The RCMP has issued a statement on the results of their investigation into allegations made by the family of Colten Boushie into members’ conduct in response to his shooting death in August 2016.
The statement was issued following a report Thursday in the Globe and Mail, which reported the RCMP had “exonerated itself for its actions” in the aftermath of the shooting. The shooting incident took place in the RM of Glenside.
Boushie’s family had filed a formal complaint last December alleging insensitive treatment by the RCMP in the aftermath of the shooting. According to the Globe and Mail report, Boushie‘s family received a letter summarizing the results of the investigation last week; that was confirmed by Saskatchewan RCMP on Thursday.
The accused in the case, Gerald Stanley, is scheduled to go to trial for second-degree murder in Battleford Queen’s Bench Court beginning on Jan. 29 of next year.
The following is the statement in full by the RCMP issued Thursday afternoon in relation to the matter.
Good afternoon,
On October 19th, Saskatchewan RCMP sent a letter to the Baptiste family advising them of the results of our public complaint investigation into their allegations regarding our members’ conduct in response to the death of Colten Boushie in August of 2016.
While we cannot speak to specifics, we can talk generally about the process. The RCMP is committed to an accountable, fair and objective complaint process. Ensuring a fair, effective, thorough and impartial investigation of complaints involving RCMP employees is critical in demonstrating our commitment to accountability.
When a complaint is received, it is managed by our Professional Responsibility Unit. Part of that process is to determine at the outset whether it should be investigated as a public complaint; a code of conduct violation or even as a criminal or statutory offence. Sometimes all three can run concurrently.
In the case of a public complaint level investigation, the Professional Responsibility Unit arranges for an investigator to look into the complaint. In this case, an Inspector from a different district was assigned. The public complaint process is also overseen by the RCMP’s National Public Complaints Directorate in Ottawa.
Investigations such as these are separate from the court process and are strictly remedial in nature as opposed to disciplinary; although if allegations are supported, subsequent processes are considered, including those higher levels of investigation noted earlier which carry more serious, potential consequences including discipline or criminal prosecution.
Public complaint investigations though, like the one we’re talking about today, can result in the RCMP taking the following actions including, but not limited to; issuing an apology, providing operational guidance to employees or making a procedural or policy change. In this instance, in relation to allegations that were supported, the RCMP implemented all three of these remedial actions.
Finally, if the family wishes to pursue this matter further, they have the option of turning to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP. The Commission is an independent agency, created by Parliament, to ensure that complaints made by the public about the conduct of RCMP members are examined fairly and impartially.
