CRCC Releases Summary of a Public Complaint Review of RCMP C-IRG Enforcement Actions at Fairy Creek, BC

Today, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP (CRCC) published a summary [PDF] of its final report on the RCMP’s handling of a public complaint regarding enforcement of a civil injunction covering the Fairy Creek area in British Columbia.

In its review, the CRCC found that the broad exclusion zones and checkpoints used by members of the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) were unreasonable. The review determined that the RCMP’s demand to search the complainant at a checkpoint on a public road was unfounded, and his arrest, after refusing to agree to the search, was groundless.

The RCMP Commissioner agreed with most of the findings and recommendations in the CRCC’s review and committed to develop a national policy on policing civil injunctions that is consistent with recent court rulings on police powers and civil liberties during public order events.

The CRCC review also concluded that:

• the practice of searching people who seek to cross into what is an unreasonable exclusion zone violates their rights and freedoms;
• it was unreasonable for RCMP members at the protest sites to remove their name tags, without any other effective way to identify them; and
• an RCMP member who wore the unauthorized "Thin Blue Line" patch on his uniform acted unreasonably and broke policy.

The CRCC is also completing a separate systemic investigation of the activities and operations of the C-IRG in British Columbia.

Whenever anyone is dissatisfied with the handling of their complaint by the RCMP, they can request a review by the CRCC. To protect the privacy of those who participate in the public complaint process, the CRCC publishes only depersonalized summaries of our completed public complaint reviews. We occasionally profile selected review summaries or reports on our website that involve significant research or recommend action on national RCMP policies. Visit the CRCC website to learn more.

About the CRCC

The CRCC is an agency of the federal government, distinct and independent from the RCMP. Our mission is to deliver a robust complaint process that holds the RCMP accountable for its activities and the conduct of its members. The CRCC's mandate is to receive complaints from the public about the conduct of RCMP members; conduct reviews when complainants are not satisfied with the RCMP's handling of their complaints; initiate complaints and investigations into RCMP conduct when it is in the public interest to do so; review specified activities; report findings and make recommendations; and promote public awareness of the complaint process.

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More Information

For more information, please contact Media@crcc-ccetp.gc.ca.
Website: www.complaintscommission.ca