RCMP's discipline board refuses to step aside for referring to impugned Mounties as 'Three Amigos'

The members of an RCMP disciplinary tribunal tasked with hearing allegations of sexism and racism against a trio of Coquitlam Mounties say they don't need to step aside for having referred to the men as the 'Three Amigos.'

A lawyer for Constables Philip Dick, Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah had argued that by referring to his clients as the 'Three Amigos' in a handful of emails and a file name, the three-member conduct board had tainted the proceedings with an appearance of "real or perceived bias."

But board chair Sara Novell told the impugned officers Friday that while the use of the term may have been "inappropriate and regrettable" — it was hardly grounds for recusal.

Novell said the 'Three Amigos' term showed up on a file folder and about 10 administrative emails referring to the folder, something she said may have appeared "unprofessional," but that would not lead a regular person to conclude that the board was biased against the three men.

'A strong air of superiority'

The decision means a code of conduct hearing against Dick, Mesbah and Solven will now move ahead, with testimony slated Monday morning from the whistleblower who launched the complaint in 2021.

The RCMP wants all three Mounties fired for their alleged involvement in private chat group conversations in which officers are accused of bragging about "Tasering unarmed Black people," calling a sexual assault investigation "stupid," and mocking the body of a new female employee.

Those allegations came to light last fall after the release of a search warrant detailing the circumstances which allegedly led the officer who sparked the investigation to complain to RCMP brass about what he saw as "atrocious" and "racist and horrible" activity by his colleagues.

The court documents claim investigators also reviewed 600,000 messages posted to the RCMP's internal mobile data chat logs — finding evidence of "frequently offensive" usage by the three officers facing termination for "homophobic and racist slurs."

"The reviewers had identified a variety of comments that were 'chauvinist in nature, with a strong air of superiority, and include flippant or insulting remarks about clients (including objectifying women), supervisors, colleagues, policy and the RCMP as a whole,'" the search warrant said.

The hearing against the men was supposed to have started last Monday but was derailed by the last-minute challenge to the board's credibility — which arose after the disclosure of internal board documents referring to the case as the 'The Amigos.'

A lawyer for the men claimed the use of the term gave rise to concerns the board viewed the men as friends who would stick together to protect each other despite facing individual accusations — separate from each other.

But Novell rejected those concerns, pointing to the fact the board chose to disclose the internal documentation that gave rise to the 'Three Amigos' allegations as proof of a dedication to transparency and a lack of bias.

'Constant negativity'

According to the search warrant, the whistleblower — Const. Sam Sodhi — was posted to Coquitlam in 2019.

Sodhi claimed there were two chat groups for members of the Coquitlam detachment assigned to Port Coquitlam — one for all members of the watch and a second private group that began on WhatsApp but then moved to Signal. He said he was told once he was "worthy" of the private chat group, "we'll add you to it."

The officer claimed he was admitted to the private chat group in March 2021 but left after a few days because of the "constant negativity." He said he was then accused of "not being a team member" and encouraged to return.

The warrant says Sodhi claimed that outside of the private chat group, members of the group also "belittled Indigenous people, talking about how they were 'stupid' or 'drunk' and saying they have 'unfortunate bodies' and all have fetal alcohol syndrome."

According to the search warrant, Sodhi complained to his superiors in May 2021.

Dick, Solven and Mesbah have all denied the allegations against them.