In today’s Morning Brief, we have the story of a B.C. RCMP officer whose suspension and resignation over “racially insensitive, rage-fuelled and anti-government” material he posted online is raising concerns over the public complaints process.
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B.C. Mountie’s suspension over racist Facebook content highlights concerns over complaints process
A B.C. RCMP officer’s suspension and subsequent resignation following a complaint that alleges he posted “racially insensitive, rage-fuelled and anti-government” material on Facebook is highlighting what some say is a flawed process of raising concerns about police conduct.
The characterization of Dustin Dahlman’s comments is part of a complaint filed with the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) for the RCMP, which reviews complaints about police conduct and makes recommendations to the RCMP. CBC has obtained a copy of the letter.
Dahlman, who used the name Vedder McNutt on Facebook, was stationed at an RCMP detachment in Sayward, a small town at the north end of Vancouver Island, for three years. For at least the first half of 2020, he posted videos, memes and comments on his now defunct public Facebook page that were critical of the Black Lives Matter movement, of police conduct he considered “too soft,” and of some of the government’s COVID-19 safety guidelines. One video he uploaded showed a man criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement who at one point says, “If you don’t want to be killed, don’t break the law.”
Several people in Sayward raised concerns about Dahlman’s posts in mid-June on social media and with the Sayward RCMP detachment, but only one person made a formal complaint to the RCMP oversight body. At least four people who spoke to CBC News say they didn’t complain to the RCMP out of fear of retaliation since at the detachment level, there’s no guarantee a complainant’s identity will be kept confidential. The CRCC, on the other hand, says it is committed to protecting complainant’s identities.
The woman who eventually filed a complaint against Dahlman says she was punted to and from different RCMP departments — online and on the phone — and that throughout the process, RCMP representatives were unable to provide the information she needed to lodge the complaint. CBC has agreed to not name the complainant as she says she fears retribution from Dahlman.
At the beginning of July, a week after CBC inquired about Dahlman’s posts, RCMP spokesperson Janelle Shoihet said he was no longer with the force. “We were aware of the [social media] materials, and a code of conduct investigation was initiated,” Shoihet said in an emailed statement. Read more on this story here.
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(Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
Mannequins at Le Monarque restaurant in Montreal are being used to help customers maintain physical distancing in this photograph taken Tuesday. The clothes on the mannequins will be auctioned off to raise money for charity.
In brief
Federal Justice Minister David Lametti says he’s prepared to introduce legislation to keep charges from being tossed out due to court delays caused by pandemic-related disruptions. Thousands of cases have been postponed due to a courthouse backlog compounded by COVID-19 disruptions. Back in 2016, a Supreme Court of Canada ruling set hard limits on the amount of time that can pass between the laying of charges and the anticipated end of a trial — 18 months in provincial court and 30 months in superior court. That ruling took into account the possibility of de