B.C. Green MLA calls on province to stand down controversial RCMP unit

B.C. Green MLA Adam Olsen is calling on the provincial government to stand down a controversial RCMP unit until an investigation into the unit’s tactics is complete.

The RCMP’s “E” Division Community-Industy Response Group (C-IRG) is being investigated by the federal police watchdog, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC), for tactics they used during protests at the site called Fairy Creek and the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Olsen says the public’s confidence in the unit is being “undermined” and “eroded” the longer the investigation goes on without the province stepping in.

“There have been numerous, numerous complaints about how this unit has operated, as they’ve been policing on behalf of industry projects across the province,” Olsen said.

The C-IRG made five arrests of Coastal GasLink pipeline protesters in Northern B.C. earlier this week, just weeks after the investigation was launched.

Related Articles:

• B.C. RCMP protest response under review; Fairy Creek class action filed

• B.C. Appeal Court extends injunction against protests at Fairy Creek

The CRCC’s investigation will focus on whether the response group acts consistently within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, amongst others.

“Further, where appropriate, the systemic investigation will identify the extent to which C–IRG’s operations and actions meet, reflect, consider or are consistent with the standards and expectations set by Bill C-15, An Act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the British Columbia Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) and the calls for justice from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry (MMIWG),” the CRCC notes in the investigation outline.

Olsen says there are concerns the unit violated protesters’ human rights and used unlawful tactics, some of which are also the subject of a class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit filed at the beginning of March in the B.C. Supreme Court alleges RCMP policies and tactics in enforcing an injunction order at a Vancouver Island old-growth logging protest camp violated the Charter rights of those who had their movements impeded or were arrested, detained, or had their property seized.

Court documents say more than 1,000 people have been arrested in relation to enforcing the injunction order at Fairy Creek, and approximately 425 have been prosecuted, primarily on criminal contempt charges.

The statement of claim says RCMP officers made pre-emptive arrests without due process and assaulted, pushed, dragged and forcefully detained people.

Last September, a B.C. Supreme Court justice refused to extend the Fairy Creek injunction, saying police enforcement at the site led to serious infringements of civil liberties including freedom of the press. That decision was overturned on appeal.

The United Nations Committee to End all forms of Racial Discrimination has raised concerns about police treatment of protesters at the Coastal GasLink pipeline and Trans Mountain protests.

“[The unit] is totally inappropriate. It is in complete conflict with this government’s stated vision and goals of reconciliation,” he explained.