to be directly involved with policing in every nook and cranny of the province. In 1992, Wallace T. Oppal, then a justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, embarked on an exhaustive inquiry into policing in our province. In July 1994, he filed an extensive and momentous report: Closing the Gap – Policing in British Columbia. In an accompanying 23-page overview Oppal noted that in 1988 the Police Act “was amended in a significant way … when the Office of the Complaint Commissioner was created … to monitor and receive public complaints.” Oppal added, matter-of-factly, that the RCMP had taken the position that the province has no jurisdiction to deal with complaints against its members. After recognizing that the RCMP has served the province well and that “many of its officers have become involved in the social fabric of the communities they police,” Oppal posed a fundamental question concerning policing in British Columbia. “In discussing the future policing needs of this province, it is imperative to ask ourselves whether it is appropriate to have a provincial and municipal police force which has its headquarters in Ottawa.” After noting that the RCMP Act places RCMP officers under the direction of the federal solicitor general, Oppal said: “Clearly, the attorney general, the chief law enforcement officer of the Province, now has less control over the RCMP than that which was agreed upon in 1950.” Oppal became very assertive about the need for a change in the RCMP. His words reflect the essence of a civilian constabulary as opposed to the closed ranks and mind-set of a quasi-military police force. “The RCMP must make fundamental changes and be more responsive to the needs of British Columbia’s communities. The force simply must become more accountable to local needs and allow more participation by local government. British Columbians are entitled to an open and uniform system of policing. The RCMP is undergoing much change. I am confident that the force is capable of accommodating the needs of this province. However, in the event that the RCMP is not prepared to undergo the necessary change that is suggested in this report, it will be imperative for the province to consider establishing its own provincial police force.” As a nonpartisan law minister, Attorney General Oppal is duty-bound to call for a bipartisan committee of the legislature to carry out recommendations 315 and 317 of his report: a full study of the actual costs, utility and impact of RCMP policing in British Columbia and consideration of the establishment of a provincial policing agency “so as to be prepared should the RCMP not comply with provincial policing policy.” Closing the Gap – Policing in British Columbia is as timely today as it was in 1994. Mr. Attorney General, seize your destiny. Don’t let your report gather dust in the provincial archives. |
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