Will the B.C. government
defeat Braidwood’s purpose?

Against his recommendations, they might put
B.C.’s new police oversight agency under the jurisdiction
of Stan Lowe, Canada’s most outspoken supporter
of the Dziekanski death squad

Revised June 24, 2010

 

The Dziekanski whitewash could go full circle.

Responding to Robert Dziekanski’s death at the hands of four RCMP officers, Thomas Braidwood wants police investigated by a new civilian agency answerable to the ombudsperson. The B.C. government has agreed to create the agency but might instead put it under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. That means Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops. Lowe is the same guy who exonerated the Dziekanski death squad in the first place.

The Braidwood Report says the proposed Independent Investigation Office “ought to be modelled on Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit” and that “the provincial Ombudsman [sic, in B.C. it’s ‘ombudsperson’] have jurisdiction over the IIO.”

That last point is crucial because it took a lengthy investigation and a scathing report from Ontario’s ombudsman to keep the SIU from becoming an apologist for the police.

But this is the B.C. government’s response, from its June 18 media release:

“The Province agrees that a legislative officer have oversight responsibilities for the IIO. We will consult to determine whether that is best achieved by the Ombudsperson or by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.”

Consult with whom — police lobbyists? And what for — to defeat Braidwood’s intentions?

That could be the plan.

Even if the IIO is kept separate from the OPCC, Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops can continue to cover up for “less serious” incidents, which will continue to include assaults and illegal actions of an on-going nature.

And, getting back to the subject of the ombudsperson, Lowe and his crew answer to no one — absolutely no one at all.

It shows in their work.

Update: Thomas Braidwood sells out

The Dziekanski whitewash goes full circle
as Braidwood surrenders to the police status quo
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