Posts Tagged RCMP

Media portray accountability as a main issue in BC citizens’ lack of trust in the RCMP, and it is. But money accountability is not the most important issue. It is the performance standards to be met by RCMP officers on the ground . The BC Solicitor General, as the responsible Minister of the Crown, owes it to British Columbia citizens to have the terms of the contract include:

1. the key performance standards that citizens are entitled to see met by the approximately 6000 RCMP officers who would act in BC
2. the provision that the contract will be valid so long as the RCMP in BC accounts publicly, fully and fairly to the Legislative Assembly regularly on the discharge of its responsibilities under the contract, asserting whether its officers are meeting a standard of public explanation that BC citizens are entitled to see the RCMP meet

An arbitrary Ottawa time limit on contract negotiation doesn’t stand against the time needed to have the necessary public accountability terms central in the contract. The federal Opposition in the House of Commons can immediately take up the extension issue if necessary, since it is the opposition’s duty to effectively hold to account the federal executive government and its agencies. It is also to support all those who need and have the right to have adequate public explanation of the intended and actual conduct of contract police officers. Read the rest of this entry »